The Bravery of Being Out of Range

Not exactly my taste in music, but interesting in the context of a cruise missle strike on Syria. 

Interview With Paul Craig Roberts

While I can not embed the interview, nor is it video, I still think it is worth your time to listen. 

I am not convinced that Obama attacking Syria is a war crime; part of the interview dicusses this, and it is an interesting argument. 

The main part of the interview is the short term economic outlook, and I mostly agree. 

However he is a little too pessimistic, as most hard money types are. I think that the point Roberts makes about the huge internal China market, eventually after a lot of sweat and tears, also applies to the US. Thus I am guardedly pessimistic. 

Here is the interview. 

War, What Is It Good For?

By the time this video appears here we may be at war. I hope not. But a weak man must act strong to hide his weakness. 

War

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists."

Ernest Hemingway, The Next War

With all the economic problems I mentioned on Monday that need to be addressed, why then is Obama headed to War? 

Hubris. 

The Collins Dictionary defines Hubris this way:

hubris [ˈhjuːbrɪs], hybris
n
1. pride or arrogance
2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc., ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin

In the ancient Greek tragedies the person with hubris was often a bully, attacking the weak because it gives him pleasure, or a feeling of power. It was almost sexual in nature. 

Most politicians, of almost any variety, seem to fit this profile. 

Another reason for war is the "short victorious war" idea. This was first expressed by Russian Prime Minister Vlad Plevhe. The Russians figured that Japan was an easy target in 1904. They were wrong and they lost the war. Obama has this idea that the war with Syria will be an obvious victory for US forces. This is probably correct, probably. 

The benefits to the US seem to me at least to far outweigh the risks. Obama is weak, but his hubris will not allow him to appear weak, so he must attack, even if the US attacks alone. (Humorously, the French seem to be on board as Hollande has his own domestic problems. Maybe we need to change the name of freedom fries back to french fries.) 

War is in your future. In fact, since I wrote this post last Friday, it may already have started by now. (It is Sunday now as I do the final edit, it looks like we will get a congressional vote.)

Get ready for the long term consequences. 

Why Does Evil Triumph?

The reason that evil triumphs is that "we" allow it to. This clip illustrates this point about war. The war that the clip is critiquing was the "good" war–WW II. I have not seen The Americanization of Emily, I will.