Reciprocity and Rapprochement: From Sociopathy to Socialism
Reciprocity and Rapprochement: From Sociopathy to Socialism
The West's sociopathic capitalism must be tamed and re-socialized. Reciprocity and rapprochement are two ways to do it. There is a middle way and we must find it.
To get back to some sort of progressive equilibrium the West must return to socialist values. The very idea of such a notion will strike horror and contempt with ideologues who have systematically, over the last half century purged any semblance of socialism from our societies. Neoliberalism prevails as we now have socialism for the very rich and rapacious capitalism, and the endless wars, for everybody else. When I refer to the term "Socialism" I am not just referring to it as a political ideology; I refer to it in the larger sense of being how we our live as peoples, recognizing that we are social tribal beings and we must establish the values and institutions where we can live in something resembling a state of reciprocity, rapprochement and relative peace. As we whet our knives for war we too easily forget the essential alternatives- There is the middle way! Western Civilization has taken a very deep dive into perpetual wars, endless greed and deep seated corruptions such that it is sociopathic practicing an unconscionable ethnocentrism as war against 87% of the world community. It only speaks the psychotic language of endless war holding the world hostage to its delusional, aspirations. Its geopolitical posture lies some where between willful ignorance and stage IV cretinism. ******
I can speak with some authority on this as I have watched the disintegration of mixed capitalist /socialist economies over the last fifty years in both Canada and the USA. In the 1970’s and 1980’s corporate power and influence was growing rapidly and it came to the point they decided they wanted it all, in came neoliberalism where deregulation, privatization and the denigration of government were the new standard. Unions were gutted and social welfare programs stripped away. Generously funded think tanks were created as “research institutions” when in fact they no more than lobbyists for free market unaccountable capitalism, domestically and internationally raiding economies of smaller countries .
As you see in the article below governments no longer set policy they are acolytes to the powers that control them:
Glenn Diesen: How the US military-industrial complex has used think tanks to hijack EU policy making
You can see here how the G7 are sock puppets serving their roles as vassal states
In earlier times Canada was considered a more socialist country than the US. True! Our political spectrum was to the left of our American neighbors. Our conservatives were moderate, our liberals truly liberal, and our socialists somewhat socialist. All this is gone as neoliberalism prevails, liberalism is dead in the water. Canada is now an echo chamber of American politics— except that Canada is a colony and colonization renders our politics a parody worthy of a Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera.— little wonder Canadians are so discontent with the quality of our governance.
In past times it wasn’t uncommon for American politicians who wanted to take a dig at their Canadian counterparts by accusing them of being socialists and/or communists. Of course these same politicians were completely indifferent to the damage hard ass right wing politics and capitalism were doing to their own society. The end result of which we see in the calamity we face today, seventy five years in the making.
Politicians on both sides of the borderless border have yet to learn there is a middle way, and sustainable democracy requires a level of discipline, continuity of governance and a dose of altruism of which they have proven incapable. Politics in Fortress North America has become pure pathos where democracy is shoved under the carpet and a bunch over dressed troglodytes indulge in their most favored corruptions behind closed doors .
The derelict leaders of the West have a very limited vocabulary unsuited to the complex times in which we live. They are totally addicted to monosyllabic words like war, me and my , and money which has two syllables and is constantly on their minds. It is their mantra.
When it comes to multi-syllabic words like reciprocity and rapprochement they are totally tongue tied. They are linguistically and morally incapable of saying them. All those extra syllables have to be patched together to be intelligible and discussed intelligently. Where Gilbert and Sullivan delighted in such words injecting a musical lilt into saying them, morose politicians just settle for war and more war— which is all very tiresome.
Morally politicians can not acknowledge or repeat such words and so many more. They are socialist words where people work together. We are tribal social animals and to deny our social nature is self-degradation. Authoritarianism, fascism, totalitarianism are abdications of the human spirit, quisling elites are too willing to condone.
Reciprocity- is all about scratching each others back as equals, in the true spirit of free trade where everybody benefits.
Rapprochement- is all about having harmonious relationships with other countries and power blocks, free of petulance, envy, with a dose of altruism and putting people and prosperity first.
The USA is so intransigent Donald Trump has been thoroughly ripped over for showing an iota of rapprochement toward Russia. In Canada a highly qualified foreign affairs minister was fired as he favored rapprochement with Russia.
Where rapprochement is an essential value for saving the world, inside the North American ghetto of dunderheaded politicians it is regarded as treason. They have the mentality of a doped up street gang—money and power being the dope.
The 2 R’s changing the world
The 2 R’s can be seen as the difference between the”hard power” and “soft power”. Where the USA uses imperialism/neoliberalism /hard power(up to and including open warfare) to exploit and impoverish other countries; China uses soft power/reciprocity/ rapprochement in working with other countries. China loans money and makes business deals with other countries that will benefit both parties in the long run. China does not interfere in the political affairs of other countries, it is not out to steal their sovereignty and resources. It makes reciprocal agreements, scratching each others back, to the mutual benefit and greater prosperity for both.
This is also known as the tide lifting all boats, rather than blowing them out of the water. (Lifting all boats is socialism, blowing them out of the water is sociopathy.)
This is why so many countries are aligning themselves with BRICS where they can develop on their own terms without having their political and economic sovereignty stolen. Countries of the world are lined up to join BRICS as it is setting record trade levels.
While the West is fighting its endless wars South Asia and Eurasia are moving on to building a better world.
American politicians talk about “Making America Great Again”(MAGA) and “Building Back Better”(BBB); but do neither, these are no more than frivolous sloganeering.
MAGA and BBB should be the main focus of American society, instead their elites are fixated on war and their ultimate self-destruction.
When empires come into being they simultaneously sow the seeds of their own destruction, now in full bloom—history tells us this ad nauseum.
The destruction of Ukraine is just one more atrocity committed by NATO (The goon squad for Western capitalism) in its vainglorious and futile attempt for global domination. What many knew before the war is now common knowledge, NATO wants Russia and China destroyed as the only two countries in the world that sill stand as sovereign.
The destruction of these two powers would leave the world in the ruins of a fascist global monoculture. Multipolarism is the essential goal that must be embraced by all.
The stark reality for the West is that to survive we must change our vocabulary and feeble mindset, moving away from sociopathy and the re-inclusion of socialism— an essential component for moving forward. Waging war serves only to dig deeper graves, and is the ultimate “dumbing down". The West's sociopathic capitalism must be tamed and re-socialized. Reciprocity and rapprochement and are the way forward. There is a middle way and we must find it.
Afterwords:
“The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance. As I write, the number one video cassette rental in America is the movie Dumb and Dumber. Beavis and Butthead remains popular (and influential) with young TV viewers. The plain lesson is that study and learning - not just of science, but of anything - are avoidable, even undesirable.” — Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World
******
Note: Socialism and communism are distinctly different. Communism like fascism equates to absolute state control. Socialism can exist in many permutations and is compatible with capitalism as in mixed economic systems, as we had 50 years ago before neoliberalism became dominant. Neoliberalism is akin to economic fascism where corporatism prevails over government.
Propaganda is to be programmed, Much like a computer, Like Pavlov's dogs. We bark on command. The leash is short, The menu scant. -author
In case you missed them :
