The USA is a dying imperial power: corrupt to the core, hollowed-out, lacking a soul and empty within. We are a brutal, overbearing nation filled with violent, desperate, shamelessly ignorant people.

The Enlightenment (c.1680-1780) brought some hope of redemption to society following the Dark Ages. Applying the concept of humanism, philosophers recognized our innate capacity for reason as the foundation of a truly egalitarian society.

The Enlightenment’s impact was confined primarily to the European continent. Unfortunately, post-WWII America has proven the assumptions of the Enlightenment to be gravely flawed.

Human beings by and large do not behave reasonably. They don’t base their lives on reason or logic. They are irrational, selfish, narcissistic creatures largely incapable of acting for the greater good. Most people are incapable of applying any sort of long-term planning for the future, and they have no time for self-sacrifice.

Americans are simply a reflection of our environment. The unfettered free-market philosophy which has evolved since the ‘Reagan Revolution’ serves only those at the very top of the ladder – and this is why people are not rational. Any system based on unrestrained greed and irrational self-interest is doomed to fail. A system built on deep social stratification and chronic scarcity for the masses is simply not going to produce a healthy society.

And to top it all off, we’ve created an environment where the average citizen can amass huge stockpiles of military-grade weapons to use against their fellow citizens! Any idiot can see that is a recipe for disaster.

As our once great nation declines precipitously into the dustbin of history – and into collective historical amnesia – future historians will look back with horror and bemusement upon the ashes of our immoral, depraved, exceedingly violent society. Hopefully they won’t judge us too harshly: a culture of idiotic celebrity worship and trivial distractions and endless war; a culture whose guiding mantras were “I’ve got mine, screw you,” “No New Taxes,” “Just Say No,” “Support Our Troops,” and “Shop ’till you drop.”

American culture signifies the conquest of ‘know-nothingism’ and unmitigated greed over logic and reason; of willful ignorance and self-delusion over Truth and righteousness. We are a shining example of the triumph of the psychopathic few over the ignorant, complacent many. America is a prime example of the unfulfilled promise of the Enlightenment.

Americans think they are an “exceptional” nation full of indispensable people. In fact, our nation has become a full-blown corporate kleptocracy run by and for the benefit of criminals and sociopaths. The One Percent have completely hijacked the institutions of government. The forces of evil are too firmly entrenched in American society; we can’t simply “vote them out” anymore.

Violent insurrection is the only possible outcome under the present circumstances. As JFK famously said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.“

[Repost from 2015]