Capitalism is indeed quite expensive.

And as the former Soviet Union so amply demonstrated, for the very same reasons, so is Communism.

The difference, it seems, is that Communism can not afford itself-- or at the very least goes broke much faster in the attempt.

Truth.

Oh look, a contrarian, aka "some guy's uncle from Zimbabwe"

"We are, in fact, very much in the thick of it."

Charles, this is going to blow your mind: the aircraft the Blue Angels fly are Boeing products. Might want to consider incorporating that fact into your screed.

@4) as reader of Spinoza I'm aware of this.

@5, please watch my movie zoo on this very subject.

The great importance of Mudede roaring through the perils of Capitalism:

Zimbabwe
GDP $16.29 BILLION

U.S. 

GDP $20.4 TRILLION



China
GDP $14.092 TRILLION



GDP Per capita



Zimbabwe

$908



U.S.
$62,152



China
$10,087



Poverty



Zimbabwe
72% 



U.S. 

14.6%



China

11.1%

Military Spending per GDP



Zimbabwe
2%

U.S.

3.1%



China

2%

"The Blue Angels are only telling us this truth."

Unfortunately your braying in this piece is less factual, and truthful.

Yes, the U.S. has a military. The U.S. is a sovereign country, and in order to maintain that sovereignty we must have a military. You think Russia, or China are going to get rid of their military if we get rid of ours? No fucking way.

Love watching the Blue Angels.

@7 I'm not seeing the connection between bestiality and the defense industry. Is that made clear in the movie?

Achingly Beautiful.

@5 A good point (but only on paper due to the merger with the "previous" manufacturer in the 90s. The Blue Angels planes are older models, and likely pre-date that) -- having one of the biggest players of the Military Industrial Complex in our back yard is nothing to skip over --even if it's primarily commercial planes they're building here.

@8: your comment made me re-read Charles' post looking for the part where he wrote that we didn't need a military. guess what? he didn't.

he also didn't assert anything about Zimbabwe's economy or defense budget. he's been quite clear on the tragedy that Mugabe's autocracy has been for his native country.

more borderline-racist, binary, strawman bullshit.

Likewise, we haven't seen a global communism that's established without bullets, cannonballs, and bombs.

@11 Oh dear, did you just call my post racist--wait, "borderline-racist." What, because I disagree with Mudede, and typed the word "Zimbabwe" and included GDP data in my post.

Just because Mudede conveniently left it out of his shit nihilist piece doesn't mean he didn't imply it. He's been railing against Capitalism, and Military for years. Get a clue.

Maybe he misses Autocratic governance, and longs for it to be her sin the U.S.

@10 Yeah, I guess it's not a particularly clear-cut a connection, the planes the Blue Angels actually fly would likely have been built in St. Louis by McDonnell Douglas folks. The KC-46 featured in the air show is more of a direct example of a local product.

@12 Mudede conveniently leaves that nugget out. He wants his version of Communism where he is on the butt end of the rifle, not the working end; who wouldn't want to be on the butt end if those were the options.

A great threat to the United States is congress continually deferring their responsibilities to the president. There's far too many executive orders. Too many uses of the war powers act. Too often the president makes major decisions without any real congressional support or even knowledge of the decisions at all. This is how dictators are created.

@16 Trump certainly has those tendencies.

Congress has been passively keeping him in check, which is the most we're going to get out of them. If Obama conducted himself the same way the Democrats would be doing the same shit.

The courts have struck down a number of his EO's. I suspect our saving grace will be the Judicial Branch. But when has it not been during times like these.

Need to be careful though because although we may see a Democratic win in November, but could see is squandered politically. Republicans seem to be hoping Democrats take control so in the event Trump needs to be impeached for real or made-up criminality it will fall on them.

I suspect the chances of Democrats impeaching Trump is very low, because many of them want to beat him in 2020. They will hold the line, keep him in check, and set for battle in 2020. That's going to piss of the Democratic base, but is probably the most likely outcome.

@4 "Not only is commerce a universal language, but once you remove the caprice of kings, dictators, party chairmen, and other autocrats from the picture, it's also a peace keeper."

BS. You never remove that caprice; the US has it plenty. And it's only a peacekeeper for windowdressing, anyway, or when it's the cheaper option for predatory capitalism. Otherwise, the US has been the biggest warmonger on earth for a full century. Few were good wars, either - most were blatantly "gangsterism for capitalism" as Marine Gen. Smedley Butler put it when he came to his senses after leading misadventures in China and Central America on behalf of Standard Oil and United Fruit (in other words, the Rockefellers, Dulleses, Harrimans, Bushes, etc.).

War is good business. And business is good. The US went into Iraq because Afghanistan wasn't going to be a big enough profit center for Dick Cheney's Halliburton, KBR, etc., and the materiel manufacturers, Boeing among them. "They will greet us as liberators." Ha! They hate our guts for being neoimperialists - all of them, except for the lackeys and houseboys sucking up to the money. You think Syria is about democracy? Syria is about competing natural gas pipelines. So is Afghanistan. We're only about democracy when it can be exploited for business. Otherwise, the US is a major anti-democratic force in the world. Ask any non-businessman, non-military citizen of any Central and South American country.

@17,
Oh, to be sure, congress deferred to the president during Obama's term too. And Bush's. And Clinton's... Hell, congress' spine has been growing weaker and weaker every election since Jackson.

Im going to go off the subject here and say, I love to watch them. Ooops, maybe I should have gotten approval 1st...

@18 Be sure to spell it “Amerikkka” to complete your sophomoric rant.

@24

I'm pretty sure they only spell it that way when they're trying to show you they have a sense of humor. This one I think is instead being very, very serious.

@13: fuck your "oh, dear".

i've read this not-racist-at-all "counterpoint: zimbabwe is a shithole" crap on charles' posts as long as he's been at the stranger.

@27,
The problem is that the U.S. even has two Dakotas to begin with!

@28 I'm gonna adopt an unruly pitbull, raise it poorly, put a vest on it, and bring it on airplanes. I shall call it Dakota.

@26 I didn’t call Zimbabwe a shithole, you just did. Did you conclude that based on the data I presented?

Rhodesia was a beautiful country.

@29,

Don't forget to take it to the Blue Angels show.

while I can absolutely appreciate the technological feats of creating aircraft that can do fancy stunts

I also recognize that the sounds of warcraft like the BAs is usually accompanied by the sounds of bombs and other ordnance exploding, and that is the experience most other peoples have of the US military.

The sound of the Blue Angels is the sound of "Shock and Awe" military invasion typically unleashed on smaller countries (Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan Croatia, Somalia, etc etc.)

@33

Come up with that one all by yourself, did you?

Dear me. I suppose it's a credit to the American system that it's got a fair number of citizens to whom the purpose of a military parade is not immediately and overwhelmingly obvious.

The US Armed Forces reside peacefully in far more nations than they are ever at war with.

It’s that whole “poor Iran we have them surrounded” thing, which I used to swallow as well.

I grew up, though.

Not to say we at times both did and did not have to kick the shit out of the world, but that “most other people” thing. Paently false.

A Hornet did buzz the Souq Waqif literally as my feet crossed the threshold twice and twice only.

Sometimes there are people around that need the living shit scared out of them.

Thank Gawd for Empire! Our Imperial Forces only eat up half the Budget (for now) so, what's the Problem?

I know, THIRTY MILLION (or is it FORTY MILLION?) without Healthcare isn't YOUR problem.

SIXTY PERCENT of US Citizens haven't got even $1000 in their Bank Acc'ts to cover emergencies. (You got yours? Not to worry!)

"Problem"? WHAT Problem?!

It's every Man for hisself!
And Gawd Bless Amerikkka!

Right fucking spot ON, Charles.
Keep 'em comin'.

Wow, rockyboy, you surely ruffled some feathers!
And the Neolibs and Cons do not LIKE having their feathers ruffled!

Good thing they're here, however.
They can surely help the Capitalists keep us in line.

The USA spends its money on killer machinery, space toys, weapons of death and prisons. Not on universal healthcare, education or safe housing for the elderly and mentally ill. Hey, priorities, man.

CM you are the Blue Angel of Seattle media, full of sound and fury... you are the war machine within our midst.