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
Gaza authorities have accused Israel of systematically stealing organs from Palestinian bodies, a disturbing act that underscores the regime’s ongoing brutality.
With the international community turning a blind eye, officials warn that such atrocities will continue as long as Israel remains immune to accountability for its war crimes.....more below
UG Solutions, a leading US military subcontractor that previously provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and helped run Gaza’s deadly aid distribution system, is aggressively recruiting for a new round of deployments to the blockaded Palestinian territory, a media report says.
A former army officer who recently applied for a position told Drop Site that a UG Solutions official openly described plans for more than a dozen new aid sites in Gaza.
The officer further emphasized that the company was “going to need a lot more guys.”
Applicants are reportedly being told deployments could begin by December, with salaries of up to $1,000 per day plus per diem.
One recruit described interviews focused on weapons tests, “rules of escalation,” and questions about whether he would obey superiors regardless of past military rank. After multiple rounds of vetting, he was abruptly rejected......more below
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/11/20/759192/US--GHF-Gaza-Israel-
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran now considers the Cairo understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) terminated, following the passage of an anti-Iran resolution at the agency’s Board of Governors.
The Board on Thursday narrowly approved the resolution drafted by the European Troika - France, Germany and the UK - and the United States—passing 19–3 with 12 abstentions—that urges Tehran to “without delay” report on its enriched uranium stockpile and facilities damaged in the June aggression by Israel and the US, while omitting any mention of Iran’s longstanding cooperation with the agency.
Araghchi condemned the move, calling the resolution “illegal and unjustified.” He said the measure was adopted “under pressure from these four countries” despite opposition or abstentions from 15 board members.
Araghchi said the action undermined the IAEA’s “credibility and independence” and would disrupt the agency’s cooperation with ...
