Saturday, December 18, 2010

US Empire Could Collapse At Any Time, Pulitzer Winner Tells Raw Story

America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story.
"The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell."
He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year.
"Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said.
Hedges was one of the 131 activists were arrested in an act of civil disobedience outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report citing progress in the Afghanistan war.
Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's.

12 comments:

  1. What do you mean could collapse. It really already has. There's nothing really holding it together but people's wish that things work. People will always be wishing it works out but the erosion is still getting worse. There are pundits that will say anything but the country has already been decided upon that is why this is happening it is a controlled transfer of power and resources. Religions are dead, the gov is worthless. Businesses have come to a almost standstill. What else can happen really what else? This talk about things getting better is lies. I live in NJ and the job section is less and less every week. That is bad news as far as I see it. And we are the so called doing well state.

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  2. 2:30
    You are right. For so many of us unemployed and couldn't find a job since 2008, the collapse already happened. And this is just the beginning.

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  3. KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN! YESTERDAY I LISTEN TO ADRAIN SALBUCHI (AREGENTINA) LOOKS AS IF U.S.A. IS GOING THAT WAY. NO MORE TIMES LIKE THE 50'S and 60'S. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THINGS AREN'T BETTER ANYWHERE ELSE IN U.S. BIG PICTURE, IT SUX!

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  4. Now that DHS is partnered with wal mart, it is just a matter of time til they team up with all retailers and tighten the noose more, this is all leading up to nazi style usa, like in germany, but much more high tech than they were.

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  5. One thing is for sure, Obama ,Black Face “left” actor action man ,will not be re- elected, after carrying out the wishes of the ruling elite ,with even a "Democrat' delivering tax cuts to the well off and by refusing to extend unemployment benefits to the unemployed delivering only a watered down promise of universal health care that only benefits the insurance industry and by expanding the permanent was for empire has annoyed even his own “left” liberal and unionized “worker” alliance supporter base .

    Hope and change will now be surprisingly sought elsewhere in the Two party same-same system .

    And the MSM will support a ‘peoples” roll to the “right” if the ruling elite believes Austerity can be better enforced by the Republican co-opted Tea Party”revolution”.

    The Obama Messiah will easily be shoved to one side his “mission accomplished” .
    He has only sufficient political capital left to be able to pull off one more big scam like another TARP or rescue of a TBTF bank like BoA for the bankster led ruling elite before leaving office.

    After all , some Republican states can easily overcome even the past CIA and court protection and demand to actually see the long form Birth certificate.

    Something ,that past experience shows Obama refuses to ,or cannot produce.

    In that situation an embarrassed narcissistic Obama faced with such a poular demand cannot stand again without completely destroying the dignity of his current presidency.

    By then he will have passed his use by date and will be thrown on the rubbish heap of history.
    He could easily be assassinated to avoid any unseemly embarrassment to the past failures of the electoral system failing to work.

    Fool me once shame on me .
    Its now the Republicans turn to be turds.

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  6. why do you bring up obama, you think he gives a shit if he's reelected? He has made trillions already, he does not give a shit. Next a corrupt repug can get in and make trillions and so on and on and on, until the usa is completely flushed down the toilet.

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  7. gas up 10 cents in 3 weeks and today they announce a 14% rise in electric jan.1, but we do get a tax break..to be spent on gas and electric...and food of course...and water rates aren't where they used to be..and storm water runoff from gutters fee's are up..and house atm machine is lower value yet prop taxes same and county votes for prop tax raises..and...and...

    ..they say the poor are most affected, but the mid class when looking at other countries..is smaller proportion and with rising prices and rates etc..even smaller middle class.

    meanwhile they'll appoint somemore phd's to chair a study and committee response after a year of serious study and pondering of the situation-the teams working on the problem!

    note to self-save that galvanized sheeting, need it to build shanty....

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  8. The warning signs are everywhere and generally ignored.

    The comming collapse will be fast and furious. One day soon the foundation will finally give out and the nation will break apart.

    I prep. I have food, water, weapons of all kinds, but no way to move them when the collapse finally does come. I suppose my first act of survival would be to quickly make my way to a car lot, and liberate a truck. Naturally the gas stations will run dry in one or two days, so perhaps I'll have to reconsider that...

    I vividly recall the LA riots of 1992. People looted all the retail stores in the area. In a matter of hours, store shelves were stripped bare. Lawlessness was the new standard of living durning that week of terror. Fires were everywhere and fire trucks would not go anywhere without a police escort, after a fire fighter was shot as he attempted to do his job. The police would not go anywhere without the National Guard backing them up. Korean store owners grabbed their guns and defended their lives and businesses, they shot back. The police were nowhere to be found.

    Once the collapse begins, you better be prepared to defend your home and neighborhood. Could you survive for 30 days, locked up inside your home, while everything away from your home falls apart? Can you maintain a 24 hour a day defense of your home? Will your neighbors be your alli or enemy? After the earthquake in Haiti, people were on the hunt for water. Three days after the quake, men with machetes walked the streets, looking for water. Could you kill someone to protect your water supply?

    What happens if you are away from home when the collapse comes? Do you have some food, water and weapons in your car? You may have to abandon your car and attempt to walk home, provided it's not too far. I have a small crossbow in my car. Any weapon that can be seen, can be taken from you. Are you ready to kill or be killed?

    Tha LA riots lasted less than a week. Consider for a moment, what it would be like if we had a nation wide version of the LA riots that lasted a month or longer. Are you ready?

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  9. 6:39
    Dude, I took part in the L.A. riots. I was young, just graduated from high school. I knew the mentality of the riot. It will be wild because young people don't have jobs so rioting and looting are natural things to do. We went against the authority at that time. This time we will take out the establishment like the government and banksters. Are you ready for the young unemployed people, especially the indebtedness of the college graduates who could not find a job?

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  10. should this site be renamed "the current depression"

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  11. Hey 4:29, good to see you crawl out of your cave.

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Everyone is encouraged to participate with civilized comments.