Dear friends,
Having had a few questions about the topic of imperialism, I have decided to re-post here a fantastic series of lectures by Prof. John Marciano entitled “Empire as a way of life“. IT focuses on a crucial aspect of imperialism: its cultural and civilizational dimensions. These are crucial for a full understanding of imperialism.
Please check out my first post in 2010 about this here: http://10.16.86.131/a-seminal-series-of-lectures-on-the-us-empire/
Please see this original post for the details about these lectures.
I have re-uploaded them all to Mediafire. Here is the new link to the folder with both the recording and the class notes:
http://www.mediafire.com/?uadz65ucs2csr
Here is the link to the lectures themselves: (all in one large file)
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/bn5f3bsz1oyol8w/Empire_as_a_way_of_life.mp3
And here is the link directly to the class notes:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/yff3kk4vcaa2vs6/Empire_as_a_way_of_life_-_lecture_notes.pdf
Friends, this is really very good and very important stuff. It is also a very pleasant series of lectures to listen to as Marciano is a very good lecturer. I highly recommend that you download and listen to these great series.
Enjoy!
The Saker
The great US historian, William Appleman Williams, wrote “Empire as a Way of Life” long ago, and all of his works relate to that theme. His book about US-Russia relations is also top-notch. Although he’s been dead awhile, his writings are still very important to understanding the current context.
Being dead a while has never hurt anyone’s ideas.
Thank you Saker! Even though I hate listening to audios and watching videos, it is time to enrich myself. >.<
PS. I have a friend who almost say the exact same things as you, but focus more on Zionism rather than Imperialism :D
PS. People here are all so sophisticated and knowledgeable about things that I didn’t even dream of (religion etc.). It is scary -_-
DavidKNZ:
Very pertinent, given the just released and heavily redacted report on the CIA’s use of torture (ineffective and likely vindictive) and also the extreme lengths to which the CIA went to avoid any kind of accountability / responsibility.
You think we live in a democracy??? Think again
So Saker,
do you categorically dismiss Dugin’s writtings about the new “Eurasian Russian empire” ?
He has a lot of followers…
The Wend.
Saker,
“Russia’s Rossiya and SMP banks, which fell under Western sanctions, are among the eight lenders that will start testing the country’s new national payment system on December 15.”
http://rt.com/business/212423-russia-payment-system-test/
This is a bit OT, Saker, but I thought you’d appreciated it anyway: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/08/opera-singer-anna-netrebko-ukrainian-separatist-flag
Good lad. Chalmers Johnson was a real gentleman and anyone who features him so thoroughly in his pantheon is well worth a read – similarly the mourned but still ‘kicking against the shit’ Howard Zinn. Cheers.
@The Saker,
I’d be most grateful if you can post some lectures about Orthodox theology.
Thank you
Greetings from Singapore:
Globalisation, as defined by the ‘Washington consensus’ is imperalism.
The ‘consensus’ was never an option, but an order to submit.
Kipling’s ‘White burden’ is Obama’s colourless american exceptionalism. The strategy never changes, only the names/semantics.
It worked and works because it is ultimately a class issue: An ‘elite’ in America was able to mobilize ‘elites’ around the world, to extract wealth in a predatory manner, control and manipulate this planet.
Interestingly this ‘imperialism’ has some cycles: Intially they sell it as a ‘value package’, when it looses meaning, they sell it on ‘fear’ and finally, when nothing works, it is war.
Rgds
Mario Medjeral
pirate nation england has to resort to piracy called otherwise imperialism because england knows that it is inferior to all the competitors and thus only way to survive is make others lose or create chaos and then if possible loot those nations. at least make others suffer so by default england will be in advantageous position.
that is how english got empire otherwise by merit France and Germany should have had bigger and stronger empire but they were made to fight each other and neutralize each other.
American empire is really working not for Americans but for the english parasite race and its spawn in USA.
from the usa, all support to novorossia, all support to socialists, communists, anarchists, no support to capitalists, oligarchs, be they usa, ukraine or russian. down with capitalism! up with socialist novorossia and socialist ukraine! strelkov and gubarev for the people!
Nothing to see here–recall what happened on 08/08/08 when he was out of country at the exact time of the Opening ceremonies of the Beijing olympics.
http://nsnbc.me/2014/12/09/putin-visit-india-modi-mukherjee-december-11-nukes-table/
Fahwad Al-Khadoumi (nsnbc) : Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India and Indian PM Narendra Modi on December 11. The visit comes as Indian diplomats stated that India does not participate or endorse sanctions against Russia, which may build as many as 24 nuclear power plants in fellow BRICS member State India.
My Norton Antivirus Program has determined that the “Empire_is_a_way_of_life.mp3” file is not safe and has blocked the download. Please fix this issue. I would really like to save this lecture but I am not going to download some malware with it.
@Alex: My Norton Antivirus Program has determined that the “Empire_is_a_way_of_life.mp3” file is not safe and has blocked the download. Please fix this issue. I would really like to save this lecture but I am not going to download some malware with it.
Your Norton Antivirus Program is full of shit. It probably detects a wrong checksum of the mp3 file because it was put together by Mp3wrap. I use only GNU/Linux which does not produce any malware. The only issue which needs fixing is your use of Windoze. Please fix it.
The Saker
‘Managed Spring’: How Moscow Parted Easily with the ‘Novorossiya’ Leaders
http://www.interpretermag.com/managed-spring-how-moscow-parted-easily-with-the-novorossiya-leaders/
EU’s Tug Of War For Turkey.
The EU has dispatched its foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to Turkey to prioritize the country’s admission to the Union, as well as to talk about its anti-ISIL efforts. This could be seen as a carrot-and-stick approach to goad Turkey away from Russia and back into the Western fold.
Illustrating the seriousness of the EU’s gambit, Mogherini was notably joined by Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn during her visit. Prior to her departure, she said that “Our top priority will be Turkey’s EU accession process… We aim to work with Turkish government officials to give the process a concrete step and move forward.”
So why is the EU now suddenly enthusiastic about Turkish membership, almost a full decade since accession talks first began? Two words: South Stream. The EU’s entire Turkish policy is now dominated by this mono-issue and the geopolitical ramifications that Ankara’s cooperation with Moscow entail, and it is pulling out all the stops in trying to entice Turkey to back out from its newfound commitments.
http://us.sputniknews.com/world/20141209/1013301904.html
Protests flare up in central Ukraine, calls for regional council to resign.
http://rt.com/news/212707-ukraine-vinnitsa-protest-council/
The West has snatched economic black hole Ukraine away from Russia (for as long as it lasts, see Orange Revolution). But Russia has snatched Turkey away from the West with its latest move: Turk Stream. Here more about the consequences, that are absolutely disastrous for Europe in the long term:
http://deepresource.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/more-on-turk-stream/
Kind regards,
Dutch
[from Blue]
Excellent. I had heard some of this before and found it very good, and will gladly go through the lectures again, and the notes.
I scanned the MP3 with Malwarebytes and it found no problems.
I’m still looking at distros, but so far Mint seems to work as well or better than any, although not perfect. Much better than anything Microsoft is capable of making — and Linux doesn’t cost an absurd amount for its bugs. Microsoft is the software manifestation of the fascist empire.
Farewell Putin..
Forbes published a rather extravagant if typical article entitled, “Farewell Putin” written by a very serious and insightful investor, who claims that Putin’s days are over — primarily because Russian money-elite would overthrow him in its desire to embrace the West. I don’t find such triumphalism convincing (and neither do many other commentators on this article) , and therefore could not resist to comment on it. Here it is. “Mr. Avi Tiomkin is a money man. He advises hedge funds and large fund firms. No wonder he thinks like a money man. Fortunately or not, most people do not think like that: neither common people nor politicians. What happened with Crimea has very little to do with President Putin. It was the will of the Russian people who wanted to correct the historical wrong executed by the former Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, who gave Crimea to Ukraine. The fact that Putin’s popularity dramatically jumped after the annexation of Crimea despite all the sanctions is the testimony to that. Had Putin not protected the Russian military base in Sevastopol, his chances of staying in power would have been very slim indeed.
Indeed, the Russian economy is slowing down, but so is the European one with which Russia is very much integrated. But the economy is not everything. So far, Russian people consistently supported Putin’s foreign policy, and common Russian people do not think like money men. For them, standing up to the aggressive west or defending from Ukrainian shelling their numerous relatives in Donetsk or Lugansk is much more important than the exchange rate.
Mr. Tiomkin is clearly aware of the mood within Russian money circles. These people are clearly losing a lot of cash and are not happy. But so what? The only thing that these people know is how to rob Russia’s resources, facilitated by the corrupt system clearly condones by Putin himself. Without him they would be nothing.
And now is the important part. Mr. Tiomkin is convinced that President’s Putin time is up. But who will replace him? A pro-western candidate? Based on my knowledge of Russian mood which I have described both on these pages and elsewhere, Putin is the best bet for both the West and for the Russian oligarchs. Whoever replaces him will most likely get much tougher with the corrupt money and the corrupt oligarchs, and will most likely get more nationalistic and assertive. Very few Russians are willing to tolerate the expansion of NATO, slicing up Serbia, or creating the giant military base in Kosovo to the degree that Putin did. And in that case, a new Russian leader would spend much more than 4, 2% of GDP on defense that seems to scandalize Mr. Tiomkin.
But let’s humor Mr. Tiomkin and imagine that some sort of pro-western leader will become the Russian leader, ushered in either by a “Color Revolution” or by some inner coup. How will China react, with the possibility of NATO and US controlling the territory all the way to Sakhalin and Vladivostok? China would never tolerate the weak Russia and the threat of Western control over Siberian resources. What we’ll have on our hands is a war with China. Mr. Tiomkin is supposed to be a specialist in macro investing and major reversals. Is this the reversal from which he expects to benefit? China fighting NATO over a weakened Russia doesn’t sound like a winning investment to me. And who will be there to collect?” http://www.forbes.com/…/nathanva…/2014/12/08/farewell-putin/
Fith column back in action at full speed…
Cash-Strapped Russia Won’t Support Ukrainian Separatist Regions Of Donetsk And Luhansk.
http://www.ibtimes.com/cash-strapped-russia-wont-support-ukrainian-separatist-regions-donetsk-luhansk-1745350
According to Zakharchenko, Ukaine is already in the state of default (and that’s why the IMF delegation is now in Kiev). Moreover, Zakharchenko also said that Ukraine is paying for Russian gas with the money Kiev denied to the retirees of Donbass. This would mean that Moscow is selling gas to the junta in exchange for the pensions of the Donbass people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcUdLaEQ6b0
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a socialist state in Europe”
http://slavyangrad.org/2014/12/07/we-have-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-to-build-a-socialist-state-in-europe/
The Minsk Deal Three Months After; Lavrov wonders on behalf of Moscow: How come that we are punished for our concessions?
http://vladimirsuchan.blogspot.be/2014/12/the-minsk-deal-three-months-after.html?spref=fb
I am unable to open the Mediafire file or to download it.
Disappointed.
Katherine
Saker,
Some of us feel that Germany’s ambitions are quite real, and not simply from US pressure. The Nazis were built with Western help, and took a lot of their loot and technology and set themselves up in other countries. Some call it the Bormann network, while others talk about Die Spinne. This might not be imperialism, but it would certainly be a desire to put the EU in all countries on Russia’s western border.
For a discussion of this revival of Germany’s eastern desires, here is a piece by James Petras:
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=2016
Anonymous @ 0:40
While I support Putin, your comment on Bloomberg is jus wishful thinking.
Long story short: there are dozens of examples in History showing peoples being imposed leaders they did not want. If the west can overthrow Putin, which I believe is actually pretty close, they will impose whomever the hell they want. Period.
As far as China is concerned, every military analyst will tell you that China does not stand a fighting chance against the U.S. China’s only chance to survive is to rest on Russia’s military power, or… to negotiate with the west and stab Russia in the back in exchange for some territories.
I see everyone is now admitting that Russia is in a dire situation, including Saker…
This is an interesting reversal as Saker, Orlov or Mercouris just a few weeks ago were swearing the sanctions had no effect on Russia.
At this point, I think it will take a miracle… as another poster commented yesterday, some of the most powerful men the world has ever seen found themselves powerless in front of the money changers, including Napoleon and Hitler, so Putin’s task is a tall order. No one has ever defeated the money changers. We could actully even go back to Christ…
“No one has ever defeated the money changers. We could actually even go back to Christ…” There are many, those called Christians, who would disagree with you on that point.
[from Blue] The direct download links I had, with firefox downloads, were:
http://download1249.mediafire.com/d3zzgn7ahijg/bn5f3bsz1oyol8w/Empire_as_a_way_of_life.mp3
http://download1919.mediafire.com/r6new2nimqpg/yff3kk4vcaa2vs6/Empire+as+a+way+of+life+-+lecture+notes.pdf
I have yet to see an English subtitled video of Putin’s most recent address, this to me is shocking considering the gravity of the message. I just cannot fathom the aloofness necessary for this to occur….
Putin will bring India into SCO, Shoigu already brought Pakistan into a bilateral military arrangement and Iran and Russia are as close as ever.
China and Russia are so close they may have to get a bigger bed for both to sleep comfortably.
That is around 3 Billion people getting pretty snug.
They might be called CIRIP, like BRICS. But they are so huge and so close (borders touching) that it is frightening to military in Brussels figuring out where those mobile nukes are in that land mass. Talk about Article 5 of NATIO.! Well, you get it. These giants are too much to mess with.
A huge market just for Russia and China to sell to and work with.
I don’t see any American manufacturers jumping for joy that these markets will be very difficult to sell anything to.
Yes, there will be trade. Yes, some items of defense to India, but not everything. Russia and India and Vietnam will be building some weapons systems of their own.
There will be no Westinghouse, Fluor or GE nuclear installations in these nations. There won’t be much from Cisco or Juniper or any of the data center hardware from Intel or IBM or Dell or HP in these nations.
The Eurasian world is leaving the station and the US and the West aren’t even on the platform.
They have no ticket to ride.
Putin and Xi have signed a Trillion dolars in deals, and both have inked hundred of billions more with other countries.
The economy of Russia will be fine in the middle of 2015. They have 400 billion in the Treasury for a rainy day fund.
And anything they need China will be their Daddy’s wallet until they get back on their feet from the destabilization project run by the banisters and the CIA and MI6.
Get ready for the hammer to drop on the Liberals and the Fifth Columnists.
Putin in his last speech gave them the word. It’s about national security, patriotism. And he has the military and the 88% in the streets behind him.
Two recent Putin speeches…. slightly jerky simultaneous translations but quite understandable
Valdai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F9pQcqPdKo
Federal Assembly: ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvciyvcBwPA
@Anonymous (10 December, 2014 01:50):
I see everyone is now admitting that Russia is in a dire situation, including Saker…
This is an interesting reversal as Saker, Orlov or Mercouris just a few weeks ago were swearing the sanctions had no effect on Russia.
Now that you’re reading Saker, Orlov and Mercouris, you should start paying attention to what they actually say.
The recent ruble devaluation is a consequence of Saudi Arabia slashing the price of oil, NOT the pathetic, limp-wristed sanctions imposed on Russia by EUSA.
They had to find a way to hurt Russia that wouldn’t hurt Europe even worse. Europe can’t impose a total embargo on its own oil/gas supply. So the US got the Saudis to step in and lend a hand.
In AZ circles, the belief is strong that this is what caused the downfall of the USSR–that was the last time Riyadh dramatically increase oil production. They may also be hoping that this will help their moribund economies rebound by giving consumers an energy discount.
So will lightening strike twice? We’ll see…
Bonjour ,
http://rt.com/business/212423-russia-payment-system-test/
The internal struggle is probably here .
And perhaps the real reason for the recent huge slandering of Nabyullina …. And the appearance of “the saker” .
Regards ,
a reader of Annie Lacroix Riz
@Seamus:
The oil games played by the U.S. And Saudi Arabia ARE sanctions imposed on Russia.
I don’t care what you call them.
My personal collection of links as I posted to https://www.facebook.com/OpenSXCE for today, maybe interesting:
#0.) Thank God because sanctions and the collapsing Ruble are absolutely killing Russia!
Oh, wait… Foreign Car Manufacturers To Ramp Up Production in Russia Thanks to Cheap Ruble (Nissan)
http://russia-insider.com/en/business/2014/12/09/07-19-03pm/nissan_expands_car_production_russia_amid_market_recovery
#1.) Ukraine Supplies Helicopter Engines to Russia On Schedule…….Of Course http://newworldorderg20.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/ukrainian-supplies-helicopter-to-russia-on-schedule-of-course/
#2.) Ukraine is now a failed state and will remain so for decades. They can thank the Nobel Prize Winner for that:
Among the few western voices to contradict the official propaganda is the professor of political science at the University of Chicago, John J. Mearsheimer. In the September/October issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, he states that Putin is not the aggressor. “The United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis. The taproot of the trouble is NATO enlargement, the central element of a larger strategy to move Ukraine out of Russia’s orbit and integrate it into the West.”
Mearsheimer continues: “Putin’s pushback should have come as no surprise…. His response to events (in Ukraine) has been defensive, not offensive.” He points out that the United States would “not tolerate distant great powers deploying military forces anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, much less on its borders. Imagine the outrage in Washington if China built an impressive military alliance and tried to include Canada and Mexico in it.”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/11/28/pers-n28.html
#3.) WTF?? Ukraine Invites Russian “Military Specialists” In Donetsk To Promote “Conflict De-escalation” http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-10/ukraine-invites-russian-military-specialists-donetsk-promote-conflict-de-escalation
#4.) Stalin researched the Rothschilds http://voiceofrussia.com/us/ Part of an interview with Andrei Fursov on Armen Oganessian’s program. Andrei Fursov – Russian historian, sociologist, writer, o… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCI-GWsLdps
#5.) “Isolated” Russia Begins Testing De-Dollarization-Driven Payment System http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-09/isolated-russia-begins-testing-de-dollarization-driven-payment-system
#6.) I won’t write here what I think Israel deserves: Palestinian minister dies after run-in with IDF soldiers in West Bank protest http://rt.com/news/213059-palestinian-minister-israel-protest/
#7.) Poland and USA deserve the same: Hush money: CIA paid Poland to host its secret prisons and detainees http://rt.com/usa/212967-cia-paid-poland-prisons/
#8.) Distraction time: CIA torture report is here: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-09/the-most-important-excerpts-from-the-cia-torture-report
The CIA force-fed detainees through their rectums, and called it a “well acknowledged medical technique.” One detainee suffered from an anal fissure and “symptomatic rectal prolapse”—when parts of the rectum protrude from the anus and are visible outside the body.
#9.) NATO Prepositions Weapons In Poland for Attack on Russia http://www.globalresearch.ca/nato-prepositions-weapons-in-poland-for-attack-on-russia/5418686
Great thread, I hope it keeps going for a while as I think it’s central to Russia’s / the globes problems.
Does anyone care to address the secondary problem of money creation, ie ‘fractional reserve banking’?
Didn’t you guys know about the Russians?
Joint Center for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) was arranged by OSCE, included high level Russian and Ukrainian military people and DPR and LPR reps. They were at Debaltseve and 2 other locations. A bit sabotaged, as they were there for 3 or 4 weeks and nobody had organised them vehicles so they could patrol. But they sat around, counting ceasefire violations and talking. Talking sense maybe. They played a big part in the latest Donetsk Airport ceaasefires.
These teams are likely to be the ones measuring how far back the Ukies withdraw.
One problem with the Minsk lines,there is nothing specific about areas NOT held by Novorossiya, with the result Ukies shelled into Mariupol through the whole “day of silence”.
Poroshenko has left the IMF negotiations up to his reliable foreign Ministers and come to Australia to meet people, probably ones he hopes to borrow from (?)
[from Blue]
T1… money creation & fractional reserve.
Get soem grounding in MMT at http://neweconomicperspectives.org/ , and also http://www.monetary.org/
Fractional reserve is a way for banks to make money — for themselves through interest. Money creation should be a function of the government to regulate the economy, based on factors such employment, production and utilization, tangible wealth to be represented, and political will (which should depend on the people, not oligarchs).
Money is faith – that it has value, and can be used to realistically invest in the future — similar to how a farmer might go into debt to buy seed and equipment, expecting a harvest. If the farmer buys those things, and explosives, and blows them up in a neighboring farmhouse, he will not only be unsuccessful in the long term, but also a psychopath.
Since whoever controls the money and monetary policy ends up controlling the politics and the nation, leaving it to oligarchs and corrupt politicians virtually guarantees gross inequality and collapse.
__Blue
After the Mp3Split, I get 9 files of nearly equal size. However, the lecture notes pdf indicates a 10th “Summary” session.
On brief sampling, audio for track 9 seems to correspond with continued Michael Parenti discussion as indicated in the notes.
Was audio for the 10th session not included in the Mp3Wrap file?
Thanks! I look forward to listening and contemplating on this lecture series.
Lecture 10 is available here: https://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/82752