CAN WE SEE THE PUZZLE COMING TOGETHER?

I did a radio interview last night on Voice of Russia about NATO expansion and earlier in the day I was called by a reporter from Tokyo Shimbun.  The Japanese newspaper wanted my take on their right-wing government's decision to revise the interpretation of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution to allow Japan to join the US in the provocative program to control China.  Of course I said that this would be a dangerous and expensive step by Japan and it clearly indicates that the US had finally succeeded in forcing this change.

For years successive US administrations have been trying to get Japan to renounce peace and become full partners in US war mongering.  The peace community in Japan, remembering the total catastrophe of their nation's imperial rampage through the Pacific during WW II, fought long and hard to stop this change.  But like most other citizens around the world they are losing their ability to influence their government - now under the control of corporate pirates.

The US is creating an Asia-Pacific version of NATO to checkmate China and Russia.  Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and others are being brought into this military alliance.  In each of these places the US is forcing host governments to cut social spending and to buy more weapons (preferably from the US) and make them "interoperable" with Pentagon operations.  By doing this the US is able to share the cost of empire and give the illusion that the "international community" is united behind the corporate plan for global domination.

The truth is that the people of the world are not on board this suicidal march into endless war and economic strangulation at home.  People know what is going on and are increasing rising in opposition to these plans.  But just like we found here in the US during the popular Occupy movement, the voices of the 99% have to be shut down or if left unrestrained stand the good chance of creating truly popular uprisings to corporate authority.

The one thing that gives me hope these days is to see the connecting of dots that is increasingly being done by popular movements around the world.  Militarism is connected to growing poverty and repression.  War for resource extraction is connected to growing ecological crisis and climate change.

We have to do more thinking about ways to grow these important issue linkages in our local communities, country, and beyond.  When we get our multi-layered global movements humming along these lines we will make a big jump in consciousness raising and more unified action.