DECLINE of EMPIRES: The Signs of Decay

Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback, Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic , talks about the similarities in the decline of the Roman and Soviet empires and the signs that the U.S. empire is exhibiting the same symptoms: overextension, corruption and the inability to reform.

Chalmers Johnson is president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, a non-profit research and public affairs organization devoted to public education concerning Japan and international relations in the Pacific. http://www.jpri.org/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Chalmers
• Johnson
• blowback
• sorrows
• of
• empire
• military-petroleum
• complex
• nuclear
• proliferation
• oil
• wars
• imperial
• decline

[phuturephunk]

I love the fact that he called Tony Blair a Poodle. Fucking fantastic.

"The poodle Blair in England."

Brilliant

[Butterknife08]

Holy Mother... this guy predicted things Ron Paul predicted.

[peopleofthecircle]

Living too 'high off the hog' allows others to undercut you economiclly

[cdbingham]

I am part of the 30%. Vote Ron Paul 2012 !!

[DangerousDan77777]

@phuturephunk I wonder if he sat in bush's lap when they were drafting the downing street memo.

[52111centrumcz]

@bbphnix

Just look at the USSR 1990-1991. The US will go through that (but in a much harsher fashion, since it will no longer have the us $ as world reserve currency).

[52111centrumcz]

@bbphnix

Actually incorrect; everything, including the republican culture is the same; the only thing different is technology. You have your legions, you have your gladiators (hockey/football), you have your games and your have bread for the poor (farming subsidies). In fact the overall state (if you factor out the different technologies) of the social structure is the same.

[junemem]

This was filmed in 2003 for anyone wondering how old it is.

[TheHobbgobblin]

military was those who had a "stake" in society (ie....the sons of oligarchs not the landless poor) should fight in the war

[altongrimes]

I continue to listen very carefully to Chalmers Johnson. And I remember Eisenhower's words: "May we never confuse honest dissension with subversive disloyalty"... 

[tgt305]

@Grutch My house doesn't have a security service, cameras, and mounted guns. The police would also get adequate funding for an investigation that would begin ASAP, not months later.

[Grutch]

@tgt305 There was a thorough investigation! OBL and Friends claimed credit for this dirty deed and the USA investigated the validity of their claims as well. A man can sneak into your home and assault you while you sleep, you wouldn't see it coming, but after the fact, the police will be canvasing the area, collecting evidence, and when he comes out and says "Oh yeah I did it!" it's that easy to find him and corroborate evidence.