Friday, November 7, 2014

Garry Leech — Revolution in the United States


OK, now it's on the table.

Leech speculates that the revolution against the American Empire is already underway on the periphery and could eventually spread to the core unless neoliberal, neo-imperialist and neocolonial policy changes.

I have been noticing more agitation on both left and right that it's clear that the democratic process is not working and its time for increased civil disobedience. Another symptom is the rise of extremism in politics.

Counterpunch
Revolution in the United States
Garry Leech

5 comments:

Wonni said...

Hi Mike,
I do not quite understand the background of this post. What do you mean when you say that "the revolution against the American Empire is already underway". And what does "democratic process is not working and its time for Increased civil disobedience" mean? How should citizens not obey?
regards

Tom Hickey said...

Wonni, empires depend on colonies and vassal states for resources. The chief resource since WWI has been petroleum. The story of the Middle East is about petroleum and the "troubles" there are uprisings against the empire by the periphery.

Various voices on the left and right in the US have been raise to say that there is no recourse through the voting both to address grievances and that other action is needed. This is evidenced by the rise in right wing militia activity such as broke out at the Bundy ranch, and on the left by civil disobedience often with the intention of being arrested at demonstrations, as well as confrontational environmental activism (which the government has classified as domestic terrorism).

We also see the government taking steps to address rising social unrest through the DHS, militarization of police, and laws that suspend civil liberties. So resistance is mounting not only on the periphery but also at the core.

Wonni said...

Hello Tom, Thanks for your reply. Now I understand the situation better. Thank you.
I have only a few small understanding questions: You said: "and did other action is needed" What do you mean with “other action”? And how exactly does the "militarization of police" express? And "laws did suspend civil liberties". I've already read about “the sham voter ID laws” which affect the Mexican-Americans in particular. Did you mean this with the phrase "laws did suspend civil liberties", or something else?
Regards

Tom Hickey said...

Constitutional rights and civil liberties were effectively suspended after 9/11 to address "the terrorist threat to the homeland," and this has been kept in place owing to endless war.

Along with this, the US claimed the right to "enhanced interrogation techniques" that amounted to torture, "rendition" amounting to kidnapping, and "indefinite detention" tantamount to disappearing someone.

This was later amplified through the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security as the first departmental level intelligence service, comparable to the dreaded "Ministry of the Interior" of totalitarian states. This was a huge step for the US to take.

Militarization of domestic security followed as military "surplus" was made available to local police departments, supposed to address "terrorism." US police forces are now fully armed militarily just short of having tanks, but they do have armored personnel carriers. Drones on the way.

Snowden's revelations confirmed what most who were paying attention suspected — the establishment of a surveillance state and "total information awareness" (lack of privacy) as an adjunct of the national security state.

I was not thinking at the time of the voter ID laws as means of voter suppression but that too is a violation of constitutional rights.

By other action is needed, I was referring to the contention by the more radical on both left and right that the electoral process is broken and it is becoming necessary to undertake civil disobedience for redress of grievances.

There are different levels of civil disobedience from sit-ins that block traffic and impede commerce to revolutionary acts, like Tim McVeigh blowing up a federal building. Generally speaking the right is much more militant than the left in the US.

Wonni said...

Hello Tom,

I am very impressed with your response. I have learned a lot of new, even though I watch daily news. I must say that I am from Germany. So of course, not all American events are reported in German news.

I heard for the first time of the militarization of domestic security, but I can imagine what arguments supported this militarization. Especially after the 9/11. People were afraid after that attack. Of course upgraded the police. I can understand that.

I havent´ heard anything about the "contention ... that the electoral process is broken and it is becoming necessary to undertake civil disobedience for redress of grievances". This is very interesting. Has this "civil disobedience" drawn any success so far? How does the government react on that?

In Germany was also much discussion about the revelations of Snowden. For a time, the party "Die Grünen" wanted to get Snowden to Germany for an interview about his revelations, but this was rejected by the government. The government feared, to hurt the partnership with the United States. But Germany was not happy about the surveillance state America. After all, our Chancellor Angela Merkel was spyed out by America. After that Germany requested America to stop spying on allies. Was this also reported in America? What are the Americans think about the monitoring of allied?

And I have one other question for you. Would you be so kind and click on the next link? It appears a survey, Which I have created. I perform it for my bachelor thesis. It's about blogs on the internet. The survey is short and completely anonymous. Would you do me favor?
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Regards
Wonni