The USA did NOT Attack Iran ( The Billionaires did)

 Everybody knows of the war in the Middle East. We are all on tenterhooks and have a lot of discussions on the political reasons, the War Strategy, who will win, who is right ( Or more right) etc. 

The one point most people seem to miss; or just cover it casually and move on; is which class / specific people are the causes in all the nations? 

We talk of US and Israel attacking Iran. We know that many many people in the US are opposed to this. Hell, MAGA maniac Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Tailor Greene (MTG) are openly speaking against it. The world is in a state where I am */ Makes puking noises /* in agreement with MTG and Carlson. 

We know that Netanyahu has corruption cases against him and there are so many Jews both in and outside Israel who are against even the Gaza war. ( Maybe not as many about the Gaza war, but there are many. Which is why most aware media speaks of the Zionist Govt in Israel rather than the Israeli Government). 

Also, after spending Trillions ( with a Capital T) and losing thousands of soldiers in a useless war in Afghanistan, why would the US even think of getting back to war? Trump literally won his election on being the Peace Guy. He said Kamala would bomb Iran. ( Every Trump accusation is - of course - a confession). 

And while Trump and Bibi are definitely causes for this, let us not simplify this to an individual decision. There are entire systems behind them in both countries which are allowing them, no , pushing them / manipulating them to do this. 

And the answers are not as complicated as we might think. 

The simple rule is to follow the Money. Who benefitted from the Afghan war? And the two Iraq wars? And the ones in Cambodia and Vietnam and even before that from WW 2? 

America lost Trillions they could've spent on their people. America lost it's soldiers at war and a hundred time more soldiers lost their youth, their innocence and came back as Veterans with PTSD. 

So who won?  

1. The Defence Industry won. In the words of Trump, they won YUGE! They made Billions on the weapon systems, the vehicles, the Transport, the food packets, the Guns, the Tents... You name it. 

This includes large Companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman etc. 

2. The Politicians won. The next level of beneficiaries are the US Politicians. In one of the most bizarre 'If this was fiction, nobody would believe it' situations, US has allowed not just open bribery in the name of "Lobbying", but the Citizens United Vs FEC case removed the sensible limit on Corporate spending and allowed Corporations unlimited "donations" to Politicians of their choice. This was what our desi Electoral Bonds was based on. An attempt to make the black money white. 

From the 80s, both parties in the US have been moving right. But after this, US became in actuality an Oligarchy. So many believe the problem is the Republicans. It's not. Both sides are beholden to large donors who control them through their Super PACs. 

If the Carrot does not work, then the stick does. "Getting Primaried" has been mentioned so frequently, it's become a legitimate phrase. Any politician who threatens the control the Billionaires have is Primaried by funding his Opponent 10 times more than is usual. What is millions for a Politician is pocket change for the Billionaires especially when they will get it all back with Contracts and new laws in their favour. 

So all Dems had to kowtow too or fear losing their Election Funding. The few notable exceptions like Bernie Sanders, AOC, The Squad, Zohran Mamdani etc. are appreciable, inspirational, but for all that, still exceptions. The Chuck Schumers, Nancy Pelosis, Gavin Newsoms are all still unwilling to stand up to the reality of what the Republican party as they know they'll lose their Donors or have fooled themselves into believing that they are walking the path of compromise.  

3. The Oil Companies won. In most of the wars ( Iraq 1 & 2 and Venezuela and now Iran) a clear focus is for the Imperialist West and US in particular to get control over the Oil fields. Let's not forget that this is an old playbook. The CIA got the Shah of Iran to power to ensure they get control over the Oil fields when the legitimate democratically elected leader of Iran Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh with the brutal monarch, the Shah.   

4. The Corporate Media Won. The war in Afghanistan distracted the people from how Corporate Media which was usually spoken with an emphasis on the Media slowly shifted the emphasis on the Corporate. 

Rupert Murdock set the systems in place with Fox openly changing from being a Media channel to a puppet to the "Right". The Right is in inverted commas as this Right does not stand for the usual Fiscal conservatism and small government policies in anything but name. 

Media focussed on creating issues like Trans Atheletes and Trans people using the wrong washroom and Obama's Tan suit, Vaccines causing Autism, Covid masks being government overreach etc. All this while they raked in the Ad money from Sponsors ( Billionaire owned Corporations again) and made sure the high emergency tone ensured people are always stressed as that's good for viewership. Fox is still the most viewed channel in the US today. 

5. The Billionaire Class won. 

With the wars giving an external focus for people, with the media shifting internal focus and with the Dems occassionally making soothing noises without doing anything substantial, the American people have been thoroughly hoodwinked by the Billionaire class into not questioning anything happening. Not the rising prices, not the lack of increase in the minimum wage in decades, not the predatory and people killing Medical Insurance and overall Healthcare model, they just allowed this upward flow of wealth and were too busy surviving to question what was happening. 

 And in a new war with Iran, while America again loses money, lives of soldiers abroad and quality of life at home, all the above 4 beneficiaries will benefit from this war too. 

Now, the war makes so much sense from the American view point. It's not one crazy man making crazy decisions. It is a system that benefits from killing thousands repeating the cycle. 

Yes, Trump has helped speed things up. Yes, he is an abominable war pig who is also doing this to distract from the Epstein files. 

And Yes, Iran is under a brutal intolerant regime which has not been treating it's citizens ( Especially women) right. 

But all those are almost incidentals to the real cause more money for the Billionaires and their Transcontinental Corporations. 

I truly hope more people realise how dangerous these large Corporations are and - as the Epstein files have shown - wealth beyond a level gives power beyond a level which warps the minds of normal people. Like Trump said "When you're rich, they let you do it". And that one line sums up the misery to billions being caused. 

Eff the Billionaires.  

 

The erudition of Freedom Fighters (And how little has changed in the world)

As a one time half decent Orator ( In my school days decades back) and a passionate student of Languages and especially what I consider my mother tongue* English, I have always been fascinated with finding just the right words and the right way to express a view. 

I believe it is so much more than just conveying information. It has to - of course - accurately convey what we want to say. But it has also, to express the opinion or emotion to the right degree of emphasis, to convey our opinion on what it is and ideally be witty too so as to take the sting out of the.... Sting?  

This passion for the usage of more complicated words to make a more accurate statement has faded over the years. The focus has shifted to not making the other person feel one is showing off; or out of fear that the other might not actually comprehend it's meaning (What with India being a nation where English is mostly a third language for most people and who have not had the luxury or the privilege I had of a good English Convent Education).  

 However I do enjoy a pithy comment or a proper turn of phrase. It could be shouted football slogans sung by thousands (We lose every week. You aren't anything special" by Man U fans - I think - after a match they lost), or a truly sarcastic hit like " Intelligence has always chased you. You, however have always been faster" or even a simple Advertisement slogan like the Nike "Just do it". 

And while so many of us today consider ourselves modern in every way with our fluent speaking of English and our modern Coffee and Pizza culture, we forget that so many of our Freedom Fighters were from a very good English learning background too. 

Not just the Western, Oxford Educated, Scottish Whiskey drinking Nehrus and Jinnahs, but even our loin cloth fakir Gandhi spoke English eloquently ( if with a very desi accent).  And I do not know great an orator he was, but I think one of the most impactful writers of that era, the Tharoor of that time if you will was B R Ambedkar. ( Only with respect to their verbosity and control over the English Vocabulary! The timidity of Tharoor's politics could not be more opposite to the brilliant revolutionary politics of Ambedkar).

All this brings me to my find of the day. In a statement anticipating opposition from Orthodox Hindus, B R Ambedkar in his book 'Who were the Shudras' says "They are more selfish than any other set of beings in the world, " followed by the jewel " and are prostituting their intelligence to support the vested interests of their class".  

Aaah. What a phrase. How apt. The impact, the scorn, the total lack of Effs given to their kind and their known attacks. Muah. Chef's kiss. 

This in itself was worth it. However, the extremely wide range that this statement can be applied both across types of humans and across time left me in shock. 

This seems so apt in today's age to the Pam Bondis and the Fox News Hosts and the entire Republican Party in the US who use their very high intelligence, their grasp of Public sentiments all to spin the words of a complete Baby who has both the vocabulary and the impulse control of a 1.5 year old! And to the detriment of the world at large! What all people are willing to destroy for some paltry money! 

I believe that more than 95% of Trump followers in the corridors of power do not believe his statements or his views. The average MAGA follower might be emotionally gullible to fall for Trump's lies. These life time politicians and media experts are not. Tucker Carlson and many others have been caught calling him vile names behind his back. Yet they have "prostituted their intelligence" and that too to "support the vested interests of their class". This second part is so true too! 

To the extent that they believe they are doing what they are doing not just for themselves, but for a cause, it is to further the benefits to their "class". The rich Oligarchs and their select coterie. Some are there and hope to make more. Others aspire to enter that class by sucking up to the Big Man and pushing his agenda. They might be telling themselves things like "I'm just doing my job" or "If not me, someone else will" or any of the plethora of proverbs people say to justify doing wrong things. 

This statement will apply equally ( if not more) to the Godi media of today. The brilliant minds like Arnab who knows how to convey outrage, who can hold centre stage and who turned a neat 180 degrees from when he started Republic. So what if it causes a few hundreds of Muslims to be killed? So what if a few lakhs feel disenfranchised? So what if NRC will cost thousands of Crores of rupees and end up being a massive failure ( like it was in Assam) and cause untold trauma to so many under priviledged people?  

He gets to "win like crazy" and that's all that matters to him.  The same for all the other anchors who claim to speak the Truth but end up "prostituting their intelligence", doing seemingly impossible contortions to prove BJP is right and this Govt can do no wrong. And if a wrong was done, why it was not Dear Leader's fault. 

The hilarious Galgotia scandal where they claimed a 350 Crore investment into AI leading to the creation of "Orion" the Robotic Dog made India's image fall flat on it's face across the Globe. 

Godi said "China is copying so many things, so we too showed it can be done". Wow! Footinmouthasana done perfectly with poise! Another "prostituting of their intelligence" if their thinking could be given that honourable title. 

It also makes me realise how polarised the world was and is. How little has changed w.r.t. the rich crushing the poor and claiming to be their saviours. How wars are fought by the poor to enrich the rich. So little has changed.....

 But yet, the words of people like Ambedkar, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, Bhagat Singh and many other give us hope in these despondent days. That if they could stand up to the more open tyranny or the British, maybe we too could ( to whatever extent) do our bit for our fellow citizens.  

So here's to celebrating not just B R Ambedkar and his incisive cuts, his brilliant clarity of thought and vision but also to celebrate the beauty of the English Language and it's ability to convey in just the right way, what needs to be said. 

Jai Hind