Firstly to everyone - I wish you a Happy New Year. May you fulfil your highest aspirations in 2018, look after your loved ones, and don’t forget to leave the joint better than you found it.
Secondly, to those folks who sent me messages of thanks at the end of last year – it’s rewarding to know that you value my writings, and it reminds me of something that is easy to forget - ‘Thank you’ makes a difference.
Thirdly, to all the new readers that have come to this blog over the past couple of months: I am glad that I’ve written something that resonates with you and I hope that you continue to enjoy it; but you should know that I will undoubtedly disappoint you or fail to fulfil your expectations at some point, if I haven’t already. For example:
- Whilst I am socially liberal and international in outlook, I'm against centralisation of power into supranational or federalist organisations, which means I want no part of the EU, as it exists currently
- Whilst I am economically ‘liberal’ - I believe in free trade and individual freedom - I am strongly opposed to corporatism and ‘vulture’ capitalism, which are a blight on developing and developed nations alike
- Whilst I believe in democratic government coupled with a strong rule of law applied to all citizens - I do not believe that government is a panacea for society’s ills. In short - power corrupts, particularly those that are attracted to wielding it in the first place. This is true across all political stripes. I believe in people, not in ‘isms’
- Whilst I do not believe money is ‘the root of all evil’, it is most definitely the route for most evil. The banking system is the mechanism for some egregious societal ills - upward wealth transfer, debt slavery, and war profiteering to name three. To all intents and purposes the banking system is a giant scam. My pet hate, the wardens of the cesspit, are the central banks and the IMF
- I believe passionately in fundamental human equality and freedom of speech – simultaneously - which means I will, and have, stepped in between a racist fist and a black woman’s face; but I have no sympathy for the growing crop of ersatz liberals who want to ban anyone whose written or spoken words cause them to experience a funny feeling in their tummy
- I believe that ‘journalism’ is a noble calling and that the primary duty of the fourth estate is to hold power to account. But I also believe that the current crop of mainstream journalists is mediocre. Many are so blinkered & strategically naïve that I don’t know how they manage to get dressed in the morning. Some, those I criticise the most, are complicit with the agendas of corporate, military and political elites. They are little more than stenographers for vested interests; which is why, for example, the protests in Iran are front page news immediately, but months of slaughter, starvation and cholera in Yemen is of little interest – because it is being done by Saudi Arabia, with the blessing of Israel, and with the use of US and UK weaponry. The hacks I criticise most strongly are the ones who know this to be true, and yet say nothing until they absolutely have to.
So I don’t fit in to any party or ideology, and as it says at the bottom of every page of my site ‘I would never join any club that would have me as a member’. But if it’s OK with you to agree on some stuff and disagree on other stuff…it’s fine by me. If you’re looking for ideological purity you won’t find it here.
Fourthly, a note for folks that post comments: Please note that I have changed the protocol so that each comment is ‘moderated’ before it is posted. I have absolutely no problem with being challenged or disagreed with, and as anyone who has done so will know, I will give a thorough reply, admit when I’m wrong, and am the first to say when someone is making a good point. But…I’m not in the market for ‘creepy stuff’ or ‘mind games’. There have been a couple of instances of that recently - so, to be clear:
I am not a journalist, this is not a newspaper, there’s no advertising here, nothing for sale and no subscription charge. That is the case for a very specific reason: Independence is it’s own reward; my views are not for sale and neither am I – to anybody.
There is another benefit: this is my house and my rules – so folks can play nice or play elsewhere. Everyone has a right to think and say whatever they like, but if someone thinks that gives them leeway to be an obnoxious turd at my expense…they are confusing me with their mum, and she shouldn't have to put up with it either. I choose not to engage with obnoxious turds – call me old fashioned on that point, but there you go.
So, if you post a message please be patient for a short time - it won't take me long to read it, I'll post it quickly and I'll almost certainly reply.
Fifthly, the two issues that I believe will continue to prove the most crucial in 2018 are the need to reform central banks & the global monetary system, and the continued decline of Washington into what is now effectively a rogue state. Neither of these will be reformed this year, and neither will be resolved without a crisis that forces the issue. I have written extensively on both E.G:
http://www.markgb.com/blog/2017/10/25/martin-wolfs-latest-apology-for-central-bankers
http://www.markgb.com/blog/2017/12/15/government-vs-the-people
The two are, of course, intimately linked – one feeds the other. Money is debt in this system. Taxpayer debt is the fuel for war; vulture profiteering & political power are the result. In short, this system feeds itself and it ‘ain’t designed for you & me’.
I will be writing a lot more about this as the year unfolds, but essentially this is where I think we are now:
One year on from the election and the US has its third president in a row who, having said he wanted to bring peace, has been fully digested by the war machine: a system that includes elected officials, corporate and foreign lobbyists, security organisations, and the military…not to mention a ‘permanent’ army of bureaucrats, many of whom have knowledge and leverage that elected officials can only dream of.
Over the past 7 years Washington has squandered hundreds of billions of dollars and caused thousands of deaths, trying to get rid of a secular Arab government in Syria. It has failed. The terrorist proxies that it recruited and funded have had their backsides thoroughly kicked by an alliance of Syria, Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. Now Washington is trying to claim credit for defeating ISIS. This is a lie, Washington did not defeat ISIS – Russia bust them up, the US bussed them out. I have no doubt that many of these hired murderers will soon find themselves in Afghanistan – conveniently located on the Eastern border of the next regime change target - Iran.
For those who haven’t done so, I recommend you read my piece ‘The Psychopath, the Puppet, and the Princeling’, and also watch the videos linked to it. This describes what the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia are up to in the Middle East:
On the so-called ‘revolutionary protests’ in Iran over the holidays – the situation has got Langley written all over it. For a view from inside Iran I recommend you look at the video below - released by a young Iranian female journalist, Marwa Osman, on Saturday January 6th:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C6f04H6b-k&feature=youtu.be
It is possible to love Americans, to love the whole idea of America, and yet loathe its government – I do. Washington is not ‘that shining city on a hill’; it is not a beacon of freedom and democracy for the world to admire and aspire to, and it does not represent the aspirations of the people of America – not even close.
It is a network of greed, corruption and murderous intent that will slowly choke on its own tentacles, and then finally, like Rome, it will collapse.
And on that happy note, I leave you with my wish for 2018: a bull market in whistle blowers...and finally an old ‘Middle Eastern’ saying:
‘Put your faith in God, but don’t forget to tie up your camel’