Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Great Unraveling

We’re back to the arrow of time again: cnce the energy in a system begins to accelerate, for whatever reason, it cannot decelerate, but pushes relentlessly forward toward a bifurcation point.

That is what is happening in front of our very eyes on the world stage: since the end of the Second World War, the United States has moved toward ever-greater supremacy over the other countries of the world.  For decades there was little appetite among its allies to counter its expansion, whether through manufactures, trade or finance.  There were benefits for the ruling classes that to a greater or lesser degree trickled down to the rest of fast-growing societies, so the ruling classes looked the other way at the  occasional abuse.

Over the last decade they have become ever more uncomfortable with America’s wars of aggression, limiting their participation to the minimum they could get away with and still benefit from handouts.  Then came Wikileaks, and Private Bradley Manning and what appear to be trumped-up sexual charges against Julian Assange (which noone seems to have investigated in Sweden where they were put forth), and America’s allies could only mutter disapproval at the methods being used against these whistle-blowers.

The Snowden saga has become a bifurcation point: it matters not where heultimately finds sactuary, for his latest revelations show that the United States crossed a red line from which it cannot turn back: spying on its allies to a degree hitherto unknown in international relations.

There are many, for sure, among the governing elites of the world who have been waiting for this moment, some without even being aware of it. For the first time in sixty years, the United States has become fair game, and the domestic advantages to stepping back from its orbit are too great in this time of austerity to overcome any remaining scruples.

We are witnessing the start of a great unraveling.

 

 

 

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