The Atomized Empire

I ain’t no roads scholar but I know which one we’re driving down. And that perdish’un don’t mean no prude. I also know I would have been doomed to repeat history, had it not been for my gift of writing microscopic crib sheets. But I do know all those Economic Rhodies soon coming to their eternal Perdition may not be just History repeating herself.

You cannot Atomize us anymore.

The story of the Ottoman Empire reads a lot like The Shock Doctrine. Little changes in history. You bust people up into little frightened, easily controlled groups, then make yourself the boss of them. Maybe I’m wrong, but the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the US Empire? Somebody or another always thinks its their God-given right to Rule the World, and steal other people’s shit. Spices, Oil, Hog Futures, Phantom Stock? Same same. Slaves to pick cotton, build pyramids, build railroads across deserts, work in Nike factories? There’s got to be a parallel there somewhere, dig?

The US just took it up to a new level. Think about it. If Ghandi had lived, say, in Chile in the 50’s, how long would he have lasted before some CIA dude took him out? We would never have been moral enough to let it go that far. We would have planted some coke in his homespun khadi locker, and photo-shopped pictures of him fondling some kid the priests missed, and our press would have had us cheering his demise.

In the end, though? India is free, yes? They must be or they wouldn’t be answering all my tech calls when my Cable goes out. That’s the tangible proof of America’s destiny, right? Eventually, everyone serves the Master… no matter how long the road to get there. We the mastah!

Or are we?

This Global Capitalism is getting kind of tricky for us. We’re no longer playing alone. China is “investing” money in Africa and Latin America faster than you can say Kapitalist Koup! Just what autonomous people with enough to eat, living rurally need, eh? Move to the city and depend on Automobile Factory jobs for money, and then have to use that money to buy the food you used to just grow. I live in Detroit. I know how well thats worked out here.

Editor’s Note, vaguely i-p-ish paragraphs redacted, available in The Wild Wild Left version.

But unless the Military keeps the status quo, with a nice illusion of “voting”? The best end-game scenario is breaking Egypt up into smaller, more easily controlled pieces. How hard would it be to get the Copts really p.o.’d at the Muslims with all this anarchy breaking out? A pipe bomb here, and a pipe bomb there….. easy as singing Old MacDonald!

The problem is? Egyptians just refuse to get pissed at one another. The idiots keep cooperating.

There has been no reason for the US to go in with guns blaring either. I mean how can we kill them to bring them Democracy, when they are being so damned non-violent? This all happened before we even had time to spread rumors of this ally of ours having a stockpile of secret WMD’s or something. Where the hell is the blow-it-up and rebuild-it-at-a-mark-up investment opportunity the US is accustomed to? WTF is an Empire to do?

Something here just isn’t working. Countries I’ve never even heard of are blowing up! Most Americans can’t point out Wisconsin on a map, if our Presidential Hopefuls are any indicator, let alone Djibouti, and it seems we cannot convince either Wisconsins or Djiboutis that the answer to all their problems is just to borrow more from the I.M.F. at higher interest.

I know the people with the money always have the time to ride out unrest, and bribe someone along the line of succession to do the bidding of the Empire. So I have to wonder. When the EU and the Swiss freeze one of their former playmate’s assets? Who gets to keep the money?

With all these blow ups? Usually, like Tunisia, people stand down after you give them a lick and a promise, then go about business as usual, with whatever group we can make the new power-that-be, “be” our “boys” that is. Tunisia? They stood back up! Get this? FOR religious freedom today.

You know, they may laugh at the Facebook revolutions, they may even manipulate some of them.

But you know what? Now that we can talk to one another directly, they are having a harder and harder time atomizing us into factions. I may be overly optimistic, but Global Hegemony, Global Capitalism, and Global Empire seems to be turning into Global Humanism, Global Cooperation and Global Unity on the ground level.

We seem to know someone has some damnation coming, and it ain’t we the slaves. “I have no home.” “My kids are hungry.” “My Mother is sick.” “I have no job.” “They shot at us today.” “Cry Freedom!”

That’s some pretty subversive stuff, when it spreads like wildfire. Its pretty revolutionary thinking to realize we are all in the same dire straights.

I’m just sitting here wondering. If they can’t atomize us anymore, will we atomize the empire?

There’s a long history of the Story of Empires; but it doesn’t seem to be playing out the same way anymore.

There’s a Road to Perdition and I’m ready to sit in the middle of it, in opposition to the Rhodes Scholars of Economic Exploitation by the Few.

Right next to the rest of the World.

Empires, get ready.

We’rrrrrrrrre Heeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrre!