I see neither Nieztsche's eternal recurrence nor a complete escape from trends of the past but an evolutionary progression, based on myriad forces in humans and in nature (humans being as much a part of nature as bees or ants) that leads to something new every moment.
What comes is neither good nor bad but a result of previous conditions and decisions.
There is no destiny for us. There is no fate. Everything is a choice and even if events beyond our control influence, enlighten, or destroy us, we are part of the system and every moment we exist influences the whole of reality to some degree. This is not a movie to be replayed but an infinite movie to be created, forever.
History is everything that has happened.
Because science and philosophy and mathematics have happened, they are as much history as the construction of the Great Wall in China.
The manipulation of history happens in the mind of the individual and in the collective minds of groups of peoples and nations. We attempt, as individuals and societies, to selectively remember and forget based on conscious and subconscious forces.
As individuals, we may do things that we regret and wish to bury. Nations are no different. Often, nations and people purposely trick and deceive each other for greed. Often, these tricks and deceptions involve mass murder.
Although it is hard for a people to realize their failures and atrocities, almost all countries and cultures have engaged in instances of both. All modern empires, in my opinion, are both atrocities and failures of human potential; especially in a world where we have such amazing access to information and understanding about the effects of empire on human suffering.
Remember that those who participated in the American Revolution and their leaders, who we refer to as Founding Fathers, were, to the British Empire, both insurgents and terrorists.
This is not to take any side in modern conflicts but merely to point out that when an empire leaves and allows the autonomy of its colonial offshoots and conquered people, then there is little cause for further violence. The violence we face is a direct result of the imperialistic violence we have and continue to perpetrate on various peoples in various countries.
When we used the Afghani fighters in our proxy war with the Russians, we failed to help them rebuild their country that had been devastated by war.
These conditions are precisely the conditions that build resentment and, in combination with desperation, lead to hatred. By meddling in Iran's government and supporting a dictator, we created the environment that has lead to the hard lined government in Iran today. By siding almost unilaterally with Israel and supplying it with our tanks and helicopter gunships, we create, in the desperate Arab people, hatred and resentment.
This is not to make claims about whether or not any of our actions are justified but only to point out that continued combat operations anywhere will inevitably create insurgents and terrorists who believe, like our rebellious founders, that to be subject to an empire's rule is less desirable than even death. "Live free or die" is a statement we in America often chant and recite. Why is it so hard for us to understand that other people in other places would also rather live free or die?
How would you feel if squads of Chinese troops were patrolling your neighborhood in America? I don't think we would stand for it, so why do we assume that other people in other places should? This is not, in any way, to accuse the Chinese of intending to occupy us and I could have inserted any foreign power as a substitute. This was only a thought experiment.
We often find it easier to think of history as black and white rather than in shades of grey. The Nazis said infiltrators burned down the German capitol building in order to justify sweeping changes to the rights of German citizens.
Then, the Nazis falsely accused Polish communists of attacking a German radio station in order to justify an invasion of Poland. The Bush administration lied about connections between Al Qaeda and Iraq in order to get the people behind a war with Iraq.
The blame we place on soldiers should rely a lot on what they believed to be true. But, this excuses no soldier, civilian, or government from commiting murder or torture.
Murder is not when a Nazi soldier kills a Polish soldier because he thinks the Poles attacked his country. Murder is when a Nazi leader knowingly lies about history to incite "pre-emptive" war. Many soldiers are victims of the lies of their leaders. Murder is when an American soldier, Nazi soldier, Israeli soldier, or Palestinian militant, kills an unarmed civilian or blows up a hospital or school.
Murder is when an Iranian sniper kills an unarmed protester. Murder is when United States National Guard troops open fire on college students at Kent State. Murder is what the Japanese soldiers did to various peoples in Asia during the 20th century impirial grab.
Murder is what happened under Stalin on a regular basis and what happened as a systematic cleansing during the Chinese cultural revolution. Although I understand the difficulties of the situation, I think that the US bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima constitute some of the greatest terrorist acts of all time. The intentional destruction of civiallian cities can only be terrorism. It was the intent of those bombings to terrorize Japan into surrendering and it worked.
The fire bombing of Dresden that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was witness to was a purely terrorist act and it worked. But at what cost? Whether the bombs in Japan should have been used is certainly a more convoluted question when civilians are forced, during a draft, by their own governments, to be soldiers.
The war may have gone on for a much greater period of time and we may have needed a million soldiers to invade the main island of Japan and the resultant deaths may well have been ten or twenty times the death toll of the atomic bombings.
But if you put on the uniform, you know that you could be killed. If you refuse, you may also be killed by an unjust government. Any just government will have a consciencious objector exemption during any conflict. Murdering or imprisoning people who are pacifists or who do not see the justice in this or that military action should be entitled to remain as neutral as is humanly possible. My opinion is that conscience trumps life and we should never take any action that would violate what we know is right.
When I was very briefly in the army, we learned (i) not to obey illegal orders and (ii) the rules of war as defined by the Geneva convention. How intelligence, government, and military personnel have been able to ignore these fundamental rules that we ourselves created is absolutely beyond me. Waterboarding is torture and it always was.
The United States executed Japanese soldiers for waterboarding. Shackling people to the ceiling is torture. Stress positions of any kind is torture. Constant exposure to loud music is torture. Threatening to kill people's family or friends is torture. Period. With absolutely no room for argument in my mind.
The Chinese have attempted to conceal the history of Tienamen Square because knowledge of this history is deemed dangerous to the existing power structure. Portions of the American government, under George W. Bush, attempted to falsify and manipulate history in order to lead the country to war against Iraq.
A great number of people believe that the World Trade Center building #7's (which was not hit by any plane) uniform collapse indicates that some entity in the United States committed a false-flag operation to motivate both a reduction in freedom for the citizens (The Orwellian "Patriot Act") and a reason to launch two wars. This remains to be proven or disproven, but that some people are capable of such things is not, in my opinion, disputable.
It should be noted that no matter who was ultimately responsible for the 9-11 attacks, all theories constitute a conspiracy theory because a conspiracy is nothing more than at least two people who plot to do something in secret.
|
|
|
Watergate was a conspiracy and any attempt to denounce a theory simply because it is conspiratorial is a way for the existing power center to discredit anyone who accuses them of conspiring to do anything.
Although a passport was found, intact, at the site of the World Trade Center towers, for the first time in history, allegedly, not a single one of the near indestructible four black box recorders were found from any of the four crash sites. Also, various scientists have found traces of thermite, an incendiary chemical, which can be painted onto surfaces, in the debris of the World Trade Center collapse. An article in The Open Chemical Physics Journal, which can be downloaded in PDF form, showing the evidence of thermite, is here.
It is also the first time in history steel buildings were destroyed by fire. It is also the first time military aircraft were not scrambled to protect national airspace. Dick Cheney, who was in charge of US air space on 9-11, could have done this rather easily if they knew about and aided the Al Qaeda hijackers. Doing nothing in the face of intelligence reports is one form of cooperation. Regardless of the truth of 9-11, Americans, British, and other western powers were consistently and purposely lied to about weapons of mass destruction and nuclear materials.
Dick Cheney did, in fact, commit clear treason, in the open, by outting a US CIA spy agent, Valerie Plame, in order to get revenge on her husband for exposing the administration's lies about African uranium being bought by Sadaam Hussein. A related Wikipedia article is here. (I understand the flaws of Wikipedia in reference, but this particular page is better than any other source on the issue in the extent of its content).
I have read that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had implored congress (specifically, Tom Daschle) to not investigate the 9-11 incident thoroughly, adding to his and his administration's appearance of guilt. A related article can be found here. That people who authorize torture and mass murder through false war would harm their own people seems an easy enough conclusion to draw. It is simply a fact that there are some people, namely conquerers and imperialists, who see Earth like a Risk board.
My greatest reasons for investigating this is that the World Trade Center tower number seven collapsed uniformly at freefall speed. This makes no sense to me because that building was never hit. Watch this interview here. There are, literally, thousands of architects and engineers who think that this whole scenario was very obviously a controlled demollition event. Go here to see the architects and engineers for 9-11 truth website.
Also, some scientists have claimed to have found thermite in the rubble. Tthere was so much to be gained for those who wanted us to go to war. We know they lied about WMDs in any case. We know they tortured people in any case. We know that our country has committed war crimes and those responsible, at the top, who knew, must be held accountable, in any case. I am skeptical of the official story and the ramblings of incoherent conspiracy theorists. I am skeptical of everything so theories and evidence must be considered.
It should be mentioned that an inside job on 9-11 could be any of the following: Civillian based-contractor caused, only caused or known by one or two high-level neocon government officials, etc. In other words, who may have done this is not "The Government" but, acutally, a terrorist cell of powerful neocons in our corporate-industrial complex.
Here is my summary of the causes of 9-11 based on years of study, evidence and first-person accounts.
Isolated neocon elements of the United States government both directly and indirectly orchestrated 9-11. The CIA originally funded and created Al Qaeda ("Al Qaeda" is, literally, the term used for the CIA's database of the Mujahideen members, of which Osama Bin Laden was a leader, that were funded by the CIA during the Afghan war with Russia.
A UK Guardian article explaining this in detail is here.), in partner with the Pakistani intelligence services (ISI) of Pervez Musharraf (a transfer of $100,000 has been linked to a Pakistani general that went to Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the 9-11 hijackers, just days before the attack.
The 9-11 commission stated that the source of money was not important and left out these details on purpose. Let's not forget that the head of the 9-11 commission was appointed by Bush and steered investigation away from numerous critical areas.).
Osama Bin Laden was framed, by elements of the US corporate-government complex, as the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks. Various memos and numerous international warnings were ignored on purpose. The attacks were carried out by the Pentagon and elements in the United States (whether government or corporate elements doesn't matter because they are one), and covert US forces ensured the total destruction of specified targets with the aid of thermite-based demolition that may very well have been applied as a paint and without the knowledge of the applicators. An article in The Open Chemical Physics Journal, which can be downloaded in PDF form, showing the evidence of thermite, is here.
Later, Bin Laden and other forces were allowed to retreat from Tora Bora by the US government into Pakistani territory. See the video clip here. Donald Rumsfeld gave direct orders to let them go. The continued survival of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda was essential for the continued survival of the perpetual fear needed for popular support.
If I were a nihilistic dictator that needed to move my people to a war, this would work quite well. Here are some suggestions for the degenerates who very well may have carried this out: Demolishing WTC #7 was sloppy because it didn't make sense. See a video of the collapse of WTC #7 here.
Also, given that I was in the position of the psychopaths that did this, I would have turned on Bin Laden and killed him (just like we turned on Sadaam Hussein when we were done playing with him. See the bottom of my government page for more on the US-Iraqi connections in the early 1980s). This calculation would ensure closure rather than ongoing interest. All this being said, that nothing is being done, is more than criminal, it is absurd. One of the best documentaries done about this is 9/11: Press For Truth. Also, visit the 9-11 truth movement website here.
Hitler once said that the bigger the lie, the more people will believe it. I think this is very true because not accepting the lie results in a paradigmatic collapse for most people.
If you don't think the US government has ever or would ever harm its own people in order to carry out a military objective, then consider the proposal put forth in Operation Northwoods. This was a proposal, by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, that included false-flag domestic hijackings and the destruction of civilian targets in Florida cities in order to garner support for a US invasion of Cuba in the mid 1960s. This means, fifty years ago, these nihilistic warmongers were already considering murdering their own people for military and political ends. Wake up and realize how heinous your government is people.
It won't be long before you are not allowed to read things like this, so pay attention, take notes, and print out as many pages as you want.
Given human nature and the nationalism the attacks created, no American wanted to believe that 9-11 was an inside job and many still do not.
Leaders can not launch a war unless their people are afraid. Watch for this pattern of fear creation and the ensuing battles. It is, almost always, for money or military position, the latter of which makes a lot of money for war profiteers and war-related corporations.
The sinking of the Maine in Cuba has been considered a possible candidate for false-flag operations and there are many good reasons to think of John F. Kennedy's assasination as an internal coup. That witnesses saw Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby together in a New Orleans bar weeks before the assasination and that a photo was taken of a muzzle flash on the grassy knoll are both indications that a conspiracy took place. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was completely fabricated in order to muster popular support for the Vietnam war.
These are not far-fetched fantasies but the games rulers play with the world and people that are their pawns. Those who orchestrate these events thrive on the manipulation of people's perception of reality in order to achieve their goals and one type of manipulation is to dismiss all contrary theories as paranoia.
History is littered with the schemes of tyrants and to think that 9-11 was not possibly one of them is to be blind. I'm sure that some utilitarian justification is given for these lies and conspiracies. "If we don't secure our oil resources, then America could fail. What is a few thousand lives and a few buildings compared to the whole empire?" is probably something that has gone through Dick Cheney's mind.
History is what historians write and historians are people with subjective points of view at least and outright agendas at most. The best history is that which attempts to be as objective as possible, but no completely objective account of anything can be recorded from a single perspective.
If leaders never lied, there would be no war. Whenever there is a call to war, question the reasons and the motives because it is rare that a conflict is just.
An article on Pericles and the Athenian Democracy and an article on Thucydides and Justice are available.
