Bulletin N° 802
The successful 1935
Nazi propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl.
Subject :
The 21st-Century Brainwash = A white settler colony + The extreme
concentration of private wealth in the midst of general impoverishment.
29 May 2018
Grenoble, France
Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
“Revolution from the top down,” sometimes known as
Fascism, has been examined and analyzed from a variety of vantage points.
Wilhelm Reich’s classic study, The Mass
Psychology of Fascism (1933), was written during the crisis in
Germany and rejects the notion that the concept of fascism can be understood as
an ideology of an individual or of a single nationality or ethnic or political
group. He also rejects the classic socio-economic explanation of fascism
promoted by orthodox Marxists. Instead, he understands fascism as an expression
of the irrational character structure of the average human being whose primary,
biological needs and impulses have been suppressed for thousands of years. In
this study, which was based on clinical work he conducted when living in
Berlin, Reich analyses the social function of this suppression and describes
how the authoritarian family and the church played a major role in forming the human
character structure that created organized fascist movements in the first
place.
Franz Neumann’s book, Behemoth,
The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944
(1944), offers a penetrating study of the interrelationship between politics
and economics, public and semi-public institutions. Here the role of ideology
that is constantly enforced by a political machine (i.e. the Nazi Party) is
seen progressively taking control of every social institution, with the
significant exception of big business, which remains flexible (i.e. independent
of state dogma) in its essential quest for private profits.
There are many other notable monographs on the
death of democracy and the rise of German fascism, like William Allen’s case
study of the town of Thalburg, near Hanover, in The Nazi
Seizure of Power, The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945 (1965) and
Robert O. Paxton’s much disturbing book, Vichy
France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944 (1971) which recounts the ease with which
Europeans accommodated themselves to the fascist capitalist structure and its
peculiar requirements.
In light of these 20th-century
studies of Fascism, Sheldon S. Wolin’s book, Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism (Princeton University Press, 2008) offers an interesting
departure from the above mentioned books (with the exception of Reich’s argument
that fascism is the consequence of character structure that has been molded for
millennia by institutions created by mankind). Wolin’s thesis is that a new form
of totalitarianism, different from that which evolved from “failed democracies”
has emerged from putatively “strong democracies.” He introduces three concepts to analyze this
new political phenomenon: “Inverted Totalitarianism”; “Managed Democracy”; and
“Superpower”, as an independent agent. The first term refers to the new style
of behavior, he calls “political disengagement” in place of the old fascist
model of mass mobilization. The population today internalizes co-operation and
focuses on “the appearance of freedom”; it relies more on private media than on
public agencies for propaganda of official perceptions of events. It does not
require coercion, police power and the messianic ideology used by the Nazis.
This system wields total power without appearing to, without concentration
camps, and labor camps; or by having to force ideological uniformity and
suppressing dissident elements, so long as they remain ineffectual. Thus we see
the population morphing from “sovereign people” to “patient subjects,” and the
concept of democracy change from “a method of popularizing power” to “a brand
name for a marketable product.”
The second concept,
“Managed Democracy,” professes to be the opposite of what it really is. It is
promoted by the practice and the psychology of advertising and the rule of
market forces in society. This new phenomenon in society, according to Wolin,
produces a population with imagination, but very little scientific knowledge.
The masters of images and their manipulation govern society, which is
“self-pacifying”, and Universities have become places where there is little
debate on important issues. Corporate power is in charge of Managed Democracy,
and the Military-Industial Complex is in charge of “Superpower”. The aim of
both is maximum profits for private corporations. The privatization of public
services and functions represtents the steady evolution of coporate Power into
a political form and eventually as “a dominant partner with the State.”
Democracy traditionally
represented a challenge to the status-quo, but today it has become adjusted to
the status-quo. Managed Democracy keeps citizens preoccupied with peripheral
and/or private conditions of human life. As a result, they fail to focus on
political corruption and betrayal of public trust. Instead, the important
issues become “gay marriages” and charges of “sexual harassment.” Meanwhile,
imperialism is incompatible with real democracy; imperial conquests represent
the conquest of democratic politics and its conversion into “Inverted
Totalitarianism.” Militarism is the partner of imperialism; it creates empire;
it defends empire, it polices and expands empire. Under Managed Democracy,
militarism is not distinct form government.
The third concept
introduced by Wolin, “Superpower,” is the sponsor, the defender and the manager
of American imperialism. It is hidden in executive-branch secrecy and remains
“beyond the understanding” of ordinary people; it involves the use of weapons
of mass destruction, clandestine and “false flag” operations, and fantastic
sums of money for foreign and domestic operations – all at the expense of
public services, like education, health care, pensions, minimum wages and
government regulations.
Such an analysis in the
short term, points to the end of the American Republic, as it is unlikely that
political parties will bring the US military-industrial complex and the 16
secret Intelligence Agencies under democratic control. In the long term,
internal colonialism - in which the US is financing the empire through
regressive taxes and pillage of social services - will produce new contradictions
and the excessive exploitation of indigenous populations will challenge the
historic notion that imperialist hegemony requires “domestic buy-offs.”
The 13 items below reflect deep
contradictions within the capitalist political economy and the historic regression
to militarism for securing the constant flow of maximum profits. At no time in
history has it been more apparent that government control of state apparatuses
is ruled exclusively in the interests of the owners of great capital, as a
clas; who nevertheless must negotiate from time to time with one another to
successful maintain the system from which they reap great private rewards at
even greater public costs.
Francis Feeley
Professor emeritus of American Studies
University Grenoble-Alpes
Director of Research
University of Paris-Nanterre
Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social
Movements
The University of California-San Diego
a.
How to Honor
Memorial Day
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/28/how-to-honor-memorial-day/
by Ray McGovern
How best to show respect for the U.S. troops killed
in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families on Memorial Day? Simple:
Avoid euphemisms like “the fallen” and expose the lies about what a great idea
it was to start those wars in the first place and then to “surge” tens of
thousands of more troops into those fools’ errands. First, let’s be
clear on at least this much: the 4,500 U.S. troops killed in Iraq so far and
the 2,350 killed in Afghanistan [by May 2015] did not “fall.” They were
wasted on no-win battlefields by politicians and generals cheered on by neocon
pundits and mainstream “journalists” almost none of whom gave a rat’s patootie
about the real-life-and-death troops. They were throwaway soldiers. And,
as for the “successful surges,” they were just P.R. devices to buy some “decent
intervals” for the architects of these wars and their boosters to get space
between themselves and the disastrous endings while pretending that those
defeats were really “victories squandered” all at the “acceptable” price of
about 1,000 dead U.S. soldiers each and many times that in dead Iraqis and
Afghans.
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b.
America’s Fifth
Column Will Destroy Russia
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49510.htm
This
is the lecture I would have given if I had been able to accept the invitation
to address the St. Petersburg Economic Conference in Russia this weekend.
by Paul Craig Roberts
Executive Summary: From the
standpoint of Russia’s dilemma, this is an important column. Putin’s
partial impotence via-a-vis Washington is due to the grip that neoliberal
economics exercises over the Russian government. Putin cannot break with the
West, because he believes that Russian economic development is dependent on
Russia’s integration within the Western economy. That is what neoliberal
economics tells the Russian economic and financial establishment.
Everyone should
understand that I am not a pro-Russian anti-American. I am anti-war,
especially nuclear war. My concern is that the inability of the Russian
government to put its foot down is due to its belief that Russian development,
despite all the talk about the Eurasian partnership and the Silk Road, is
dependent on being integrated with the West. This totally erroneous belief
prevents the Russian government from any decisive break with the West.
Consequently, Putin continues to accept provocations in order to avoid a
decisive break that would cut Russia off from the West. In Washington and
the UK this is interpreted as a lack of resolve on Putin’s part and encourages
an escalation in provocations that will intensify until Russia’s only option is
surrender or war.
If the Russian government did not
believe that it needed the West, the government could give stronger responses
to provocations that would make clear that there are limits to what Russia will
tolerate. It would also make Europe aware that its existence hangs in the
balance. The combination of Trump abusing Europe and Europe’s recognition
of the threat to its own existence of its alignment with an aggressive
Washington would break the Western alliance and NATO. But Putin cannot
bring this about because he erroneously believes that Russia needs the West.
===========
c.
US Officially Warns Syrian Army From Attacking
Militants In Southern Syria
https://southfront.org/us-officially-warns-syrian-army-from-attacking-militants-in-southern-syria/
On
May 26, the US Department of State released an official statement, in which it
warned the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from launching a military operation in
southern Syria. The US claimed that such operation will be a violation of the
US-Russian de-escalation zone, which was imposed in July of 2017.
“The
United States remains committed to maintaining the stability of the southwest
de-escalation zone and to the ceasefire underpinning it. We also caution the
Syrian regime against any actions that risk broadening the conflict or
jeopardize the ceasefire,” the department of State said in its statement.
The
US also vowed to take “firm and appropriate measures” in response to any attack
of the SAA in southern Syria and accused Russia, the SAA and Iran of violating
several de-escalation zones and stonewalling the Geneva process.
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d.
Syrian War Report – May 28, 2018: Su-57 Stealth
Fighter
Carries Out Strikes In Syria
===========
e.
From: "Alison Weir, If Americans Knew" <contact@ifamericansknew.org>
Sent: Wednesday, 23 May, 2018
Subject: Must-view articles, video on Adelson, Bolton, Rich, Iran, Oil
for Israel
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f.
Managed by the likes of Richard
Stengel,
"our free press" isn't
free at all
(MUST-SEE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCQJm1B29p8
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g.
From: "c.sham" <c.sham@wanadoo.fr>
To: "c.sham" <c.sham@wanadoo.fr>
Sent: Sunday, 27 May, 2018 12:11:09 PM
Subject: qq infos - appel d'urgence de l'UNRWA pour Gaza
Non à la visite
en France de Benyamin Netanyahou, criminel de guerre
N'OUBLIONS PAS ...
Israël ne fait aucune marche-arrière
à Gaza : les frappes israéliennes se poursuivent... ce jour, je viens
d'apprendre que 2 palestiniens tués et un blessé grave suite à un
bombardement dans le sud de la bande ...
en Cisjordanie occupée et à Jérusalem-Est annexée: les arrestations
toutes les nuits se poursuivent...+ celles lors des manif.toutes
réprimées, les palestiniens bouclés dans leur villes/village quand ça
arrange l'Israël ...et l'invasion ponctuelles de n'importe quel lieu (y
compris la zone censée être sous total contrôle de l'Autorité
Palestinienne) les destructions des habitats palestiniens se poursuit
(les prétextes ne manquent pas)...et le rouleau compresseur de la
colonisation de même...
Jérusalem n'est accessible que sur "permis" pour les palestinien-ne-s
de
la Cisjordanie...
et les résidents des faubourgs de Jérusalem sont bouclés à distance...de
la vielle ville !
Ainsi, touristes et pèlerins dont Israël a tant besoin peuvent ne rien
voir, ne rien entendre... et sont victimes de la propagande!
Ci-après quelques points d'info relevés le 23 mai et restés en suspens
dans mes brouillons!...
Israël prévoit la construction de 2 500 logements en Cisjordanie en 2018
Le ministère de la défense a déclaré, jeudi, vouloir demander la
construction de « milliers de logements supplémentaires » dans les
prochains mois.
Le ministre de la défense israélien, Avigdor Lieberman, a annoncé, jeudi
24 mai:
« Les 2 500 nouveaux logements que nous allons approuver lors (d’une
réunion) du comité de planification la semaine prochaine seront
construits immédiatement en 2018 », a-t-il expliqué dans un communiqué.
Il a ajouté qu’il allait également solliciter le feu vert du comité pour
la construction de 1 400 autres logements qui sortiraient de terre
ultérieurement.
« Nous nous sommes engagés à augmenter les constructions en
Judée-Samarie et nous tenons nos promesses », a souligné M. Lieberman
dans le communiqué, se référant à la Cisjordanie occupée en utilisant
son nom biblique.
« Dans les prochains mois, nous allons demander l’autorisation de
construire des milliers de logements supplémentaires », a-t-il précisé.
ET AUSSI :
GAZA : Le commissaire général de l’UNRWA lance un "appel d’urgence"
pour
venir en aide au système de santé à Gaza suite aux heurts à la frontière
entre Gaza et Israël, et alors que de nouvelles frappes israéliennes ont
été lancées contre des positions du Hamas dans la bande de Gaza.
et sur http://www.ujfp.org/
: une vidéo où les militaires tuent avec le
sourire !
< Les militaires israéliens viennent de tuer 60 manifestants désarmés,
et en ont blessé 1300 autres par balle. 1300. Et ils le font le sourire
aux lèvres — vous pouvez visionner une vidéo ici.
allez sur le site http://www.ujfp.org/ pour voir ce
qui reste de cette
vidéo (retirée de "Independant") censurée...
et accéder à la pétition : les vies palestiniennes comptent aussi !
NON
Non à la visite en France de Benyamin Netanyahou, criminel de guerre ;
la « saison croisée » France-Israël doit être annulée !
– Pétition « Nous demandons l’annulation de la saison France-Israël »
lancée le 21 mai 2018 à 18h sur http://annulationfranceisrael.wesign.it/fr
– Pétition des artistes « Contre la saison France-Israël » publiée sur
Médiapart le 4 mai 20
Les pétitionnaires demandent à M. Emmanuel Macron, Président de la
République, l’annulation de la « saison France-Israël 2018 » qui devrait
débuter au mois de juin. Cette « saison » prévoyait de resserrer les
liens entre la France et Israël dans tous les domaines...
===========
h.
From: "Mark
Crispin Miller" <markcrispinmiller@gmail.com>
To: "newsfromunderground" <newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 19 May, 2018
Subject: [MCM] Empire doesn't
have a pretty face.
The trick now is to look directly at it, without turning into stone.
MCM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Caitlin Johnstone <donotreply@wordpress.com>
Date: Fri, May 18, 2018 at 10:38 PM
Subject: [New post] The Friendly Mask Of The Orwellian Oligarchy Has Fallen Off
To: cat@catmcguire.com
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i.
From: "Mark
Crispin Miller" <markcrispinmiller@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, 25
May, 2018
Subject: [MCM] In Gaza,
thousands are now lying in agony, and NEED YOUR HELP!
PayPal has now reinstated
those accounts in Gaza (thanks, again, to Ralph Nader, whose intervention prompted
them to get in touch with me about the problem, which we have finally solved,
after PayPal had an Arabic-speaking employee call the nurses and explain the
bureaucratic steps they had to take).
Meanwhile, the suffering
in Gaza is horrendous, largely due to the atrocious toll of the Israeli
snipers' expert aim and shattering ammunition. The nurses therefore need
whatever help you can provide.
I asked Amal to send me
recent photos of that toll. They're here below; but if you're squeamish I don't
recommend you look at
them.
(Here, from last week, is
a good overview of the US press coverage of Gaza, from FAIR:
https://fair.org/home/gaza-the-us-press/)
MCM
From Amal Arafa:
Today we are going through
very harsh things, from the injuries caused by the type of bullets fired by
snipers in Israeli occupation.
The number of
people infected has reached 15,000. Every day, one of them loses one part
of his body because of the quality of the bullets. We are therefore under
intense pressure to monitor the injured with great care.
This requires
great effort and work and we need a large amount of first aid.
Please forgive me the
horror of these pictures, but the world must know what we are going through.
We hope that
you will make more donations so that the injured will receive full care, so
that no loss is caused to any injured person.
Via the following link
www.youcaring.com/run
paypal account
eb.erouq@gmail.com
Thanks to our
friend Mark who helped get PayPal to return donations to us.
===========
j.
From: "CODEPINK" <info@codepink.org>
Sent: Sunday, 27 May, 2018
Subject: What will you remember this Memorial Day?
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Dear Francis, “What was true in 1968 and what remains an ancient truth today
is the understanding that any nation — we are not an exception — any nation
that lives by the sword will ultimately die by the sword,” — Rev. Dr. William
J. Barber. The Poor People’s Campaign went into the streets on May
13th, kicking off 40 days of nonviolent direct action aimed at
shifting our corrupt moral narrative. Each week the Poor People’s
campaign focuses on a different pillar of evil: systemic racism, poverty,
ecological devastation, and—this week—the war economy and militarism. As we begin this Memorial Day weekend,
we remember those who have lost their lives in war and violence. From the
children dying right now of starvation in Yemen, to the peaceful protesters
recently massacred in Gaza, to the countless numbers killed by the U.S. in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and victims of gun violence here in the U.S., we know that
wars and violence never bring us closer to peace. This Memorial Day we are
remembering more than 15,500 Americans killed by gun
violence; 5,000 Yemenis killed in the US-funded Saudi-led war; 400,000
Syrians killed since 2011; 100 Palestinians killed in Gaza since
March 2018; more than a thousand Pakistanis killed by U.S. drone
strikes; and the thousands of other innocent people killed by useless and
unnecessary war and weapons. Stand against militarism and the war economy
this week with the Poor People’s Campaign. Find a local action near you and join us. Last
year, the U.S. spent more than $700 billion on the Pentagon and its
programs. More than $300 billion of that went to weapons manufacturers and
war profiteers. That’s $300 billion of our tax dollars going to line
the pockets of CEOs who are profiting from war. CEOs of the top five
weapons manufacturers like Lockheed, Raytheon, and Boeing in the U.S.
collected salaries that totaled $96 million, while American
communities continue to struggle to provide basic services. This corporate
welfare creates so much excess military equipment that it is given away to
our local police forces. Why do our local police forces need anti-landmine
vehicles or grenade launchers? The answer is, they don’t. War
is stealing from all of us. Our tax dollars are being diverted
away from critical needs in our communities, like food, health care,
education, and housing. In 2017, 23.8¢ of every tax dollar went to the
Pentagon, while just 4.1¢ went to food and housing, 4¢ went
to education, and 1.4¢ went to energy and the environment. While the
people of Flint wait for clean water, military contractors are taking our tax
dollars and profiting from death. People
like you who have had enough are stepping up and heading to their state’s
capitol to demand that we stop these wars. Mother Teresa said, “If we have
no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
This Memorial Day, as we mourn the lives lost at
home and abroad, let’s fight back against the war machine that’s taking from
all of us. Here’s how you can get involved
this week:
Can’t
make it out to your state house this week? Then join us in memorializing
all the lives lost across decades of endless and unjust wars: say yes to
peace by signing the People’s Peace
Treaty with North Korea. Inspired by the Vietnam-era
People’s Peace Treaty, we have initiated a People’s Peace Treaty with North
Korea, to send a clear message that we, the people of the U.S., do not want
another war with North Korea. Our goal is to collect thousands of signatures;
please add your voice for peace. However
you choose to take action on the war economy, we stand with you. Send us photos and details of your actions, so that we
can share the national momentum demanding divestment from war, and
reinvestment in life-affirming solutions. Towards peace,
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email subscription, contact info@codepink.org.
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k.
Chris Hayes on
'Despicable' New Trump Policy
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49508.htm
Must
Watch:
The
United States government is now systematically taking children as young as 53
weeks old away from their parents at the
border, thanks to new directives issued by the Trump administration.
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l.
From: "World Socialist Web Site" <list@wsws.org>
Sent: Monday, 28 May, 2018
Subject: For international action to defend Julian Assange!
The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board call for urgent action to be taken around the world to defend WikiLeaks’ editor Julian Assange. After fighting for close to eight years against relentless persecution by the US government and its allies, the Australian-born journalist is now in tremendous danger of falling into their clutches.
The American ruling class and its counterparts internationally are hostile to WikiLeaks and its editor because he published leaked information that exposed before the world their war crimes, anti-democratic intrigues and corruption. The US government is determined to silence Assange and intimidate all principled journalists and whistleblowers by hauling him before a show trial and convicting him of fraudulent charges of “espionage.” Assange now faces the risk of lengthy imprisonment, or even the death sentence, for revealing the truth.
Read the statement
The Australian section of the ICFI, the Socialist Equality Party, has called a demonstration at Sydney’s central Town Hall Square at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 17. The demonstration has been endorsed by well-known journalist John Pilger and other principled defenders of WikiLeaks. It will demand that the Australian government immediately act to secure Assange’s unconditional freedom and return to Australia. It will also demand that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government guarantee his protection from any attempt to extradite him to the US.
We urge all defenders of WikiLeaks and of democratic rights to circulate information about the June 17 demonstration as widely as possible. Organisations that endorse and intend to participate in the demonstration should inform the SEP (Australia) at sep@sep.org.au. Endorsements will be published on the WSWS beginning tomorrow.
Free Julian Assange! Demand his return to Australia!
m.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12642.htm
The
Century of the Self
Complete Series
- Parts 1 Through 4
This is a must
watch video - 04/08/06
How politicians and
business learned to create and manipulate mass-consumer society.
Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self
tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the
mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the
all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?
Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses.
Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin
doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of
satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.