A Follow Up To Yesterday's Post

Not feeling quite as fiesty today as I was yesterday, so I think I will give someone else a chance to take a rip at the guvamint. The following is an excerpt from Doug Casey's interview yesterday about the situation in Egypt.


L: So, where do you think the next place will be where the people decide they've had enough?

Doug: Could be anywhere. Of course we can't be sure this revolution will succeed – maybe it will be a false start, like the aborted insurrections in Europe in 1848. But I think it's more likely to catch fire, like the wars of liberation in South America in the 1820s.

L: I could see Saudi Arabia going next – it's hardly a bastion of freedom and respect for human rights.

Doug: Far from it; it's a medieval theocracy/kleptocracy. And yet, the "talking heads" on TV are not praising the people for throwing off their chains. The reason is that most of these horrible, repressive governments are all U.S. puppets. They are stooges, getting anywhere from tens of millions of dollars to billions of dollars per year, in the case of Egypt, in direct support from the U.S.

L: Rape and pillage all you want, we'll support you as long as you're a good ally.

Doug: Right. But aside from being grossly unethical, this is a short-sighted policy. In the minds of millions of people all around the world, it associates the U.S. with repression, rather than freedom, which is what the U.S. should – and once did stand for – back when it was America. And unfortunately, people conflate America with the U.S. government, even though they're totally different things – antithetical things, actually. I remember years ago walking down the street in Cairo, and a kid of about 15 yells at me "Damned American." I'd never done anything to him. But the U.S. government had obviously done something to make him feel that way. If I'd thought of it, I would have said, "Hey kid, I've got nothing to do with your secret police – I'm on your side." But it wasn't the place for a philosophical discussion.

L: It's Orwellian; the "land of the free and the home of the brave" is the supporter of tin-plated despots around the world.

Doug: I know – it's totally perverse. We supply their arms. When a protestor picks up a can of teargas, its label reads: "Made in USA." They see U.S. military equipment being used against them. The U.S. government is supporting all these disgusting despots, making enemies of billions of people, turning the U.S. into a police state, and bankrupting the American economy. They're truly multi-talented. But, the average American sees the government as a friend and protector. It's funny – the average Arab may actually be much more politically hip and realistic, and desirous of liberty, than the average American. Maybe some day they'll send their CIA and military over here to bring us freedom.