I’m thinking aloud here. When the good Ol’ US of A was borrowing money to pay for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, clandestine wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya, The People’s Republic of China bought that debt. Whenever the government spends more than it collects in taxes, it has to issue bonds to pay those bills. Who buys the bonds are governments, banks, insurance companies, or individuals.
Right now the guerre du jour takes place in Ukraine, a poor country in Eastern Europe, run by a leadership class with a penchant for stealing. We are sending untold billions in cash and armaments to this country, where auditors and accountants are scarcer than fans of the WNBA.
What could possibly go wrong?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Peoples’ Republic Of China is hinting at the prospect of a military takeover of a rebellious province, the island of Taiwan. It is the home of the Kwomintang (KMT), the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai Shek, Chairman Mao’s adversary in the Revolution of 1949. With justification, China sees the dispute with Taiwan as an internal matter within China.
The tie between Taiwan and Mainland China is fairly clear. Who controls Taiwan is an internal question to the Chinese. The United States is making all kinds of bellicose gestures and remarks about defending Taiwan. It is looking like 2024’s war, arriving just in time to prop up the sagging fortunes of the Biden Administration.
Meanwhile, why would the Chinese want to damage the economy of a nation that owes them a whole lotta money? Diabolically, or theoretically, the US could fight a war with China, with debt financed by China. Since the days of WW Two and The Cold War, war has proven to be good business. Since one of the last big domestic industries is based on defence (AKA “war” ), don’t look for anybody in Washington or Wall Street or Silicon Valley to eschew this folly.
If there’s a war, lots of people could die, people like your spouse, children and grandchildren. Maybe even you. One would think the Government would want to avoid this outcome. One better think again. I’m not looking for cooler heads to prevail in Washington. The American War State is a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats. They will unfurl the flags and conflate any actual or potential conflict with World War Two, the last so-called “Good War”. They’ve been doing this since 1945. Sadly, it has yet to wear thin.
Dispatches From Dystopia 
your loud thinking seems to be right on track. maybe you should stop looking whose behind the curtain. And pretend everything is just going to be fine. really George Carlin said it many times they ( the ones in charge) don’t want us thinking just follow blindly Baa baa baa
Yes. I dunno. This country has been on the skids since it embraced war as the driver of the economy. That goes back to the days of the 1914-18 War, where we financed the Allied war debt and then sold the Allies munitions. We have yet to learn the lessons that Germany and Japan learned in 1945.
Had to share this post with a couple friends of mine. I knew they’d appreciate it as much as I did. I have no wisdom here, just maybe a sense of camaraderie in that, I relate to the sentiments expressed.
Also still laughing at your “scarcer than fans of the WNBA” comment here…😆 You can write the most serious shit in such a satirical or comical way sometimes. Always gets me.
Thanks. Sometimes laughter is what’s needed
My brother is still in the Navy, so he won’t give me much comment, when I say things. When we’re talking in person, he says more, but never gives much in text or phone conversations. Even so, I sent him your post, and he text me back “he makes some good points”. For him, that was more than he ever usually says. Which tells me, he definitely agrees 😉
Thanks for passing the post along.