8 thoughts on “Conrad Black: America — never an empire”

1. Very restrained commentary from someone who was a victim of the “conveyer belt to the bloated and corrupt prison system for anyone targeted by omnipotent prosecutors”…but to say that America was “never an empire” is a real shot across the bow, a taunt, it seems, directed at a country that may be suffering from an identity crisis.

2. Actually, it’s not really a “taunt” per se. I think Conrad Black was telling the truth. America is not an empire, it is a spoilt toddler throwing a temper tantrum and trying to get his Parents (the rest of the world) to do what he wants when what he deserves is a good hard spanking.

3. Conrad Black argues that America was never an empire, but his view is exceedingly narrow and misinformed. Of course America is not an empire in the old Roman or British sense of the word, but it is a commercial empire that effectively runs the world financial system. The Dollar as both reserve currency and underlying transaction tender for commodities like oil puts the US in the driver’s seat of global money flows. An entity that wasn’t an Empire could not reduce or eliminate the sovereignty of other nations as the US does, through war or financial regulations like FATCA. To be an Empire today, one need not march troops into world capitals like Stalin did, seizing the means of production of other countries. One need only to first coax or force other countries to use your currency for their international transactions, and then import their goods and services more cheaply than you could produce domestically. This is Empire, because this was how the Romans and British ran theirs. But in this case the US uses the Dollar instead of swords and rifles.

   Conrad Black’s assertions that the US does not conduct aggressive foreign operations is laughable. One need only read a little history or personal accounts such as from this famous Marine: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/80-years-ago-marine-major-173056847.html.

4. Actually it was via debt…(the US$ being a debt itself as well – thus an empire of debt)

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_Man

   According to his book, Perkins’ function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with debts they could not hope to pay, those countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run.

5. Debt works in all kinds of ways that are beneficial to the government. At home it causes rising asset prices, which gives the impression that everything is fine and also deepens people’s debt servicing commitment to the prevailing economic order. Abroad, when entire States go into debt to international creditors, those creditors essentially become the masters of the local populations of indebted countries, receiving capital flows that those populations should be saving and locally investing toward their own prosperity.

   Empires primarily benefit the political class and the super rich to the detriment of the middle and lower classes. One can understand why governments are so deathly afraid of recessions, since these economic hurricanes threaten to clear out the existing debt-based economic order.

6. I don’t really know what to think of Conrad Black, but he really hit the nail on the head when he stated that: “The real threat to the United States is an internal one: the disintegration of their society.”

   The evidence of that disintegration seems to be everywhere, and I don’t believe that my fellow Canadians really have a clue as to the extent of this systemic dysfunction, and how it it could affect them, (as well as myself here) as this societal cancer continues to metasticise.

   As for the rest of that paragraph, it is also pretty much right on the money.

   Such is the irony that is not missed by me, that he would be looked at as a ‘bad guy’ for his conviction in the US, by people that are too angry to see the forest from the trees, when anyone whom is calm, rational, and with half a brain, already knows that the American justice system is known for some serious injustices towards its own people.

   For example, shouldn’t Trayvon Marvin also have a right to stand his ground when he was being chased around like prey, by a guy with a gun, for the ‘crime’ of buying a bag of Skittles? If America was truly a classless, and free society, then why are people focusing on things like race? And why are there those that truly believe that he did nothing wrong when he was clearly out hunting? If George Zimmerman was truly an innocent man, then why is he in fear for his life?

   Also, is it truly normal and rational that the response to the tragic and horrible event of a school shooting be, to arm the teachers?!?

   But yet some of the politicians here seem to think that it’s a wonderful idea to allow US police officers to operate in Canada?!?

   Oy, vay! Sometimes I wish I had married an Australian, instead. :^(

7. @ mjh49783
   oy vay. those of us who did marry non Americans ………..personally I count my lucky stars every day that my British hubby has been philosphical about 40% of our life savings on professional fees to bring me into compliance. 🙂

8. @crystal london

   Yes. A lot of marriages like this have ended in divorce from what I’ve heard, simply because the non-US spouse would rather do that than tell the IRS any of their business that they feel the IRS has no business asking, just because they married an American.

   My wife and I chose to separate our accounts, rather than have the IRS all up in her business, while if I were to win a lottery or other monetary prize of any substantial amount, I’m going to let her claim it, while I get subjected to FATCA tyranny as a pauper – until I renounce.

   Sad thing is that the IRS has to spend all this money and effort to try and chase us all around, and most of us don’t even have anything, let alone have anything to hide. By all rights, we should just be left the hell alone, just like a citizen of virtually every other country in the world would be if they chose to live abroad from their homelands.

   But the scary thing for me is that, if the civil society in the US breaks down, and everything goes all nuts down there, what’s going to stop these fools from heading north and causing us all manner of problems for us?

   I just hope they all learn to get their act together and fix their problems.