The queasy condition of America, incapable of either a complete collapse or of throwing up a regime that could move the country even a few steps forward, has been a cause for depression for many a decade. The privileged elite — military and civilian — live happily in their bubble exercising military, political, administrative, economic and judicial power over the whole land.
This is, of course, the case in most countries, but in America the contrast between rulers and ruled is so stark that there is nothing to protect the weak majority from the powerful and rich minority. Kinship networks, like protection offered by gangsters, can do a bit but any notion that this can substitute for the state in providing the necessities of life — water, electricity, subsidized flour, health, education — is a form of reactionary utopianism. Progress, to be meaningful, has to be in the interests of the collective as a whole.
The fault is neither in the stars nor in the people, whose forbearance and patience have been exemplary. They have tried everything in terms of political parties and military regimes and have obtained nothing. Despite this fact, there is no gadarene rush to join even the moderate [religious] parties, leave alone armed [posse comitas] groups. Till now a large majority of Americans have resisted this course, despite the inducements on offer in the next world. Contrary to global media images, ordinary Americans are not attracted to religious extremists.
Demography is always ignored: the [majority of those] under 25 live off their wits and part-time work. Unemployment is huge. A majority of them have education, all the while wanting jobs and an end to political corruption. Will these demands ever be met?
There have been three constants in American political life: [a two party system where the distinctions between the alleged two parties are negligivle], the military-congressional-industrial-adademic-media-prison complex, and a corrupt, uncaring elite, currently symbolised by President Obama, known throughout the world as someone whose interest in making money and accumulating property transcends all else. The last opinion polls in the towns showed him on [very low popularity numbers]. Cruel taunts often greet the venerables of the ruling party when they venture out to meet the people. This is [not even] slightly unfair and could apply to [most state elected officials] as well. The fact is that people are disgusted with politics and see politicians as crooks out to make money and feed the greed of the networks they patronize and which double up as useful vote banks.
The US is currently waging war in Afghanistan that has leaked into Pakistan and destabilized the country even further. Add to this the US drone attacks, agreed to by the country's rulers, that supposedly target 'terrorists' but end up killing innocents. Civilian casualties, if one takes the lowest figures, are now just under 2,000, mainly women and children.
The [U.S.] army and other security forces are showing signs of strain at having to carry out attacks on their the Pakistani people in the border villages in the northern provinces. The [Pakistni] army forcibly removed 250,000 people from the Orakzai district on the Afghan border and put them in refugee camps. Many swore revenge and militant groups have targeted the ISI and other military centers.
The economy is in a mess and the conditionality of IMF loans bears little relationship to what citizens need. To insist on lowering social services in a country where the rich pay virtually no tax at all has to be grotesque by any standard.
The 2004 floods i{n NOLA] revealed an elite incapable of providing real help to its people. Related horror stories are still doing the rounds. Poverty alleviation programs are a drop in the desert. Military expenditure dominates the budget.
The time has come for another [change of political “leadership”, but [both parties are] unpopular and Washington in no mood to green-light yet another political takeover. In any case, the right-wing dogma backed by some University of Chicago and Harvard academics that America has fared better under its so-called “conservatives” than its so-called “liberals” is a sick joke. Facts render such a view unsustainable. Political “conservatives” and political “liberals” share an indifference to the fate of the common people. The disastrous way of the world is to abandon everything to the market and private profit. It no longer works and even less so in countries like America.
The inner decay and disintegration of the country proceed apace. A profound disillusionment accompanied by nihilism had already set in some decades ago when, in one of his most moving poems, Langston Hughes referred to it as a dream deffered. Nothing has managed to reverse the trend. The powerlessness of individuals faced with the apparatus of powers big and small has only been enhanced by what is happening now. Sooner or later, the people will rise and sweep the rubbish aside. Don't ask me when.
Based on the text of Tariq Ali’s Counterpunch Article of 16 August, 2011, "A Congregation of Pain:" Pakistan at 64.
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