Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill

Democratic Socialists of America Video Channel

Islam was born in the deserts of Arabia in the early seventh century. Islam is a revolutionary, totalizing political ideology masquerading as a religion. - Ellis Washington, 2010

The American "education" machine is broken!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

‘What’s All This Talk About Empires?’
  Foreign Policy piece by James T. Moore

The word “empire” is getting lots play these days. People who know little or nothing about empires, relax and go about their business. People, though, who do know something about empires-- and see America as one-- are scared half to death. And who can blame them?

Me, being a guy who simply hunts for facts (or the truth, if you will), read an article recently by Laurence M Vance, a renowned writer and researcher, that spooked hell out of me. I HAD to talk with this man. So I called Mr. Vance, asked for an interview and got it, and this article is what came out of that interview.

MOORE: Thank you, Mister Vance for taking time to speak with me.

VANCE:  Not at all, my pleasure.

MOORE:  The title of your recent article,Same Empire, Different Emperor, really stopped me. What, sir, did you mean by that?

VANCE :  Just as Nero succeeded Claudius, and Caligula succeeded Tiberius, so our presidents succeed each other, but the empire never changes. It is what it is.

MOORE:  Maybe we need your definition of an empire.

VANCE :  Sure. An empire is a political entity, usually totalitarian, comprising a number of territories or nations, ruled by a single, supreme authority, like a king or an emperor.

MOORE:  And you believe America is an empire?

VANCE :  Not quite. But it’s becoming one. And fast.

MOORE:  Can you elaborate on that a bit more, Mister Vance?

VANCE :  Certainly. The most well-known empire, of course, is Rome. In its expansive heyday the Roman Empire stretched from Africa to England; and if it had had our technology and military resources it might have stretched across Asia…and our continent as well.

MOORE:  Probably so. But how does all that relate to us here in America?

VANCE :  Our modern capabilities enable us to build an empire where the Roman Empire left off, so to speak.

MOORE:  I’m sorry, sir, I don’t follow that.

VANCE :  The U.S. is taking over nations and territories that the Romans could only dream about. You certainly must be aware, Jim, of how much more of the world we are present in than we were, say, forty or fifty years ago.

MOORE:  Yes, I am, but that hardly means we are conquering, or even occupying, them.

VANCE :  So you would think. But remember, ancient empires didn’t need their native people to go to that country to rule, it was held captive in the empire by their military.

MOORE:  And your contention, Mister Vance, is that the U. S. is doing the same thing?

VANCE :  The same thing, Jim, and more. The Department of Defense quarterly report says that there are U.S. troops stationed in 148 countries and 11 territories in every corner of the globe. This means that U.S. troops occupy over 75 percent of the world’s countries!---including over 50,000 troops in German, 35,000 troops in Japan, and 24,000 in South Korea - decades after the end of World War II and the Korean War. Now, if that isn’t occupation, what is?

MOORE:  Certainly sounds like it. Well, Mister Vance, I sure appreciate the time, and the history lesson you’ve given me. Any last words before I go?

VANCE :  Just this:  Presidential administrations come and go, but the empire remains the same.

MOORE:  Same empire, different emperor, right?

VANCE :  You got it.

James T Moore

PLEASE NOTE: This discussion never took place. In fact, I do not even know Laurence M Vance. But that changes nothing: the interview was pure fiction, but all the information herein - and more in Vance’s article - is substantively true, and factually accurate, with no alterations or suppositions of any kind. - Jim Moore

Ref: Same Empire, Different Emperor

Posted by James T. Moore on 2/21/10 at 04:21 AM
Email Author  [Email Article To Someone.]  (Permalink) Print This Page

UPSSA United Progressive Socialist States of America

UPSSA United Progressive Socialist States of America