It’s crazy to me that there is more appeal to living in Brazil than the USA long term. Sure, crime statistics there are high but at the same time, at least Brazil doesn’t just wage war for the sake of keeping the war machine humming. It’s time to look in the mirror and realize we live in a hostile nation.
Re: “I believe the most important action you can take is to do everything you can to dissuade family members and friends from joining any branch of the US military.”
Niccolo Machiavelli pointed out in his classic book The Prince that a ruler can arm his subjects only if he is liked by them (e.g., found to be a legitimate leader who protects their interests). Thus, a ruler needs to cultivate the support of the common citizens and not of the “Mighty”. But this historical truth is no longer valid. With modern techo-war (cheap wood drones, hypersonic cruise missiles, satellite precision targeting, etc.) boots on the ground are no longer needed except in urban occupation warfare (Fallujah, Iraq) and fighting from a long distance is the modus operandi. So, using the COVID shots to weed out the most patriotic soldiers and replace them with paid off slaves recruited the underclass, partly from South America, the military no longer needs the support of common citizens as much.
They (the Ruling Class) no longer need legitimacy to undertake wars. The city-state of Florence, Italy, of Machiavelli, faced something similar when cavalry was replaced by tight formations of soldiers deploying 20-foot long spears and supported by cadres of archers launching arrows from a distance. But now we are talking about hundreds to thousands of miles stand off distance. Our “occupied” army no longer needs or wants common citizens to fight its wars for the interests of solely Oligarchs.
The only upside to this is the Rulers may not need to fabricate a Pearl Harbor, 9/11, sinking of the USS Maine or the Lusitania to galvanize the nation.
As for your suggestion that people read Machiavelli, I suggest not because there are so many pop and academic books that distort what he wrote. Neo-con Leo Strauss intentionally portrayed Machiavelli as evil to drive people away from reading him. Machiavelli cannot be understood without understanding the context in which he wrote, which was a battle between the Oligarchs and the Commoners, in which he advocated for the commoners. But Machiavelli may be obsolete now that Oligarchs have nearly conquered the world.
No, Machiavelli was not a teacher of evil. He said that the means are justified by the ends but only in four emergencies: to fight wars when clear economic interests are threatened, reforming a corrupt state, to quell insurrections, and driving out foreigners. This has all gone out the window because armies are mere mercenary forces now with no loyalty needed or wanted. So, Israel can bomb Gaza to smithereens, the psychopaths don’t care about what you think about it. War is one psychopath fighting another. There no longer is a “just war”.
As to the theme of your webpage – By Any Memes Necessary – Machiavelli as you know was a Realist who said that “Necessity has no law”; it is existential. What has become obsolete is Machiavelli’s imploring Florence’s Oligarchs to consider Cicero’s “meme”: “let the salvation of the Roman people be the supreme law”. When Oligarch’s take over a nation (and the globe), and corporations rule not government, it is called “Fascism”. On fascism suggest reading Clara Mattei’s book The Capital Order (2022) to understand our current situation. Arrivederci, Grazia.
It’s crazy to me that there is more appeal to living in Brazil than the USA long term. Sure, crime statistics there are high but at the same time, at least Brazil doesn’t just wage war for the sake of keeping the war machine humming. It’s time to look in the mirror and realize we live in a hostile nation.
Re: “I believe the most important action you can take is to do everything you can to dissuade family members and friends from joining any branch of the US military.”
Niccolo Machiavelli pointed out in his classic book The Prince that a ruler can arm his subjects only if he is liked by them (e.g., found to be a legitimate leader who protects their interests). Thus, a ruler needs to cultivate the support of the common citizens and not of the “Mighty”. But this historical truth is no longer valid. With modern techo-war (cheap wood drones, hypersonic cruise missiles, satellite precision targeting, etc.) boots on the ground are no longer needed except in urban occupation warfare (Fallujah, Iraq) and fighting from a long distance is the modus operandi. So, using the COVID shots to weed out the most patriotic soldiers and replace them with paid off slaves recruited the underclass, partly from South America, the military no longer needs the support of common citizens as much.
They (the Ruling Class) no longer need legitimacy to undertake wars. The city-state of Florence, Italy, of Machiavelli, faced something similar when cavalry was replaced by tight formations of soldiers deploying 20-foot long spears and supported by cadres of archers launching arrows from a distance. But now we are talking about hundreds to thousands of miles stand off distance. Our “occupied” army no longer needs or wants common citizens to fight its wars for the interests of solely Oligarchs.
The only upside to this is the Rulers may not need to fabricate a Pearl Harbor, 9/11, sinking of the USS Maine or the Lusitania to galvanize the nation.
As for your suggestion that people read Machiavelli, I suggest not because there are so many pop and academic books that distort what he wrote. Neo-con Leo Strauss intentionally portrayed Machiavelli as evil to drive people away from reading him. Machiavelli cannot be understood without understanding the context in which he wrote, which was a battle between the Oligarchs and the Commoners, in which he advocated for the commoners. But Machiavelli may be obsolete now that Oligarchs have nearly conquered the world.
No, Machiavelli was not a teacher of evil. He said that the means are justified by the ends but only in four emergencies: to fight wars when clear economic interests are threatened, reforming a corrupt state, to quell insurrections, and driving out foreigners. This has all gone out the window because armies are mere mercenary forces now with no loyalty needed or wanted. So, Israel can bomb Gaza to smithereens, the psychopaths don’t care about what you think about it. War is one psychopath fighting another. There no longer is a “just war”.
As to the theme of your webpage – By Any Memes Necessary – Machiavelli as you know was a Realist who said that “Necessity has no law”; it is existential. What has become obsolete is Machiavelli’s imploring Florence’s Oligarchs to consider Cicero’s “meme”: “let the salvation of the Roman people be the supreme law”. When Oligarch’s take over a nation (and the globe), and corporations rule not government, it is called “Fascism”. On fascism suggest reading Clara Mattei’s book The Capital Order (2022) to understand our current situation. Arrivederci, Grazia.