If a super power needs an enemy...

There is a school of thought that if political elites want to sustain themselves as a 'super power', then it follows that they must always have an enemy to both fight with, and scare the public with.

For the US elites of the day, it was 'Communism'.

There was such hysteria in the media of the time, and among US politicians, about 'communism', that people were alarmed into being afraid of the mere mention of the word, but on a lot of occasions, they had no real understanding of what communism was, and what communism wasn't - just that it was something to be hated and feared.

These days, with communism having run it's course by and large, it is Islam, and like before, hysteria in the media, and by politicians has created that same fear among a public who have no real understanding of what Islam is really all about, and what it isn't about - just that it is something to be feared and hated.

I would personally resent political elites telling me, from era to era, who I should like, dislike, hate, not hate, fear, and not fear.

Esp when same elites have history of lies, lies, lies.

But that is another matter.

In the natural order of things, as happened with Communism, I think that eventually the momentum with Islam will die down, and almost vanish, as well. People who do not understand the game may not agree, but in time, it will no longer be vogue for Islam to be the bogeyman, the US, if it is remain a superpower (and the elites really benefit most from that), would need to manufacture a whole new enemy.

Who or what could that most plausibly be, what could fill the void, if the elites decide that making Islam the bogeyman has reached it's shelf life, and they need a new enemy?

It may be a single country, or it may not even be a country, but as night follows day, the elites would need to replace Islam with something. The simple answer is that it could be literally anything, that is how psychotic these elites are, it really doesn't matter to them, what matters to them is that the new bogeyman would work well, as per Communism and Islam. I suppose it could be a single nation, some may say China would be most obvious, and yet, you would have to fancy that even the criminal elites would stop and think, before getting into a situation with China, and rightly that they do!

It may not be something that is as obvious as that, perhaps the elites would decide that a new, as yet no thought of, enemy, would fit the bill better, and be less of a risk?

 

I think you are giving the elite too much credit. The fear of communism was a lot more complicated than just a few guys telling the country to be afraid. It was the threat of nuclear war, watching the rise of the Soviet Union after the war and many other things. These were all valid concerns no matter what the elite was telling you.

People like Nixon and Mcarthy were more or less just trying to build their careers around this issue as they didn't have much else to be credited for. It really wasn't some part of a grand ole conspiracy.

 

I wasn't really attempting to capture the entire Cold War, in one post, or at all, to be honest, merely pointing out that to remain a 'super power', a nation must always have an enemy.

If one does not exist or occur naturally, then one must be prompted, provoked, or found.

At this moment in time, it is Islam, but I sense that it won't always be, and therefore, another enemy would be required, be that a nation or a religion, or whatever, it actually doesn't matter what or who, so long as it can be demonised, and offered out to the people as being a threat to their 'freedoms'.

 

Your looking at in the wrong way. There is a lot more that goes into being a super power than just having enemy's. You need resources, money, ability to project power and so on and none of these have the requirement of needing an enemy. We would be a super power regardless however we will always have an enemy.

You don't need to have an enemy to be a super power but being a super power will ensure that you always have enemy's.

 

The banksters and "elite" funded communism, just like they fund everything else. And you geniuses rally and clang beers for every little get-rich-and-control scheme they come up with.

 

It helps to swallow the realization that we are spending ALL our money on military and the rich who invest in it while starving people in our own country, not insuring them, creating higher poverty...aka, becoming North Korea.

 

What exactly did they fund? Communists were very usually broke.

 

They had enough money to challenge the US as a superpower. The banksters fund whatever will help them gain more control, especially monetary control in the form of debt. You can find JP Morgan and Rockefeller foundation mixed up in wars throughout our history.

Threat of war = military buildup = debt to the banksters

 

it was also all the military hardware manufacturers scaring the public with propaganda so as to convince the government to waste billions on unecessary military crap

 

it goes deeper than that....the US is a military state similar to sparta 3,000 years ago so a bogeyman is always needed to justify all the tax dollars wasted on all the military hardware purchased every year!

 

I've often wondered if the collective impressionability of the American people made the average American more succeptable to being afraid of these periodic bogeymen than people of the countries in the eastern hemisphere...at least since 1950 or so.

Countries in the eastern hemisphere, and Turkey is a fine example, don't seem to swallow thier government's latest bogey du jour when it's offered. I think the reason could be that Turkey has been a crossroads for Asians, Africans, and Europeans for a few millenia, and it's hard to keep the idea of bogeymen alive when they keep showing up and they're actually human.

In this country's history, we hated the British, then we liked them. We hated the Spanish, now we like them. We hated the Germans, then we liked them. We hated the Chinese and Russians, and were starting to not hate them, although Republicans want to keep that hate alive. We hated communism, then it left, and now the only people Republicans have to accuse of it are Democrats. We hate Muslims now, but if we give them back control of thier destiny, and leave the area, they'll realize it wasn't us that made their countries crappy places.

I think you've got a nice overview...if more could master the concept...we'd have a much more unified nation.

 

The elites are not going to replace Islam with something else, Islam is their main goal and stays their main goal (as it was in the time of the Roman empire, the Romans also went to the Middle East) Because you can clearly see what they are creating in the Middle East (a powerful union = another 'super power') Watch all the regime change in the many muslim countries since 9/11 going on, it begun with the invasion of Afghanistan, the other countries came in focus via propaganda, one after the other, very systematically)
The enemy of the USA ('super power') will one day be this other 'super power' (an Islamic one), same situation as between the Sowiet Union and empire NS Germany is created right in front of us.
What they caused in Rome (empire), and in Germany (empire) they try to create in the USA in this era, because the people are going to vote in mass (because of 9/11 and years of fear propaganda and economics, FED talk)
The elites pick their political figure for the people, and cause as many as voters as possible to cast their vote on this 'leader' (via the mass propaganda campagnes)
The people have ten months to find out were their country is heading for. The best outcome is, no land slide winner (then this era can vanish)

If a super power needs an enemy vs If a super elite needs a war.

 

How will the predominantly middle eastern population of the Muslim world become a superpower if thier oild fields will be dry by 2070?

 

I still say its a convenient way for politicians to convince the voters to waste billions on unnecessary military hardware!

 

LOL! The US is no Sparta.

 

I am not sure I agree with that last line, least not in the context that you put it.

I believe that a super power does need a perpetual bogeyman, it is not everything that it needs, but it is core. It worked well with Communism. It is working well with Islam. That the US politic and media have fanned the flames of fear and ignorance about both, in not really even up for debate, imo.

Yet, generally speaking, what you finished up with in terms of public attitudes toward Communism were based on fear and much propaganda, rather than informed and erudite accounts of Communist idealogy. Because those methods worked so well, similar but improved methods are being used for the new target of Islam. And that like Communism before it, I think Islam as the bogeyman will also reach a peak, then need to be replaced, if only to keep things fresh.

You are right, a super power needs resources, as does any nation, actually.

The problem is what happens when a criminal mafia infiltrate the politic of the last remaining super power? Why, the potential for terrible things to happen would be awful, wouldn't it?

The last thing we would want is for that to happen, because what would follow are a series of conflicts, which would cripple the economy, and cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, sparking a series of reprisal attacks.

 

Don't look now, after the people finally figure out that Al Queda was just handed Libya through the power of NATO, the next enemy is alien invasion.

 

I think you are dealing with two things, first of all, a % of a society who are, for all intents and purposes, Xenophobes.

Nearly every society will have a %, but it is key to what degree.

If it is very rare, and right out there on the edges of things, then that can be managed, that is almost the sign of a healthy society, imo.

However, when the Xenophobia is in the mainstream, or when it become almost the norm, then I believe that to be a sign of a sick society.

The other thing you are dealing with is a politic and media who exploit that in people, and fan the flames of the Xenophobia.

That which is put out in the media is very influential.

If it is Xenophobic, then you will be influencing social attitudes to be Xenophobic. People will be ignornant Xenophobes, and often not even realise or accept it.

 

The OP is utterly insane.

No American political group wants or needs an enemy.

I believe both conservatives and liberals would be very happy if the U.S. had no enemies and could cut military spending by two thirds.

Conservatives so they could cut taxes.

Liberals so they could expand entitlements.

Long time party moderates so they could cut the deficits.

The U.S. didn't force the communists to start snapping up every country in sight.

The U.S. didn't force radical Muslims to start blowing up people or hijacking planes.

 

Wrong
Wrong
Wrong

 

Really?

I missed the part where 7 year olds were forcibily taken from their families and put into military schools.

They missed me and a lot of my fellow classmates if they did.

A "military state" which has about one half of one percent of its population in the military. Yeah right.

 

The elite and monopolies always play the masses and manipulate the simple ones. And in the USA there are more idiots than in the past. We have public schools and religion to keep the massess dumbed down.

Hence, the politicans and media keep the Nation at odds with eachother to direct their attention away from the money grubbing that is going on in corporate capitalism of the USA.

Every generation of elite have their tool.
In the 60s they used communism to fear up the public.
In the 2000s they use terrorist to do the same.

Looking at the massive amounts of money that was spent throughout the cold war to create a toxic mess that will out cost it's worh, the USA and former USSR are relics of an era of war. But with the cost of maintaing their toxic waste. that will set them back trillions over the long.

When Americans think world they only think of the EU type countries, and the USA. Little do they know there is a larger world out there, that has no deisre to be involved in wars. Example; not every country was in WW1 and WW2.

And since the colonial days of the 12th century there are countries who never took part in wars. These countries were somehow able to avoid the maipulation of the USA and it's allies in going to war.

My guess is they avoided US forigen aid. And they are doing quite allright thank you.

I have read some stuff about an author who proposed that the USA and other developed contries has maxed out on intelligence. And because there is a threshold for what the Human brain can do, no other development can be made.

I tend to disagree. I beleive that humans in the uSA have gotten more stupid because of the lack of intelligence needed to do simple tasks, and simple skills. In addition, the constant BS propaganda of media and marketing sales. They are just fishes in a bowl, with no understanding of how to evaluate information.

In addition, I believe, the USA has maxed out on capitalism 12 years ago. As a result the monopolies are more involved in the govenrment policies than ever before. Hence, Capitalism had reached a peak 12 years ago, and now we see th slow steady decline of economic wealth, and culture.

Now the USA is getting more and more dumb, and have less power in the world than at any time in it's 250 year history.

With that, there should be other countries learning from the mistakes of the USA, and improving their country.

 

Yup -but don't expect him to ever concede why.

 

Excellent and thought provoking post.

 

are you forgetting all the people that work for the manufacturers of military hardware and aircraft parts not to mention all the computer software? But then I cant expect brain dead americans that are fascinated with kim cardashian or whatever her name is to understand that LOL!