Wars and Rumors of Wars

Can you hear that sound? That drumming?

Those are war drums being beaten.

Do you see who’s playing them? Do they look familiar to you?

They should. That’s the Western, capitalist elite. For them war, chaos, terror, and death is just a business opportunity. That’s for them. The dying part, that’s for you.

Can you see those lines? The ones being drawn between different blocs of allies?

Notice how former alliances are dissolving and new ones are being forged; how fading powers, desperate to cling even to the shadow of power, have grown more and more desperate–more and more bellicose.

Can you see that sign up ahead? The one that reads “Caution”? The one that’s being ignored because avarice and hubris are a dangerous combination?

We are being ushered into a world where danger and uncertainty will crest, giving rise to one where suffering and destruction become general, rather than particular conditions.

This is the world born of the savagery of colonialism and slavery and the avarice of their progeny–capitalism. This is the world as is it and as it will be, that is, until we decide to do something about it.

Empire in blackface

People are working overtime to make sure that Black people are the face of empire. After a while, some will realize how myopic a pursuit “representation” is in contrast to institutional capacity (i.e., power). However, given the current and salient neoliberal logics regarding what passes for “activism”, this may be a long-time in coming and will likely result from the continued delegitimization of the Black elite. I do question whether the same mental energies that went into rationalizing acquisitiveness and (gaudy) representation as a pathway towards group power will be easily redirected towards more productive paths.