The Price of Empire

Mike Johnson’s package passed; now Americans are on the hook for another $95 billion. April 22, 2024 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( The Price of Empire SEAN RING Dear Reader, “War is the health of the State,” Ralph Bourne once wrote. And by the looks of what Congress has just done, it seems just that. Kevin McCarthy must be laughing his ass off. What was the point of getting rid of him when his replacement was weaker? Mike Johnson was supposed to be the man who’d lead the Republicans back to the promised land. However, his worldview changed after a meeting with the CIA. Oh, I bet it did, Mike! “Ukraine is a core interest for Moscow in a way that it is not for the United States.” Remember who said that? Barack Obama. Then again, maybe he didn’t know Hunter Biden was an alleged CIA asset. $95 Billion Today From [Bloomberg]( The US House passed $61 billion in fresh aid for Ukraine on Saturday, ending a six-month political impasse during which Kyiv’s stockpiles dwindled in its war against Russia. The Ukraine aid will be combined with funding for Israel and Taiwan, for a foreign assistance package totaling $95 billion. Speaker Mike Johnson worked with Democrats and overcame fierce objections from within his own party to funding Ukraine, ultimately pushing that legislation to passage on a 311 to 112 bipartisan vote. “We did our work here and history will judge us well,” Johnson said after the vote. I never trust anyone who says anything about “history” judging them well. How the heck can they know? All this means is that this war will be dragged out, and more Ukrainians will be sent to the meatgrinder. It’s a human catastrophe. At least Johnson was transparent about this: his son is entering Annapolis this autumn, and he wants his kid out of this conflict. From [CNN]( To put it bluntly, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys. My son is going to begin in the Naval Academy this fall. This is a live-fire exercise for me as it is so many American families. This is not a game; this is not a joke. And what did Johnson’s meeting with the CIA entail? Again, from CNN: And more recently, Johnson received a key intelligence briefing from CIA Director Bill Burns, who painted a picture of the dire situation on the battlefield in Ukraine and the global consequences of inaction, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. The briefing left a lasting impression, and Johnson became increasingly convinced the fate of Western democracy was on his shoulders, sources close to him said. Just what we need: another politician with a God Complex. [DO NOT Buy Another AI Stock Until You See This Urgent Announcement]( For the first time ever, 3 of the top AI experts in the world have come together to form a historic partnership that could soon change the way that thousands of people (including you) think about and invest in AI. They’ve just hosted an exclusive event where they reveal their new strategy. [Click here to watch now.]( [Click Here To Learn More]( Captured Congress Look at this goddamned disgrace. Credit: [@Sorenthek]( Heck, I’m not even an American citizen anymore, and I’m wondering why Congress Creatures are waving Ukrainian flags in an official US building. It’s beyond the pale. Tucker Carlson was on Joe Rogan’s podcast recently and had this to say about the Congress Creatures, courtesy of [Zero Hedge]( People don't say that because they're worried about being punished. They’re worried about someone putting kiddie porn on their computer. Members of Congress are terrified of the intel agencies. I'm not guessing at that. They've told me that — including people on the intel committee, including people who run the intel committee. … It’s playing out in front of everyone, and no one cares and no one does anything about it. Carlson said. I think the reason is because they’re threatened. And if you look at the committee chairman who allowed this shit to happen year after year, they’re all - and I don’t know, people say, ‘Oh, they’re compromised or being blackmailed,’ whatever. I don’t have evidence of that. But I know them. And they have all the things to hide. I know that for a fact. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to imagine that, you know, some committee chairman who’s allowing warrantless spying on Americans to continue, or whatever abuse they’re allowing... It’s not impossible to imagine that some guy with a drinking problem or a weird sex life — and that’s very common, very common up there — that’s why they’re doing it. Because they don’t want to be exposed. … I said to somebody, a very powerful person, the other day, in a conversation in my kitchen, an elected official - holds a really senior position... But I was like, ‘All these people are controlled. They’ve all got weird s*x lives, and all these things they’re hiding, and they’re being blackmailed by the intel agencies.’ And he said, and I’m quoting, ‘I know.’ I was like, okay, so at this point, we’re just sort of admitting that’s real? Like, why do we allow that to continue?” Knowing this, it’s really easy to see why so many Congress Creatures vote against the national interest. Empire Abroad, Tyranny at Home In Murray Rothbard’s masterful essay, “War, Peace, and the State,” he writes: We cannot leave our topic without saying at least a word about the domestic tyranny that is the inevitable accompaniment of war. The great Randolph Bourne realized that "war is the health of the State." It is in war that the State really comes into its own: swelling in power, in number, in pride, in absolute dominion over the economy and the society. Society becomes a herd, seeking to kill its alleged enemies, rooting out and suppressing all dissent from the official war effort, happily betraying truth for the supposed public interest. Society becomes an armed camp, with the values and the morale – as Albert Jay Nock once phrased it – of an "army on the march." The root myth that enables the State to wax fat off war is the canard that war is a defense by the State of its subjects. The facts, of course, are precisely the reverse. For if war is the health of the State, it is also its greatest danger. A State can only "die" by defeat in war or by revolution. In war, therefore, the State frantically mobilizes the people to fight for it against another State, under the pretext that it is fighting for them. But all this should occasion no surprise; we see it in other walks of life. For which categories of crime does the State pursue and punish most intensely – those against private citizens or those against itself? The gravest crimes in the State's lexicon are almost invariably not invasions of person and property, but dangers to its own contentment: for example, treason, desertion of a soldier to the enemy, failure to register for the draft, conspiracy to overthrow the government. Murder is pursued haphazardly unless the victim be a policeman, or Gott soll hüten, an assassinated Chief of State; failure to pay a private debt is, if anything, almost encouraged, but income tax evasion is punished with utmost severity; counterfeiting the State's money is pursued far more relentlessly than forging private checks, etc. All this evidence demonstrates that the State is far more interested in preserving its own power than in defending the rights of private citizens. Wrap Up Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan all get prizes from the US Treasury this week. The American people better have paid their taxes on April 15, as that’s how those other countries get paid. And if not by tax, then by inflation, as the Fed will have to print money to make up for any shortfalls. The only escape is to look out for yourself and generate the highest returns possible. Voting harder will do nothing for you. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening X (formerly Twitter): [@seaniechaos]( Rate this email Like Dislike Thanks for rating this content! Looks like something went wrong. Please try to rate again. In Case You Missed It… Yet Another Sanctions Backfire SEAN RING Sanctions are useless, counterproductive virtue signals. They accomplish nothing, especially against countries like Russia, which has the means to fight them. However, even against countries like Iran, which may not be big but is as smart, sanctions are evadable. I’ve written many times about why I hate sanctions. Let me reiterate my arguments here. Why I Hate Sanctions From “[What Sanctions Accomplish]( originally written in the Rude in June 2021: Back to [Woodrow] Wilson. This man ran on an antiwar ticket only to enter the US into World War I a mere five months after his re-election. And you thought only modern politicians lie like rugs! Like a White Castle-induced fart, Wilson described his sanctions as peaceful, silent, and deadly. Wilson packaged sanctions as a peaceful alternative to spilling blood over a grievance as with his sleight-of-hand with the war. Except sanctions are entirely civilian affairs. War didn't use to be like that. Civilians were largely left out of it. And trading with the enemy was not only standard; it was seen as a way to compensate civilians who were wrongly harmed. The late antiwar activist Justin Raimondo wrote in a post in 1998: The concept of economic sanctions as a weapon also assumes international economic regulations and enforcement agencies, setting up a cadre of bureaucrats who sit in judgment of "outlaw nations": in effect, the apparatus of world economic planners. And contrary to Wilson's predictions, real war has often followed the use of sanctions. Over 500,000 Iraqi children died as a result of sanctions after the First Gulf War. That was the price old Maddie Albright was happy to pay, despite another authentic and costly war following soon after. The price for what prize? After another nearly two decades in Iraq, that prize, whatever it was, clearly eluded us. Countries With Smart Human Capital Find Ways Furthermore, one of my main problems with the Russian sanctions was that they could quickly turn their pipelines east. Even before the USG blew up Nordstream, Russia had already turned thinking in a different direction: Credit: [intellinews.com]( The upshot is this: Europe isn’t the only market for Russian oil and gas. First, it was pipelines. Now, it’s rail and shipping. You can imagine my complete lack of surprise when I read this in [Bloomberg]( The article begins (bolds mine): Russia is pressing ahead with the construction of two new transport corridors linking Asia and Europe, seeking to weaken sanctions over its war in Ukraine at the same time as Middle East turmoil is disrupting global trade. The shipping and rail networks via Iran and an Arctic sea passage could strengthen Moscow’s pivot toward Asian powerhouses China and India and away from Europe. They have the potential to embed Russia at the heart of much of international trade even as the US and its allies are trying to isolate President Vladimir Putin over the war. Credit: [Bloomberg]( Compared to the Suez Canal, these routes cut 30-50% of the transport time off. Not only that, but this new way allows Russia to avoid Houthi drones, Israeli ships, and Iranian missiles. According to [TASS]( the Russian News Agency, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said, The main focus is on the development of the North-South international transportation corridor. The North-South is the shortest route, running entirely via friendly countries' territories. Given what is seen in the Red Sea region, the North-South will gain global significance and supply Europe with cargo on more favorable terms. [Secret A.I. Facility To Shock The World!]( [This A.I. chip]( looks like any other chip… yet I believe it will play a major role in the artificial intelligence boom. It’s currently being mass-produced by the millions as we speak. And you’ll never believe who’s behind these powerful A.I. chips… [Click here now for the full story.]( [Click Here To Learn More]( The Issues Here’s the irritating thing: these projects are so expensive they’d never have been considered without the stupidity of Western sanctions forcing Russia’s hand. More from Bloomberg: Outdated Iranian infrastructure is holding up the development of the International North South Transportation Corridor connecting India to the European part of Russia. And even as accelerating climate change melts Arctic ice to make the Northern Sea Route, or NSR, a more viable option, formidable logistical challenges remain along Russia’s remote coastline. Russia is preparing to invest more than $25 billion to upgrade the route via Iran and improve facilities along the Russian Arctic shoreline, including a fleet of domestically manufactured ice-breakers. It also plans to patrol the NSR route with a network of drone bases, Izvestia newspaper reported, citing an unidentified Defense Ministry official. Russia issued a 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) loan to Iran last May to build a vital missing rail link that will stretch 162 kilometers (101 miles) to connect the city of Rasht along the Caspian Sea coast to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. Once completed, the railway will allow cargo supplies from St. Petersburg to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main export port on the Persian Gulf. Wrap Up Joke Biden took aim and shot America squarely in the foot. Again. These ridiculous sanctions never worked against Russia. In fact, you can say the only thing they’ve done is they forced Russia to devise new and innovative ways to evade the existing world order and build a new one of their own! Dropping the sanctions would be the best thing to happen to the West, but facesaving is far more important in an election year. The Russians have outsmarted the West again. Sadly, that’s the way things are nowadays. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2024 Paradigm Press, LLC. 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. We welcome comments or suggestions at feedback@rudeawakening.info. This address is for feedback only. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, [contact us here]( or call (844)-731-0984. 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