It's All About da Benjamins
“Why do we fight wars? It's all about the Benjamins.” This is what passes for political insight in American culture. Cause everyone knows that America is all about greed. So, if we fight in the Middle East, oil is the obvious endgame. And oil, is all about the Benjamins.
Yes, we could be using windmills or solar power or even bat-shit (I'm sure someone's claimed to be able to turn bat-shit into fuel.) That means we need bats instead of guns. "You feel me? I mean, who doesn't know that? I've seen it in the movies."
Or, maybe it works like this; oil makes the world go round, metaphorically speaking. We have a lot of the stuff, right here in our own backyard. But American labor isn't cheap, which drives up the cost of everything, since damn near everything needs oil; including getting food to market, medicine to hospitals, building materials for houses, add the fuel for the cars and trucks to transport it all, and that's not even a fraction of the things that scream for a steady flow of that precious "Black Gold." If the cost of oil goes up and up because labor costs go up and up, inflation (the working-person's worst enemy) will eat up your paycheck like a pack of piranhas feeding off some poor schmuck who fell into the murky water below.
“That's why we're in the Middle East, cause you greedy bastards want the good life.”
So says the person playing on their personal computer, their cellphone or tablet, sitting in their A.C. infested house or apartment, while engorging themselves on a case-load of refrigerated foods.
“Just give me my stuff! After all, I'm entitled." So says Hillary and Comrade Bernie.
So, I guess you are right. It is all about the Benjamins! Just not necessarily for the reasons generally thought, “Cause movies and shit don't always be telling da truth.” I mean, movie makers are all about the Benjamins too, and driving fast cars, snorting cocaine, buying mansions and shit, so who you gonna believe? “You feel me?”
That doesn't mean that all wars are just, of course. On the other hand, maybe the word “Just” doesn't do the question justice. It may be much more like one of those nature shows where animals live around a dwindling supply of life-giving water and vie for one more drink, while dodging other animals who want to eat them for food.
When you think about it, it really is a case of survival of the fittest. But it's more than that, as well. It's about which cultures survive and which ones don't. Contrary to popular opinion, some cultures can't exit the landscape fast enough. Whether they self-destruct or are substantially aided in their journey towards extinction, is a fact as stark and unchanging as actual history, although your not supposed to say that.
America, for example, is woefully imperfect, but we are a helluva of a lot better than the U.S.S.R ever was or will be. Or, Hitler's Germany, or ISIS or Fascist regimes throughout Europe. How about all those festering hellholes ruled over by murderous African dictators. That say's nothing about most all Islamic cultures today. So, we are not only better than, we are better by a cavernous, absolutely stupendous margin. And yes, I'm well aware of colonialism, that catch-all phrase that's supposed to send shivers down the spine of socially conscious, well-meaning liberals everywhere.
Americans are increasingly child-like, though, they just want their stuff, “Get it for me now and don't ask how” seems to be their mantra. Then, they bitch, offering highfalutin moral propositions, devoid of actual consequence—but at least they bitched—and that's something. This, unfortunately, is what passes for worldly insight. I guess in a world where so may people are willfully blind, it's the best we can hope. On second thought, let's hope not.
Mark Magula
Yes, we could be using windmills or solar power or even bat-shit (I'm sure someone's claimed to be able to turn bat-shit into fuel.) That means we need bats instead of guns. "You feel me? I mean, who doesn't know that? I've seen it in the movies."
Or, maybe it works like this; oil makes the world go round, metaphorically speaking. We have a lot of the stuff, right here in our own backyard. But American labor isn't cheap, which drives up the cost of everything, since damn near everything needs oil; including getting food to market, medicine to hospitals, building materials for houses, add the fuel for the cars and trucks to transport it all, and that's not even a fraction of the things that scream for a steady flow of that precious "Black Gold." If the cost of oil goes up and up because labor costs go up and up, inflation (the working-person's worst enemy) will eat up your paycheck like a pack of piranhas feeding off some poor schmuck who fell into the murky water below.
“That's why we're in the Middle East, cause you greedy bastards want the good life.”
So says the person playing on their personal computer, their cellphone or tablet, sitting in their A.C. infested house or apartment, while engorging themselves on a case-load of refrigerated foods.
“Just give me my stuff! After all, I'm entitled." So says Hillary and Comrade Bernie.
So, I guess you are right. It is all about the Benjamins! Just not necessarily for the reasons generally thought, “Cause movies and shit don't always be telling da truth.” I mean, movie makers are all about the Benjamins too, and driving fast cars, snorting cocaine, buying mansions and shit, so who you gonna believe? “You feel me?”
That doesn't mean that all wars are just, of course. On the other hand, maybe the word “Just” doesn't do the question justice. It may be much more like one of those nature shows where animals live around a dwindling supply of life-giving water and vie for one more drink, while dodging other animals who want to eat them for food.
When you think about it, it really is a case of survival of the fittest. But it's more than that, as well. It's about which cultures survive and which ones don't. Contrary to popular opinion, some cultures can't exit the landscape fast enough. Whether they self-destruct or are substantially aided in their journey towards extinction, is a fact as stark and unchanging as actual history, although your not supposed to say that.
America, for example, is woefully imperfect, but we are a helluva of a lot better than the U.S.S.R ever was or will be. Or, Hitler's Germany, or ISIS or Fascist regimes throughout Europe. How about all those festering hellholes ruled over by murderous African dictators. That say's nothing about most all Islamic cultures today. So, we are not only better than, we are better by a cavernous, absolutely stupendous margin. And yes, I'm well aware of colonialism, that catch-all phrase that's supposed to send shivers down the spine of socially conscious, well-meaning liberals everywhere.
Americans are increasingly child-like, though, they just want their stuff, “Get it for me now and don't ask how” seems to be their mantra. Then, they bitch, offering highfalutin moral propositions, devoid of actual consequence—but at least they bitched—and that's something. This, unfortunately, is what passes for worldly insight. I guess in a world where so may people are willfully blind, it's the best we can hope. On second thought, let's hope not.
Mark Magula
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