Get ready to be drafted into war
The world is at war. And they will make you part of it.
Things are escalating. New wars are breaking out all over the world; adding to the list of the never-ending ones. Here is a map of current ongoing armed conflicts:
The above graphic is somewhat misleading as it suggests American and European nonparticipation, thereby adding to the black-and-white washing agenda I have talked about in a recent essay. (The ‘civilized’ West loves to portray itself as the shining white savior amidst the barbaric onslaught from all sides.) Make no mistake. The West is very much involved in almost all of these conflicts. Most are directly linked to decades of ruthless imperialism, colonialism, and neoliberal plundering.
But why this recent surge in armed conflicts?
Beginning with the Russian invasion of Ukraine (itself directly linked to NATO expansionism), we are watching in real-time as the world slowly descends into the early stages of a new world war. The recent Azerbaijani invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh has made ethnic cleansing fashionable again — there were no strong responses or sanctions of any kind, nor have we heard much in the news about atrocities or war crimes, for Turkey, allied to Azerbaijan, is itself a NATO member — and Israel is quickly following suit, attempting to solve a decades-long conflict in the most inhumane way possible. The situation in the Middle East, in particular, could easily drag many more nations into war. US aircraft carriers are already present, Arab nations are sable-rattling, Iran waiting for an opportunity, and Israel happy to oblige them all.
Late-stage capitalism is finally breaking down, that’s why.
I have written much about disillusionment, depression, discontent, the lost generation, and all that comes with living in a dysfunctional society built on exploitation, endless growth, mind-numbing, useless work, the annihilation of nature and ecosystems, and so on. Most of us, particularly men, feel unfulfilled and unhappy. There is no purpose to it all. We won’t be able to afford a house, we will never live in a functioning community based on mutual aid and respect, we will never explore, nor have meaningful adventures, having children is a moral dilemma. We have no agency, no control over our own lives. And it’s all very boring.
These are the perfect ingredients for radicalization.
I’ve undergone the process myself, slowly turning from a liberal into an anarchist. But whereas my ideology is based on freedom, mutual aid, diversity, a sustainable coexistence with nature, and a longing for happiness, most others revert to the most basic of instincts:
Hate is spreading. The majority of people actually want war.
Politicians and media are obliging, happily escalating and shouting popular slogans, seeking convenient scapegoats (the darker the skin, the easier to blame). The state, i.e. the ruling oligarchy, likes to sustain itself by constantly seeking foreign enemies in an attempt to distract from domestic problems.
Case in point: Israel. Before this recent escalation of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, Israel was more divided than ever. Even the most loyal Western allies began asking questions about the new ultra-far-right government’s policies. Millions took to the streets to protest the systematic undermining of democratic principles.
But look at them now. All united and loving. All in league against a common, brown-skinned enemy. The government has never been safer, democracy not so important anymore. Same in Ukraine: forgotten are the rampant corruption, the nepotism, and the strong fascist tendencies.
War unites a nation. War upholds the state. War is the status quo.
As capitalism comes to its ecological as well as ideological limits, as resources become scarce and prices rise, as the working class loses and loses, while the climate wreaks havoc, expect more wars to break out. Many more wars. It’s just a matter of time until it happens on Western soil, too. It doesn’t have to be an external enemy, even; it could also be internal ones as in the case of the US.
Get ready to be drafted into war, whether you want it or not. Even liberal countries such as Germany are already massively gearing up and considering a return to compulsory conscription. In Austria, where I live, this practice has never been abandoned for some reason, though one has the option to do ‘civil service’ instead if one ideologically rejects the military. That’s what I did, by the way. I served nine months as a paramedic in some small village instead of letting frustrated men shout at me.
Well, these frustrated men will drag us all with them. The only thing that could possibly prevent this are large-scale internal disruptions, i.e. a revolution that disbands the government altogether. Yet such an event, if not supported by a large majority, would likely be as messy and bloody as a war against external forces. They will not go gently into that good night.
Ray Dalio recently claimed that the risk of a world war that includes the US and China has now risen to 50%. “In my opinion, this war has a high risk of leading to several other conflicts of different types in a number of places, and it is likely to have harmful effects that will extend beyond those in Israel and Gaza,” he said. “Primarily for those reasons, it appears to me that the odds of transitioning from the contained conflicts to a more uncontained hot world war that includes the major powers have risen from 35% to about 50% over the last two years.”
I’m not sure why we should trust a billionaire investor and hedge fund manager, but I guess the fact that it lies in his interest that the status quo continue and he not be eaten, makes this all the more worrying.
So perhaps you should, in fact, get ready to raise your weapon against other poor sods who are forced to do the same thing. Or, perhaps, you can raise it against the one that forces you to do such a terrible thing in the first place. It will be your decision.
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Most are physically not able. The pacified nature of most peoples existence means they can not preform some of the most basic elements of soldering, which is why I find the march to war so perplexing. I agree with your assessment, but I think the powers that be have greatly misjudged the situation. Perhaps that's the point, large numbers die as a depopulation exercise and they can continue living the same way with much less people about? Who knows. I still feel its going to train-wreck massively though. The ineptitude and inbred nature of the power elite is staggering. Iraq/Afgan/Syria/Ukraine all went/are going so well that we need more? Outside the slaughter of innocent people which is wrong on a basic level, they never achieve their aims and loose geopolitical/economic options, or at least to my eyes it seems this way. So many assume that there is this overarching 'grand strategy' and the various players in the alphabet soup agencies are playing 5D chess, but the reality is there isn't, these agencies are stacked with people who all think the same way and they'll keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
You recently emailed subscribers an appeal for patronage, saying you’ll start working as a waiter. Is there a possibility you can go back to working your white-collar, HR job, or something else using your MBA? I understand you found the work abhorrent, constitutionally and as a matter of principle, but an office job would employ skills of yours more scarce and, (as determined by the market), valuable, than would waiting tables, a (hard) job that also contributes to capitalism/consumerism, but (likely) would pay less than an office job you could feasibly get.