The Greeks are out shopping. Not for new ideas on how to trim their budget or how to frugally squeeze every last cent from each euro spent, but on weapons. This comes via Zeit Online, courtesy of Zero Hedge.
The greek military is planning on spending six of the 80 billion euros from the next bailout payment on a pile of military hardware. Sixty jets, some patrol boats, German U-boats, and some apache attack helicopters.
How could they be allowed to spend bailout money on anything other than keeping their economy afloat? They will be allowed to do this, because most of the money will go into France, Germany, the UK, and America. So do not expect the EU to say squat about this, as they are already on thin ice with Germany, and selling U-boats nets a nice tidy profit for German industry.
The people are rioting in the streets, because their government refuses to listen to what the people have to say. The current Greek administration is now firmly in the pocket of the ECB, because they don’t want their names to go into the history books as the last idiot holding the hot potato. The people have no voice, so they won’t stop it.
A smart Greek PM would start beating the drums of nationalism to direct the peoples anger onto another country. I see this as the first overt move of a Euro-nation on the path of militarism. I expect others to follow, some behind-the-scenes (like Germany) a few others a little more obvious (Baltic States) to build up their military in case the EU breaks down.
We are doing the same thing here in America. We have record under-employment and roughly $60,000,000,000,000 in unfunded liabilities. Our GDP is an outright lie, and we have a presidential race that looks like a pack of monkeys trying to proper fuck a greased pig. The military industrial complex is growing like a budgetary tumor.
China is doing the same:
This chart does not include the aircraft carrier they bought off of Russia or it’s refitting and re-armament. Or the new drone or stealth fighter programs.
I have to ask myself why? Why do countries go buy new weapons and field more troops instead of taking care of their economic mess? The reason is simple, and frightening at the same time. The reason countries turn to arms instead of economic responsibility is because it is the path of least resistance.
I will explain, so please give me a minute or two before you decide I have finally gone totally batshit crazy. It certainly is not easier for the population, as they are trod over by invading jackboots, or stuffed into the jackboots and sent somewhere else to do the stomping. It is not easier for the middle class or even the lower upper class. Who it is easier for is the elite ruling classes – the Bushes, the Kennedys, the Waltons, etc. The Wall street elite are not going to be stuffed into BDU’s and told to storm a beach.
This has repeated itself throughout history. From Babylon, the Greek city-states, Persia, the Hundred-Hear’s war, War of 1812, and even WWII. History does not repeat exactly, but these cycles of social, economic, political, and generational forces cause predictable events that we can plan, and therefore prepare for.
Tags: history, militarism
“1984″, it’s here.
The federal government spends over $1.2 trillion a year on various forms of welfare. The states combined spends a similar amount for the same purpose. Welfare is NOT required or even allowed in the constitution. The constitution does however mandate the military. I agree we piss away a lot of money on these “wars” and it is mostly wasted. THAT money could be saved if we stopped trying to police the world. However many good people who are very knowledgeable about world affairs believe that some of these “wars” are necessary to protect OUR butt and prevent an even larger war. So if we want to cut costs lets end welfare, reduce the number of federal civilian employees by a substantial amount, lets say half. And eliminate about 2/3rds of the federal departments (EPA, Education, Labor, transportation, HHS, Transportation, etc. THAT would save some real money; by my calculation about $2.5 trillion more or less.
Very true. We may be seeing the last years of the American Republic, as it turns into empire. I have no wish to live in Rome reborn, but our lords and masters are increasingly showing that they will do as they wish, and the laws of our nation mean nothing to them.