Prof. Michael Hudson’s new book, The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization’s Oligarchic Turning Point” is a seminal event in this Year of Living Dangerously when, to paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed.
Prof. Hudson’s main thesis is absolutely devastating: he sets out to prove that economic/financial practices in Ancient Greece and Rome – the pillars of Western Civilization – set the stage for what is happening today right in front of our eyes: an empire reduced to a rentier economy, collapsing from within.
And that brings us to the common denominator in every single Western financial system: it’s all about debt, inevitably growing by compound interest.
Ay, there’s the rub: before Greece and Rome, we had nearly 3,000 years of civilizations across West Asia doing exactly the opposite.
These kingdoms all knew about the importance of canceling debts. Otherwise their subjects would fall into bondage; lose their land to a bunch of foreclosing creditors; and these would usually try to overthrow the ruling power.
Aristotle succinctly framed it: “Under democracy, creditors begin to make loans and the debtors can’t pay and the creditors get more and more money, and they end up turning a democracy into an oligarchy, and then the oligarchy makes itself hereditary, and you have an aristocracy.”
Prof. Hudson sharply explains what happens when creditors take over and “reduce all the rest of the economy to bondage”: it’s what’s called today “austerity” or “debt deflation”......more below
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230515/pepe-escobar-us-empire-of-debt-headed-for-collapse-1110374196.html
A report says at least 16 US military aircraft have been lost since the start of the American-Israeli aggression against Iran, including 10 Reaper strike drones destroyed and a half-dozen other planes badly damaged.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the issue, reported that Iranian defenses have so far brought down the uncrewed Reapers, with at least nine being destroyed in the air, and one was hit at an airfield in Jordan by a ballistic missile.
The other two Reapers were reportedly lost to accidents.
The report claimed that the most serious losses were due accidents, including three US F-15s purportedly downed by “friendly fire” in Kuwait, and a KC-135 tanker destroyed during a refueling operation.
That’s while the Islamic Resistance in Iraq last week said that its fighters managed to intercept a strategic KC-135 aircraft belonging to the US military in the skies over...
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has hailed the historic striking of an American F-35 stealth fighter by Iranian forces, declaring that the destruction of this symbol of US arrogance marks the collapse of the Western-led world order.
In a Friday post on his X account, Qalibaf emphasized that the jet represented the core of Washington's delusions of military supremacy.
"The F-35 was not just a fighter jet, it was a monument to the invincibility and arrogance of the American military; a theological symbol, claimed to be invisible to any eye and superior to all power," he wrote before citing a Qur'anic verse: "however, 'the Hand of Allah is above their hands'." (Holy Qur'an, 10:48)
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed that its advanced, modern air defense systems successfully neutralized the fifth-generation stealth aircraft over central Iran’s airspace at 2:50 a.m. local time on Thursday.
The Parliament Speaker noted that the myth of American stealth ...
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has strongly denounced the recent blasphemous remarks against Jesus Christ by the Israeli regime’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
"For a man so reliant on goodwill of Christians in the United States, Netanyahu's open disdain for Jesus Christ (PBUH) is remarkable," Araghchi said on Friday on X.
Netanyahu’s unbridled praise for Genghis Khan, "the worst slaughterer our region has ever seen, also fits with his current status as a wanted war criminal," the top Iranian diplomat added.
During a televised address on Thursday, Netanyahu lauded those who disobeyed the path of Jesus and instead committed crimes.
"Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan. Because if you are strong enough, ruthless enough, powerful enough, evil will overcome good. Aggression will overcome moderation," Netanyahu said.
The clip of Netanyahu's remark went viral, with many interpreting the comments as blasphemous and anti-Christian.
Condemnations also poured in...
