Save a crumbling empire

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of LA Progressive.

While many believe that Joe Biden’s declining poll numbers and cognitive issues led to his replacement as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer, it is more likely that this event was merely a symptom of a much deeper, more pervasive crisis facing unseen and in some cases unknown forces relentlessly seeking global domination.

For generations, an oligarchy of wealthy individuals and their families, large corporations, and quasi-criminal gangs have lurked in the shadows, buying, trading, and controlling scumbag politicians while convincing the unsuspecting, toiling masses that, as active participants in a so-called democracy, they hold the future of the United States in their hands. Their ritualistic visits to the polls are limited and constrained by the silent use of force and intimidation to ensure that voters never have a realistic chance to elect anyone who will threaten the oligarchy’s hegemony.

Related: Will the African World Be Ready if the British Empire Strikes Back?

Even now, as voters gather and campaign on a Kamala Harris high, many are unaware that the sole responsibility of elected national officials is to provide the machinery of government to the small, powerful elite as they seek to maintain and expand a global empire. The elite group’s unfettered access to the planet’s natural resources and markets often depends heavily on the strategic use of the nation’s diplomatic corps, military, and intelligence agencies. For decades, these imperialists, with the help of servile politicians, have wreaked havoc on underdeveloped regions of the world. By destabilizing governments, assassinating leaders, fomenting conflict, staging invasions, and in some cases waging full-scale wars, the empire has successfully crushed its opponents and plundered the wealth of nations mortally wounded by these attacks.

President Biden has been a good and loyal servant of the empire. But unfortunately for him, his term in office came at a time when he was not supposed to survive. The discovery of oil in Gaza and visions of highly profitable resorts in the region created the need to cleanse the territory of its indigenous population. President Biden dutifully financed and cooperated with the Israeli government in its campaign of genocide, but by killing nearly a quarter of a million Palestinians, he branded himself a war criminal in the eyes of most of the world. His image was already being threatened by suspicions of NATO shenanigans in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

mark fancher May 23, 2024 (11:57 PM)

In an earlier era, Biden’s villainous image would not have been an obstacle to saving his political career. The empire’s power was so great that those who decried his Yankee imperialist violence would have simply been crushed. But times have changed. The empire is rapidly losing its grip on the world, and suddenly the oligarchy finds itself in the extraordinary position of having to seduce and charm forces it would normally bulldoze in its drive to seize and exploit territory, markets, and resources. This challenge is heightened when the empire’s figurehead is seen as a war criminal with an agenda that runs counter to the widely held vision of a world living righteously as children of God, enjoying independence and self-determination.

Elites note with concern the tragic failures that continue to occur in the Global South, indicating that “the natives are restless.” The wretched of the earth (as Fanon called them) have thrown out the script and in the process upset the delicate balance between instability and division among the native population and the management of internal chaos by a local neocolonial strongman or regime.

Related: Keep the Faith, Young Activists, Because Justice for the Palestinians is Coming

The imperial script calls for those who carry out coups to seize power themselves and to welcome help from the empire, not only to dominate the population but also to plunder natural resources. But recent coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have had the exact opposite result, with coup leaders demanding that imperialists leave and stay out of the Sahel region of Africa. The three countries entered into a mutual defense pact when Western powers, speaking through their proxy, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), threatened to force the reinstatement of ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. The three countries formalized their relationship by forming the Alliance of Sahelian States, which is currently ousting France and the US from the region.

Likewise, the imperial script also includes “gang warfare.” Such conflicts usually generate internal violence that distracts from global capitalists stealing a country’s resources. But in Haiti, things have gone wrong. While the media characterizes the violence raging in that country as gang warfare, ABC’s Matt Rivers suggests otherwise. He commented:

“I spoke to a senior diplomatic official in Haiti on Monday, a very level-headed and calculated person who is not given to exaggeration. When we were discussing the situation, I used the word ‘gangs’ and he interrupted me. ‘I wouldn’t use that term if I were you,’ he said, and he argued that gangs are what you find in American cities. In Haiti, there are multiple large criminal groups with enormous firepower, who are now united with the avowed goal of overthrowing the government. ‘They are armed rebel groups and this is a civil war,’ the source said. His point is striking. This is not just gang violence anymore. This is an attempted insurgency.”

For those who still have doubts, Jimmy Cherizier, the gang leader who receives the most attention, said: “Now our struggle enters a new phase: to overthrow the entire system, the system that is made up of five percent of the people who control 95 percent of the country’s wealth.”

Finally, the imperialist script always includes a strong dictator, except in those cases where the individual who is supposed to play that role ties his fate to the people of his country rather than to foreign capitalists. Such renegades are targeted by the empire for removal or death. In Venezuela, the people were bombarded with negative propaganda about leftist President Nicolas Maduro, but they showed up and voted him back into office anyway.

Related: Don’t Trust the US to Be the Way or the Death of Zionism

It should be clear then that it is all falling apart for the empire. And not just in the Global South. Everywhere, awareness of Zionism continues to rise, and in the wake of successful “non-commitment” campaigns, university camps, international legal challenges to genocide in Gaza, and Israeli Defense Force human rights investigations and investigations, it seems that Israel’s role as a proxy for US imperialism has been irreparably damaged.

While Democratic Party stalwarts enthusiastically place their most cherished hopes and faith in the fresh new face and voice of Kamala Harris, the tragic irony is that the real beneficiaries of their delusions will be an oligarchy that cares nothing for them and will happily replace a tarnished Joe Biden with someone who may sing a different tune but who will ultimately be tasked with somehow taming a world that seems determined to ignore the script and defy the will of the empire. It will matter little what Harris’s personal policy preferences are. The job description for those who sit in the Oval Office is to serve the interests of imperialism. There is no doubt that Harris will do this well, or, like the president who preceded her, will find herself replaced by another, more willing servant of the oligarchy.