Mainstream Media's Apologia for Empire

https://www.npr.org/2018/01/03/575288560/journalist-as-u-s-retreats-from-world-stage-china-moves-to-fill-the-void

This Fresh Air interview is related to a Chinese surveillance project I mentioned in a previous article:

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2017/12/considering-panopticon-beast.html

For those that think that Left-wing thinkers and advocates like Terry Gross and NPR are anti-American, they need to reconsider. These people are thoroughly invested in the American project. I was left somewhat astounded listening to the New Yorker's Osnos paint China's aggressive expansion in terms that made them look somewhat sinister and conniving, even while ignoring US actions and the massive footprint it already possesses. This is never questioned, it's simply assumed and presumed to be a good thing.

Osnos understands and helpfully cites the many tools and mechanisms the US Empire has employed over the years... though of course he doesn't put it in those terms. This is all cast in a positive multilateral light.

Trump's withdrawal from and dismissal of these platforms is expressed but not explained. His doctrine is empire on the cheap. The threat of hard power should be sufficient. Trump and those around him don't want to see American power diffused and delegated. They want to manage the world through direct relationships. The Globalist Elite who are either for the most part Anglo-Americans or closely wedded to and invested in American dominance see this approach as naive and destructive. They see Trump's view of the world, which in these categories parallels that of the Neo-Conservatives, as hopelessly simplistic, even childish.

Osnos and many of the journalists connected to Establishment outlets are either part of that class or at the very least have imbibed its doctrines and swam in its waters. In other words they share the values and the mindset, or else they wouldn't have their jobs. Contrary to the assertions of some on the Libertarian and Far Right, they are not anti-Americans wanting to sell Washington out to an internationalist class. They understand that Washington controls the internationalist class. Control is not the same as micro-management. They have also learned some of the lessons from conflicts like Vietnam, Afghanistan (both the Soviet and American wars) and Iraq. They understand that military might has its limits and the economic and domestic social costs are so great as to render conflict an undesirable option. They would utilise the military as something of a rapier not a sledgehammer. Trump et al. belong to a mindset that is by many estimations outdated, one that ended with the World Wars.

Osnos laments Trumps abandonment of the internationalist apparatus and he's right it will weaken the hand of the United States. I do not lament this but as I've expressed elsewhere I fear that it will engender crisis and depending on the circumstance and the political leadership of the moment, it could lead to the Empire reacting not with a type of acquiescence but with violence.

But perhaps what I found to be most chilling were the comments associated with Artificial Intelligence and facial recognition technology. Rather than decry this stride toward totalitarian statecraft Osnos exposes his value-set in his lamentation that the US is falling behind in developing such resources. He would rather the US develop these systems and export them. He mentions the social and legal tensions in the United States over such technologies but he also makes it pretty clear where his own sympathies are to be found.

And yes, the US does have these technologies and is utilising them... but quietly. In some ways I'm surprised he wanted to broach the subject and yet the pertinent issues surrounding this technology in the United States, the so-called Patriot Act, the NSA scandals and the Snowden leaks... they receive not even a mention. It's as if they have no bearing on the larger discussion. He's looking at it in terms of geopolitics and American economic and political leadership. These are hardly Left-wing concerns but how often do I hear that NPR is little more than Leftist propaganda. Sure, it's more Left leaning than an outlet like FOX, but that doesn't mean it's part of the real left. In fact it's reporting has in recent years become all but unpalatable to me. It's pseudo-left obsession with identity politics, its twisting of economic and international reporting, war propaganda and its barrage of feminist and sodomite reporters make it unpleasant to listen to... but the values are still largely pro-Establishment and supportive of American power and the system that undergirds it.

An altogether disturbing interview, I actually found myself somewhat glad that figures like Osnos and Gross are so distressed and uneasy over the present state of affairs. Trump is obscene and yet if his corrupt foolishness wrecks the dreams of these pro-Establishment pundits, then so be it. I just hope Trump doesn't lead the world into nuclear conflict before his season in the sun comes to an end.

Of course once again in terms of the Church, Trump spells only one thing... utter disaster. They (the false church of American Evangelicalism) largely think him a hero but the damage that is being done will be permanent. Enjoy the crumbs his administration is tossing to you because your testimony is forever destroyed and the backlash will be fierce.