Epilogue: The Clever Country—or America’s Clever Lackey? (2024)

Australia loves to call itself the “clever country,” a beacon of innovation and fairness on the world stage. But when you look closely, it’s clear we’re not so much clever as obedient. While we wrap ourselves in platitudes about mateship, democracy, and fairness, our leaders have systematically tethered this nation to the interests of an empire in decline.

Yes, the United States. Our “great and powerful friend” whose wars we fight, whose surveillance state we host, and whose approval we desperately crave. From the barren red sands of Pine Gap to the boots of U.S. Marines stomping around Darwin, Australia has become less a middle power and more a middle manager for Washington’s imperial ambitions.

So here’s the question: will we continue to play this subservient role as the empire flails, or will we wake up, grow a spine, and chart a course that’s actually clever?

The Empire Down Under: A Willing Deputy

Let’s start with Pine Gap, the secretive joint U.S.-Australia intelligence facility that monitors everything from missile launches to your emails. Officially, it’s about “keeping us safe.” In reality, it’s a critical node in America’s global surveillance and targeting network, feeding data to its drone assassination programs. And don’t kid yourself—Australia doesn’t control it. We’re the landlords, but Uncle Sam holds the keys.

Want to talk about sovereignty? It doesn’t exist when a foreign power has the ability to spy on your citizens and use your land for operations that you’re not even allowed to question. Pine Gap isn’t just a compromise—it’s a full-blown abdication of independence.

Then there’s the 2,500 U.S. Marines stationed in Darwin. Ostensibly, they’re here to help with “regional security.” Translation: they’re part of Washington’s China containment strategy, and if a war breaks out in the Pacific, Darwin will light up like a Christmas tree.

The U.S. presence isn’t just symbolic. It’s a commitment—a way of tying Australia to America’s military machinery under the guise of “interoperability.” That’s the buzzword, by the way: interoperability. It sounds nice and cooperative until you realise it means integrating Australian defence into U.S. systems so tightly that we can’t say no when they push the big red button.

AUKUS: Billions for Submarines, Crumbs for Australians

Let’s not forget AUKUS, the glittering jewel in the crown of Australia’s strategic servitude. We’ve pledged to spend over $300 billion on nuclear-powered submarines that won’t be operational until the 2040s—all to “counter” China. Meanwhile, our hospitals crumble, housing is unaffordable, and mental health services are overwhelmed.

The real kicker? These submarines are tied to American technology, ensuring that even decades from now, we’ll be reliant on Washington’s whims to keep them running. AUKUS isn’t about security; it’s about locking Australia into permanent military dependence on the U.S.

Economic Dependency: Mining for Their Gain

Australia’s economy is a tale of two empires. We dig up resources to feed China’s manufacturing juggernaut, but we cling to America for strategic and financial security. It’s the worst of both worlds: we’re environmentally pillaging ourselves for one power while prostrating ourselves to the other.

Take the Adani coal mine, a climate disaster waiting to happen, or our gas exports, which do more for corporate profits than national prosperity. While we’re at it, why not mention that Australia’s housing crisis is exacerbated by the same neoliberal policies America has perfected—privatise the gains, socialise the pain.

The Empire’s Media Mouthpiece

Australia’s media landscape might as well be a subsidiary of the Murdoch empire, a transnational propaganda machine that drums up fear about China, dismisses climate action, and paints America as the eternal good guy. It’s no coincidence that dissenting voices—whether on war, inequality, or indigenous rights—are sidelined or attacked.

The media plays the same role here as it does in the U.S.: keeping the public docile, misinformed, and too distracted to notice that the people running the show are driving us off a cliff.

The Climate Crisis: Fossil Fools and American Tools

If you want to know where Australia stands in the global fight against climate collapse, just look at our coal exports. We’re among the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters, even as Pacific Island nations beg us to take climate change seriously.

Washington, of course, sets the tone. The U.S. military is the world’s largest polluter, and its fossil fuel industry calls the shots in Congress. Australia follows suit, shielding its fossil fuel barons while pretending to care about a “green future.” It’s performative, it’s cynical, and it’s killing the planet.

What’s Next for Australia: Subservience or Sovereignty?

Here’s the brutal truth: Australia has spent decades punching down in the region while sucking up to Washington. From supporting coups in Indonesia and Fiji to ignoring West Papua’s pleas for justice, we’ve proven time and again that our commitment to “rules-based order” is little more than lip service.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Australia could lead. We could champion climate justice, embrace a truly independent foreign policy, and build partnerships with our Pacific neighbours based on respect, not exploitation.

That would mean saying no to the U.S. when it pushes us into conflicts that serve its interests, not ours. It would mean shutting down Pine Gap or, at the very least, taking back control of its operations. It would mean kicking the U.S. Marines out of Darwin and rejecting AUKUS in favour of real regional diplomacy.

The Clever Country Must Grow a Spine

Australia loves to think of itself as a smart, fair, forward-thinking nation. But as long as we continue as America’s obedient lackey, those words are meaningless. We can’t call ourselves clever while we let foreign powers dictate our defence, our economy, and our future.

The empire is crumbling, but it’s not going quietly. If we cling to it, we’ll go down with it. The alternative is to finally stand on our own two feet—not as a deputy sheriff, not as a middle manager, but as a truly independent nation that prioritises people and planet over profits and power.

The choice is ours. But the clock is ticking.

The Struggle Continues: Empire’s Same Old Tune, Resistance’s Eternal Beat (2024)

Let’s not kid ourselves—the empire isn’t going anywhere quietly. It might stumble, it might fumble, but it will claw, bite, and lie to keep its grip on power. And while it churns out press releases about democracy, freedom and human rights, its boots are firmly planted on the necks of millions around the globe. If you thought the end of the Cold War meant the end of empire, guess again. All it meant was a shift in branding, a change of targets, and a propaganda machine that now runs 24/7 in the age of social media.

But here’s the thing about empires: they can’t last forever. The cracks are showing, the facade is crumbling, and people everywhere are waking up to the scam. Resistance isn’t dead—it’s adapting. And the more the empire lashes out, the more it exposes its own desperation.

New Frontiers, Same Old Oppression

The empire loves to talk about progress, but let’s be real—it’s the same playbook dressed up for a new century. Only now, we’ve got more tools to resist, and they’ve got more tools to spy. Welcome to the 21st century, where the battlefield is everywhere, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The internet was supposed to be the great equaliser, remember? Instead, it’s become the empire’s favourite surveillance tool. Every tweet, every post, every message—it’s all fair game for Big Brother. From facial recognition software to spyware like Pegasus, they’ve turned your smartphone into a snitch. But here’s the kicker: activists are using those same tools to fight back, organising encrypted chats, exposing corruption, and amplifying voices the empire would rather silence.

Think of the Arab Spring—a moment when social media gave the people a megaphone. Sure, the empire co-opted some of it, but it also panicked when it realised that its allies in Egypt and beyond were no longer safe from public scrutiny.

The climate crisis is the empire’s ultimate indictment. They had the power, the money, and the technology to act decades ago. Instead, they doubled down on fossil fuels, waged wars over oil, and let ExxonMobil write energy policy. When indigenous water protectors block pipelines or Pacific Island nations demand action, the empire calls it “disruption.” Meanwhile, they bankroll greenwashing campaigns to convince us that buying a Tesla will save the planet.

Resistance? It’s everywhere. From the Standing Rock Sioux to Extinction Rebellion, people are fighting back against the corporations and governments treating the Earth like their personal trash heap.

Economic Imperialism Rebranded

The empire’s tanks might not roll into every Global South country anymore, but its economic bombs drop daily. Sanctions, debt traps, and IMF austerity programs do the dirty work that coups and invasions used to handle. Venezuela, Cuba, Iran—the names change, but the strategy doesn’t. Starve the population, blame the government, and swoop in with “humanitarian aid” when the people are desperate enough to let corporations take over.

But here’s the twist: countries are pushing back. The BRICS nations are building economic alternatives, trading outside the U.S. dollar, and creating a multipolar world where Washington doesn’t call all the shots. The empire hates it, which is how you know it’s working.

The Empire Fights Back (Badly)

The empire’s response to resistance? More repression, more propaganda, and more desperation.

• Proxy Wars for Profit - Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine—the list goes on. Every time the empire cries “freedom,” you can bet there’s a defence contractor counting their billions in the background.
• Silencing Dissent at Home - Black Lives Matter exposed the militarisation of U.S. police forces, but did you think they’d stop there? Nope. Activists are surveilled, journalists are jailed, and whistleblowers like Edward Snowden are exiled for telling the truth.
• Propaganda on Overdrive - From corporate media to TikTok influencers, the empire’s narratives are everywhere. Dissenting voices? Algorithmically suppressed. Pro-empire memes? Boosted to the top of your feed. It’s Orwell with better UX design.

Resistance Never Sleeps

The empire wants you to believe resistance is futile. They want you to think they’re too big to fail, too powerful to topple. But history disagrees. From the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa to the civil rights movement in the U.S., resistance works. It’s messy, it’s slow, but it works.

• In Chile, activists rewrote a constitution imposed by a U.S.-backed dictator.
• In Rojava, Syrians were building a decentralised, egalitarian society in the middle of a warzone.
• In the Amazon, indigenous leaders are risking their lives to protect the lungs of the Earth from corporate deforestation.

Everywhere you look, people are organising, resisting, and building alternatives.

The Fight Ahead

The challenges are enormous: climate collapse, growing inequality, rising authoritarianism, and an empire desperate to cling to power. But the cracks are showing, and the lie of inevitability is breaking down.

The fight isn’t just about saying no to the empire—it’s about saying yes to a better world. It’s about imagining alternatives, building solidarity, and refusing to accept that this is the best we can do. The empire will call you naive, dangerous, or unrealistic. That’s how you know you’re on the right track.

Conclusion: The Struggle is the Point

The empire thrives on cynicism and despair. It wants you to believe that resistance is pointless, that nothing can change, that the system is too big to fight. Don’t fall for it.

The struggle isn’t just about winning—it’s about refusing to submit. It’s about proving, every day, that their power isn’t absolute and their narratives aren’t unassailable. The struggle is messy, exhausting, and often thankless. But it’s also what makes change possible.

The empire hasn’t given up. Neither should we.

What You Can Do: Resisting the Empire in the Age of Hypocrisy (2024)

Let’s get something straight: the empire doesn’t fear elections, protests, or even the occasional scandal. What it fears is you—an informed, organised, and pissed-off public that refuses to buy the lies. The power of the parasite class—the billionaires, the warlords in suits, the tech overlords—depends on your complacency. That’s why they want you broke, stressed, and too tired from your second job to even think about fighting back.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to storm the Bastille to make a difference. Resistance starts small and grows with each act of defiance. From challenging the narrative to organising on the ground, every step chips away at the empire’s foundation. And with crises piling up—climate collapse, obscene housing costs, predatory healthcare, and a mental health epidemic—they’re giving us plenty of reasons to fight back.

So, what can you do? A lot more than you think. Let’s break it down.

Step 1: Wake Up and Smell the Propaganda

The first weapon in the empire’s arsenal is ignorance. They want you to believe the system works, even as it fails you at every turn. Housing unaffordable? That’s your fault for not working harder. Climate change? Blame China. Can’t afford to see a dentist? Well, maybe floss harder.

Educating yourself is the first act of rebellion. Read the real history—not the sanitised, flag-waving version. Dive into works like Manufacturing Consent or The Palestine Laboratory. Follow independent media that exposes what corporate outlets bury. And for fucks sake, stop sharing headlines from cable news—they’re the empire’s stenographers, not its critics.

Step 2: Stop Feeding the Beast

The empire runs on your money and your labour. Stop giving it to them whenever you can.

• Support Worker-Owned Businesses - Put your dollars into cooperatives where the workers, not the shareholders, reap the rewards.
• Ditch Predatory Corporations - Research who’s profiting off exploitation—from landlords gouging tenants to tech giants spying on your every move—and starve them of your support.
• Move Your Money - Big banks are funding the climate crisis and lining up to foreclose on the working class. Switch to credit unions or ethical financial institutions.

It’s not just about boycotting—it’s about building alternatives. Every dollar spent on a local co-op or mutual aid effort is a dollar the empire doesn’t get.

Step 3: Organise Locally, Think Globally

Real change doesn’t come from waiting for politicians to save you—it comes from people organising.

• Unionise Your Workplace - The billionaire class hates unions for a reason: they’re one of the few tools that level the playing field. If you’re not in one, join or start one.
• Build Mutual Aid Networks - Governments won’t save you from food insecurity, medical debt, or homelessness—but your neighbours might.
• Push for Local Housing Solutions - Advocate for rent controls, public housing, and zoning laws that prioritise people over developers. Because let’s be real: the “market” isn’t solving this crisis—it is the crisis.

Local action builds the kind of solidarity that scares the empire more than any election.

Step 4: Expose the Hypocrisy, Amplify the Truth

The empire’s greatest strength is its ability to control the narrative. From climate change to healthcare, they spin every failure as a personal problem. Can’t afford mental health care? It’s because you’re not budgeting properly. Can’t find a home that doesn’t eat half your paycheck? Maybe try moving to the middle of nowhere.

Push back. Use your platforms—whether it’s social media, community meetings, or just conversations with friends—to call out the lies. Amplify the voices of those most affected: the house-less, the uninsured, the exploited. Challenge the idea that any of this is normal. Because normal is a system that lets billionaires buy yachts while millions can’t afford a root canal.

Step 5: Demand Radical Solutions, Not Band-Aids

The empire loves to distract you with incrementalism—tiny tweaks to a broken system that leave its core intact. Don’t fall for it. Demand real change.

• Healthcare for All, Including Dental and Mental - The U.S. is the only wealthy nation that lets people die because they can’t afford insulin or therapy. This isn’t a policy failure—it’s cruelty by design.
• Housing as a Human Right - End the landlord class. Push for public housing, tenant protections, and laws that prioritise people over profit.
• A Living Wage and Universal Basic Income - Because no one should have to choose between feeding their kids and paying rent.

The parasite class will call these ideas unrealistic because they threaten their wealth. That’s how you know you’re on the right track.

Step 6: Fight the Climate War, Not the Fossil Fuel Industry’s

The climate crisis isn’t just a natural disaster—it’s a crime perpetrated by the fossil fuel industry, with the empire as its enforcer. The U.S. military is the largest institutional polluter on the planet, and companies like ExxonMobil are the real saboteurs of climate action.

Call out their greenwashing lies. Fight for policies that phase out fossil fuels, nationalise renewable energy, and hold polluters accountable. Support frontline communities—from indigenous water protectors to climate refugees—because they’re not just victims; they’re the leaders of this fight.

Step 7: Resist Surveillance Capitalism

In the digital age, the empire doesn’t just exploit your labor—it tracks your every move. Tech companies work hand-in-hand with governments to monitor dissent, suppress activism, and sell your data to the highest bidder.

Protect yourself. Use encrypted messaging apps, avoid big tech when possible, and educate yourself about digital surveillance. And don’t forget to call out these companies for what they are: profit-driven spies masquerading as innovators.

Step 8: Never Underestimate the Power of Showing Up

Protests matter. Strikes matter. Civil disobedience matters. These actions disrupt business as usual and show the empire that we’re not as complacent as they hope.

Whether it’s joining a climate strike, blocking a weapons shipment, or walking a picket line, showing up sends a message: we see through the lies, and we won’t be silent.

Final Thoughts: The Struggle is Hard, But Worth It

The empire wants you to feel powerless. It wants you to think that the housing crisis, the climate collapse, and the healthcare catastrophe are too big to fix. That’s its greatest trick—convincing you that resistance is futile while it siphons wealth and power upward.

But the cracks are showing. People are organising, resisting, and building alternatives. The question isn’t whether the empire will fall—it’s how soon, and how much damage it will do on the way down.

So don’t wait for permission to act. Don’t wait for a politician to save you. The time to resist is now, and the power to change the world has always been in your hands. The empire fears an informed and united public for a reason—because that’s how revolutions begin.

Things Have Changed: Same Empire, Different Day (2024)

Back in 1992, the U.S. was riding high. The Cold War was over, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and the talking heads declared it the “end of history.” America’s status as the unchallenged global hegemon was cemented, and the empire wasted no time flexing its muscles—bombing Iraq, imposing neoliberalism worldwide, and wrapping it all in a shiny package labelled “freedom and democracy.”

Fast forward to today, and things have changed. The empire isn’t unchallenged anymore, and the “end of history” turned out to be a short intermission. New powers are rising, the world is no longer unipolar, and the U.S. is scrambling to maintain its dominance. But don’t let the shifting headlines fool you—the playbook hasn’t changed. It’s still endless wars, economic coercion, and a media apparatus churning out excuses faster than you can say “collateral damage.” The empire’s in decline, but it’s determined to drag the rest of the world down with it.

Multipolarity: The Empire’s Worst Nightmare

In 1992, the U.S. was king of the hill. Today, it’s a king nervously watching the hill crumble. China has emerged as an economic juggernaut, building infrastructure and partnerships through initiatives like the Belt and Road while Washington sulks about "debt traps." Russia, despite its economic fragility, has made clear it won’t take orders from NATO, asserting itself in Ukraine, Belarus, and beyond. The BRICS coalition is pushing to trade outside the U.S. dollar, slowly undermining the petrodollar system that props up American economic dominance.

And how does the empire respond? By dusting off Cold War tactics and slapping new labels on them. Sanctions, proxy wars, and military alliances are all aimed at preserving a status quo that no longer exists. The U.S. accuses China of imperialism while maintaining hundreds of military bases around the globe. It denounces Russia’s aggression while fueling a proxy war in Ukraine that’s killed thousands and destabilised Europe. The hypocrisy is breathtaking, but hey, hypocrisy has always been part of the brand.

Endless Wars: A Feature, Not a Bug

Since the Gulf War of 1992, the U.S. has been at war for almost every year of the so-called “peaceful” post-Cold War era. Iraq was invaded twice, leaving it a shattered shell of a nation. Afghanistan was occupied for two decades before the Taliban casually strolled back into power. Libya, once Africa’s most prosperous country, is now a failed state. Yemen is enduring a humanitarian catastrophe fueled by U.S. weapons in Saudi hands. And Syria? A kaleidoscope of proxy wars with no end in sight.

And let’s not forget the drone wars, where the U.S. rains death from above in places like Pakistan and Somalia, killing “terrorists” (or whatever unlucky wedding party happened to be in the blast radius). These wars aren’t mistakes or blunders—they’re business as usual. The military-industrial complex thrives on perpetual conflict, and the empire needs enemies to justify its bloated defence budgets.

Economic Warfare: Sanctions for Some, Profit for Others

When bombs don’t work, the empire turns to sanctions, its other favourite weapon. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea—you name it—all under the guise of promoting democracy. What these sanctions actually do is starve populations, wreck economies, and force countries to their knees.

Venezuela is a textbook example. U.S. sanctions have devastated its economy, creating shortages of food and medicine while Washington blames socialism. Iran’s healthcare system collapsed under sanctions during a global pandemic, but somehow, that was spun as a “victory for diplomacy.” These measures aren’t about human rights or democracy—they’re about punishment and control.

Meanwhile, the empire continues to loot the Global South. Through the IMF and World Bank, it imposes neoliberal policies that strip nations of sovereignty and funnel wealth to multinational corporations. It’s colonialism with better PR.

The Climate Crisis: Too Big to Bomb

The climate crisis has become the defining issue of our time, and the empire’s response has been predictably pathetic. The U.S. military, the world’s largest institutional polluter, continues to expand its operations while lecturing the rest of the world about carbon emissions.

Instead of leading the transition to renewable energy, the U.S. props up fossil fuel industries and uses its military to secure oil reserves. When Bolivia’s Evo Morales tried to nationalise lithium—a key resource for green technology—the empire gave him the coup treatment. The message is clear: the climate might collapse, but the empire’s profits won’t.

Digital Dominance: Surveillance and Propaganda

The internet was supposed to be the great equaliser, but under the empire, it’s just another tool for control. Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s mass surveillance program, exposing how the U.S. spies on its own citizens and allies. Meanwhile, tech giants like Meta and Google collaborate with the state to censor dissent, throttle independent voices, and amplify propaganda.

Social media, once a platform for grassroots activism, has become a battleground for disinformation and manipulation. During the Gaza bombings of 2023, Palestinian activists found their posts deleted while pro-Israel narratives flourished. Algorithms, controlled by Silicon Valley oligarchs, decide what you see and don’t see, ensuring that the empire’s version of events dominates the digital sphere.

The Empire in Decline

Despite its overwhelming power, the U.S. is a declining empire. Its endless wars have drained resources and eroded legitimacy. Its neoliberal policies have created staggering inequality at home and resentment abroad. Climate change, economic instability, and rising global powers are forcing it to confront a reality it can’t bomb or sanction into submission.

But don’t mistake decline for surrender. The empire is still dangerous, lashing out at any perceived threat to its dominance. It’s clinging to the same playbook—military aggression, economic coercion, propaganda—hoping that brute force will keep it on top.

The question isn’t whether the empire can adapt to a changing world—it can’t. The question is how much damage it will do on its way down. And judging by history, the answer is: as much as it possibly can.

Things have changed, sure. But the empire? Same old tricks, same old lies, same old carnage. The difference now is that the cracks are showing, and the rest of the world is finally starting to see through them.

The Media: Manufacturing Consent in the Algorithmic Age (2024)

The media has always been the empire’s loyal accomplice, an eager propagandist dressed up as a watchdog. In 1992, the game was relatively straightforward: a handful of corporate conglomerates shaped the news, handed down the official line, and ensured dissenting voices were drowned out. Fast forward to today, and the tools of control have evolved into something far more insidious. Social media, once hailed as the great democratiser, has become the empire’s most effective instrument for surveillance, manipulation, and narrative control.

If the 20th century was about controlling what we read in the morning paper, the 21st century is about dictating every tweet, post, and viral video you see. The empire’s propaganda has adapted to a world where memes win wars, algorithms amplify outrage, and “engagement” trumps truth. As Singer and Brooking laid bare in Like War, the internet is not a public square—it’s a battlefield.

The Empire’s Megaphone: Corporate Media’s New Tricks

Corporate media hasn’t disappeared—it’s simply evolved to suit the times. Once the gatekeepers of news, outlets like CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times now compete with social media for attention, bending their content to fit the new rules of engagement.

Take the Iraq War as the archetype of media complicity. The empire fed the press a steady diet of lies about weapons of mass destruction, and the media dutifully regurgitated them without question. But today’s landscape is even worse. Now, the lies don’t just come from the Pentagon—they’re crowd-sourced, amplified by algorithms, and delivered straight to your feed as breaking news or shareable memes. The result? A media ecosystem that manufactures consent faster, slicker, and with even less accountability.

Social Media: The New Propaganda Machine

The rise of social media was supposed to empower individuals, allowing anyone to share their voice with the world. Instead, it’s empowered governments, corporations, and trolls to flood the zone with noise, ensuring that truth becomes just another casualty of the information war.

Platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are driven by engagement metrics, not truth. Their algorithms prioritise content that triggers emotional responses—anger, fear, outrage—because that keeps users scrolling. This dynamic isn’t just exploited by influencers and clickbait farms; it’s a gift to propagandists. Governments and corporations now have a direct line to your brain, using algorithms to bury dissenting voices under an avalanche of state-friendly narratives.

When Israel bombed Gaza in 2023, Palestinian activists shared videos of the destruction in real-time, only to see their posts disappear and accounts suspended. Platforms like Instagram claimed “technical errors,” but the pattern was clear: voices critical of U.S. allies are throttled, while state propaganda flows freely.

In the 2016 U.S. election, Russian troll farms demonstrated just how easy it is to manipulate public opinion in the digital age. By flooding social media with fake news and divisive content, they exacerbated polarisation and sowed chaos. But let’s not pretend the U.S. is an innocent victim. Washington has been running its own disinformation campaigns for decades, from spreading lies about Saddam Hussein to amplifying anti-Maduro narratives in Venezuela.

The beauty of social media, from the empire’s perspective, is that it blurs the line between propaganda and organic content. Is that meme mocking China’s “authoritarianism” the work of an individual or a state-sponsored operation? Is that viral thread about Ukraine’s heroism grassroots support or a carefully orchestrated campaign? The distinction doesn’t matter—the impact is the same.

The Meme Wars: Propaganda for the TikTok Generation

Today’s propaganda doesn’t come in the form of dry press releases or somber newscasts—it comes as memes, hashtags, and viral videos. During the 2023 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the conflict played out as much on TikTok as it did on the battlefield. Videos of drone strikes were shared alongside dance challenges, turning war into spectacle.

Both sides weaponised social media to control the narrative. Ukraine’s government launched campaigns to frame its resistance as heroic and just, while Russia deployed bots to spread disinformation and confusion. The U.S., of course, couldn’t resist joining the fray, using the war to reinforce its role as the noble defender of democracy. The reality—an ongoing proxy war with devastating consequences for ordinary people—was lost in the noise.

Ignorance is Strength: Controlling the Narrative, Crushing Dissent

The empire’s greatest trick is convincing its citizens that they are free. Free to speak, free to think, free to choose their leaders. But freedom is meaningless without information, and the empire has perfected the art of controlling what people know.

Take the whistleblowers: Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and Julian Assange exposed crimes committed in the empire’s name, from mass surveillance to war crimes. Their reward? Exile, imprisonment, and character assassination. The media, rather than defending these truth-tellers, joined the chorus of condemnation, branding them as traitors.

Meanwhile, corporate journalists who toe the line are rewarded with Pulitzers and book deals. Critique the empire, and you’re “biased.” Expose its lies, and you’re “dangerous.” The message is clear: dissent will not be tolerated.

Language, Weaponised

The genius of modern propaganda lies in its language. The empire doesn’t censor—it combats “misinformation.” It doesn’t suppress dissent—it enforces “community standards.” These euphemisms, much like Orwell’s Newspeak, serve to sanitise repression and discredit opposition.

On social media, the weaponisation of language reaches its peak. Activists are deplatformed for “violating terms of service,” while state-backed trolls flood comment sections with attacks and disinformation. Algorithms suppress content that challenges the empire, ensuring that dissenting voices struggle to be heard.

Conclusion: The Media as the Empire’s Sword and Shield

The media, both traditional and digital, remains the empire’s most powerful weapon. It shapes public perception, silences dissent, and reinforces the structures of power, all while pretending to serve the public good. The internet, once a beacon of hope for free expression, has been co-opted into the ultimate propaganda machine, a battlefield where the truth is just another casualty.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. These aren’t just slogans—they’re the operating principles of a system that thrives on deception and control. The media isn’t just complicit in this system—it’s integral to it. And unless we start recognising the game for what it is, we’ll remain its willing pawns.

Socialism, Real and Fake: The Empire’s Bogeyman and the Blueprint for Liberation (2024)

Socialism. Just say the word, and you’ll hear a symphony of knee-jerk reactions, most of them divorced from reality. For the empire, socialism isn’t a nuanced theory of societal evolution—it’s a rhetorical scarecrow, waved around to scare workers into defending the very system that exploits them. Any attempt to discuss socialism’s actual principles—worker ownership, collective decision-making, and freedom from the parasite class—is quickly drowned out by cries of “Venezuela!”, "Russia!", "China!" and “It’s never worked!”

But here’s the dirty secret: the empire isn’t afraid of socialism because it doesn’t work. It’s terrified because it does. When workers own their workplaces and plan production to meet collective needs, the entire house of cards propping up capitalism comes crashing down. The CEOs, billionaires, and hedge fund managers—the ones who profit by doing nothing—become irrelevant. And that is what keeps the empire up at night.

What Socialism Really Is (and Why They Hate It)

Let’s get this straight: socialism isn’t just “free stuff” or a Scandinavian welfare state. Real socialism is about liberating workers from the parasite class that leeches off their labour. It’s a system where the means of production—the factories, offices, and farms—are owned collectively, not by a handful of shareholders. Workers make decisions democratically, planning for human well-being rather than quarterly profits.

Under socialism, productivity gains don’t mean layoffs—they mean shorter work-weeks, better education, and a higher quality of life. Imagine a society where technological advancements reduce drudgery and increase leisure, not just for the elite but for everyone. That’s the goal: to evolve beyond the rat race, beyond profit-driven chaos, into a world where we work to better ourselves and each other.

And this terrifies the rich. Because once workers realise they don’t need billionaires, the jig is up.

Fake Socialism: The Empire’s Favorite Straw Man

Here’s how the empire plays the game. Any country that challenges U.S. hegemony is labelled “socialist,” regardless of whether it fits the definition. Venezuela? Socialist! (Never mind that workers don’t own production.) Cuba? Socialist! (Ignore the decades of U.S. sanctions deliberately sabotaging its economy.)

The empire weaponises these examples to equate socialism with authoritarianism, corruption, and chaos. The U.S. didn’t just blockade Cuba or crush Venezuela with sanctions—it used them as cautionary tales to scare Americans into defending capitalism. “See what happens when you challenge the system? Better stick to your 60-hour workweeks and thank your boss for the privilege.”

Meanwhile, countries that implement socialist principles alongside capitalism—like Norway or Denmark—are conveniently rebranded as “capitalist with welfare programs.” The hypocrisy is breathtaking: anything that works isn’t socialism, and anything that fails is.

Socialism for the Rich, Capitalism for the Poor

While the empire demonises socialism for workers, it practices socialism for the rich. When banks crash or corporations falter, the government bails them out with taxpayer money. Fossil fuel companies get billions in subsidies, even as they destroy the planet. This isn’t free-market capitalism—it’s corporate welfare.

For workers, though, there’s no safety net. Lose your job, and you’re on your own. Need healthcare? Get ready to mortgage your future. Capitalism privatises profits and socialises losses, ensuring that the parasite class stays rich while the rest of us scramble to survive.

Ignorance Is Strength: Drowning Out the Real Conversation

The empire doesn’t just fight socialism with sanctions and coups—it fights it with noise. Corporate media portrays socialism as naive, dangerous, or even un-American. Online, the empire’s foot soldiers—your neighbourhood keyboard warriors—are ready to shout down any meaningful conversation.

Try suggesting worker ownership of production, and you’ll get hit with a barrage of clichss: “Move to Venezuela!” “But what about Stalin?” These aren’t arguments—they’re distractions, designed to shut down critical thinking. It’s doublespeak in action: keep the population too confused and demoralised to even imagine alternatives.

What You Can Do: Building Socialism from the Ground Up

The empire wants you to believe that socialism is impossible, that it’s something that exists only in history books or dystopian fantasies. But socialism isn’t just a theory—it’s a practice, and it starts small. Here’s how you can help move the needle:

• Support Worker-Owned Cooperatives - Seek out businesses where workers have ownership and decision-making power. Every dollar spent at a co-op is a dollar taken out of the pockets of the parasite class.
• Organise Your Workplace - Join a union, start a union, or push for democratic decision-making in your workplace. Labour power is the backbone of any socialist movement.
• Educate Yourself and Others - Read about socialism’s principles and history—its successes, its failures, and its potential. Share this knowledge to counter the empire’s propaganda.
• Engage Locally - Get involved in local politics and grassroots movements that prioritise community well-being over corporate interests. Socialism doesn’t start with a revolution; it starts with organising.
• Demand Policies That Build Toward Socialism - Advocate for policies like a shorter work-week, universal healthcare, and climate justice. These aren’t socialism in themselves, but they’re stepping stones toward a society that prioritises people over profits.

The Struggle Continues

The empire has spent decades trying to convince us that socialism is a pipe dream—a failed ideology that leads only to tyranny and poverty. But the cracks in capitalism are too big to ignore. Inequality is skyrocketing, the planet is burning, and workers are waking up to the fact that they’ve been sold a lie.

Real socialism isn’t about recreating the Soviet Union or living in some utopian fantasy. It’s about taking back control from the parasite class, dismantling systems of exploitation, and building a world where human potential is prioritised over profit margins.

The empire will fight tooth and nail to stop this. It will smear, sabotage, and silence anyone who dares to imagine a better future. But socialism isn’t an abstract idea—it’s a movement, a process, and a struggle. And it’s one that we can win, if we’re willing to fight for it.

The question isn’t whether socialism can work. The question is whether we’ll have the courage to make it happen.

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength: Empire’s Doublespeak for the Digital Age (2024)

The art of U.S. propaganda is in how seamlessly it turns lies into truths. War becomes “peacekeeping,” exploitation becomes “freedom,” and ignorance masquerades as informed debate. Orwell would smirk, watching his dystopian vision outpaced by reality. Today, the empire’s doublespeak isn’t just polished by government agencies and media conglomerates—it’s turbocharged by legions of online keyboard warriors ready to defend power against anyone daring to point out the emperor’s lack of clothes.

War is Peace: Bombs for Democracy

Let’s start with the big one: war. The empire doesn’t wage war—it conducts “stabilisation operations” or “counterterrorism missions.” Whether it’s Iraq, Afghanistan, or Yemen, the official line is always the same: we’re bringing freedom, even as the bombs drop, the hospitals collapse, and the children starve.

And when these wars fail spectacularly—as they always do—the blame is shifted. Afghanistan? It wasn’t two decades of occupation, drone strikes, and enabling warlord corruption; no, it was the Afghan people themselves who just weren’t ready for “freedom.” Iraq? Ignore the half a million dead—our intentions were noble, so the chaos isn’t our fault.

Criticise this, and watch the defenders of empire swoop in. “But Saddam was a tyrant!” Sure, and the U.S. backed him for years. “But what about the Taliban’s oppression of women?” Absolutely, but explain how bombing weddings fixed that. These aren’t arguments—they’re deflections designed to paralyse meaningful critique.

Freedom is Slavery: The Illusion of Choice

Ah, freedom—the empire’s favorite buzzword. In America, freedom means working three jobs to pay for healthcare, or choosing between predatory loans and eviction. Abroad, freedom is delivered at gunpoint, with local economies left to the tender mercies of multinational corporations.

In Venezuela, the U.S. calls crippling sanctions a “push for democracy,” while in Saudi Arabia, it overlooks beheadings and oppression because the oil flows nicely. Freedom is a marketing gimmick—a shiny label slapped on policies that enslave the many for the benefit of the few.

And here’s where the doublespeak really shines. Point this out, and the mob descends: “If you don’t like America, why don’t you move to Cuba?” As if dissent invalidates citizenship. Keyboard warriors love this tactic—it’s simple, smug, and completely ignores the argument.

Ignorance is Strength: The Propaganda Pipeline

The U.S. media machine is a wonder of modern engineering. It doesn’t just inform—it indoctrinates. News outlets parrot official narratives while burying uncomfortable truths. During the Iraq War, mainstream media breathlessly repeated lies about weapons of mass destruction. Today, they churn out endless stories about Chinese “spy balloons” while glossing over U.S. military bases encircling China.

This ignorance isn’t accidental—it’s cultivated. Corporate news ensures that viewers know just enough to fear the empire’s enemies but not enough to question its actions. Social media amplifies this by drowning dissenting voices in an ocean of state-friendly takes. The result? A population that’s both informed and clueless, armed with talking points but no context.

Critics of this system are labeled conspiracy theorists, tankies, or extremists. Online trolls, often fueled by half-read headlines and patriotic fervor, dismiss whistleblowers like Edward Snowden as “traitors” and investigative journalists as “biased.” It’s ignorance weaponised—strength for the empire, weakness for everyone else.

Liberalism, Socialism, and Other Scary Words

In the empire’s lexicon, “liberalism” is a feel-good buzzword used to mask economic exploitation. At home, it means token reforms that leave systemic inequalities intact. Abroad, it’s the euphemism for neoliberal policies that strip countries of sovereignty under the guise of free markets.

“Socialism,” meanwhile, is a boogeyman used to stifle any meaningful critique of capitalism. Want universal healthcare? That’s socialism, and socialism is bad—case closed. Never mind that the U.S. already practices socialism for the rich, bailing out banks and subsidising corporations.

And let’s not forget “fascism.” It’s a term reserved for enemies like Putin or Orban, even as the U.S. cozies up to Saudi monarchs and Israeli apartheid. The empire weaponises language to deflect accountability, painting its own crimes as necessary evils while demonising dissent.

Try explaining this, and the backlash is swift. “So you support socialism? Go live in North Korea!” “You think America is fascist? That’s offensive to real victims of fascism!” These aren’t rebuttals—they’re conversation stoppers, designed to derail legitimate criticism.

Democracy and Capitalism: The Great Cons

The U.S. calls itself the “leader of the free world,” but its democracy is awash in corporate cash, gerrymandering, and voter suppression. Abroad, it exports democracy through coups and invasions, leaving nations in chaos while corporations move in to loot the wreckage.

“Capitalism,” we’re told, is synonymous with freedom and prosperity. But in practice, it’s a system that prioritises profit over people, turning basic needs like healthcare, housing, and education into commodities. The empire loves capitalism because it concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few—exactly where they want it.

Online defenders of this system are relentless. “You think capitalism is bad? Look at Venezuela!” “Democracy isn’t perfect, but it’s better than China!” These arguments reduce complex issues to oversimplified slogans, shielding the empire from accountability.

Taking Away the Power to Criticise

The brilliance of the empire’s doublespeak is how it turns language into a weapon against dissent. Words like “freedom,” “democracy,” and “socialism” are stripped of meaning, then repurposed to delegitimise critique. Online, this doublespeak becomes a blunt instrument wielded by trolls and true believers to drown out opposing views.

When you point out the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy, you’re accused of “hating America.” When you criticise capitalism, you’re told to “move to Venezuela.” These aren’t arguments—they’re distractions, designed to make meaningful discussion impossible. The result is a public discourse dominated by noise, where the empire’s lies go unchallenged because no one can hear the truth.

Conclusion: Language as a Tool of Control

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. These aren’t just slogans—they’re the pillars of a system that thrives on confusion and compliance. By controlling language, the empire controls thought, ensuring that its crimes are justified and its critics marginalised.

The challenge isn’t just to resist the empire’s actions—it’s to resist its language. To reclaim words like “freedom” and “democracy” from those who use them to justify oppression. And to call out the trolls, bots, and talking heads who work tirelessly to keep the empire’s doublespeak alive. The truth is out there—but finding it requires cutting through the fog.