By MARY UYEMATSU KAO
The best way I can describe what we are going through today is this process of losing what we have known as our way of life here in the U.S. But as we lose what we thought was the norm, we have the chance of winning a better future than the one set before us.
Losing the relatively comfortable growth period of U.S. imperialism since World War II, we now find ourselves with an industrial base that has been moved offshore, and a national debt of $38 trillion and growing. Our president gives tax cuts to the billionaires while slashing the government safety nets for the working poor and sacking thousands of government employees.
Our tax dollars are being funneled into ramping up the police, ICE, and military budgets to suppress people protesting the loss of what was thought to be a democracy. It’s no wonder we see and hear the word “fascism” going viral.
The people of New York City have spoken, electing a Socialist Democrat for mayor. Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani won on a ticket to make New York City affordable to its city dwellers. Mamdani intends to make childcare and transportation free, get rid of “food deserts” by building city-owned markets, and freezing rents by taxing the rich.
His campaign promise to uphold the International Criminal Court arrest warrant if the genocidal murderer Netanyahu sets foot into the city gave a clear pro-Palestinian stance. And he has shown his political sophistication with his recent meeting with President Trump, focusing on what common visions they have for making an affordable New York City. All eyes are on Mamdani as New York City could be the beacon call to the nation.
The blinders are coming loose as we witness the sloppy cover-up of Charlie Kirk’s death. Kirk’s turning point away from Zionism has fingers pointing at the Israel Defense Force in his murder (and Netanyahu’s immediate denial that he had anything to do with it before any investigation got underway).
Trump’s turn towards Venezuela, hoping for a regime change by declaring its president is a narco-terrorist, flying a false flag of fighting the drug war. Blasting Venezuelan fishing boats and killing 83 people — is this Trump’s way of diverting attention from the U.S. loss in Ukraine?
And now Trump’s U-turn on releasing the Epstein Files, after throwing Marjorie Taylor Greene under the bus. One of his greatest supporters, Greene became a traitor because she couldn’t stand the use of young girls being trafficked by Epstein. She was also against Trump’s blitzkrieg trying to take out Iran’s nuclear plants — which also failed.
Could it be that Trump changed his tune on Mamdani because his loyalist base is fracturing? Now some Democrats have challenged his terrorist attacks on Venezuelan fishing boats. They are calling on members of the military to disobey orders if they seem to be illegal. Trump’s thug reaction is calling for them to be hanged for seditious acts. Hmmm, who’s guilty of sedition around here?
Life in the U.S. is not looking very pretty these days as all hell seems to be breaking loose. Sanity is taking a vacation and insanity might become normalized.
People say that Americans here in the U.S. are the most brainwashed people of any modern industrialized nation in the world. Well, if you consider that truth has become a commodity that can be bought and sold on the stock market, who has the premium on what is reality?
But the hard facts are the $37 trillion national debt, the U.S.’ petrodollar is losing dominance in world trade as BRICS nations are now trading in their own currencies, and BRICS represents 40% of the world’s population and its members’ economic growth is beating the average for the rest of the world.
The hard fact is that Trump’s tariffs have united Russia, China, and Iran in a front the U.S. cannot penetrate. And the superiority and strength of China’s socialist system presents an economic system that we have to open our eyes to and reconsider what we could be doing with our economy if it was regulated in the interests of the majority of people in this country.
If anyone checked out China’s September military parade, it left a clear message — “Don’t mess with us.” Commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, China pronounced a triumphant correction to the Western narrative that the U.S. defeated Japan in World War II. China had been fighting Japan’s fascist occupation since 1931, which enabled the Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis, and eliminated 70% of Japan’s military. China is never given any credit for its crucial damage to Japanese fascism. (www.chinausfocus.com/peace-security/the-meaning-of-chinas-military-parade)
Most of my views are informed by watching “Dialogue Works,” a YouTube podcast hosted by Nima Alkorshid, an Iranian civil engineering professor teaching at the Federal University of Itajubá in Brazil. Retired U.S. military Col. Larry Wilkerson, one of his regular guests, impresses me in particular. As the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell (George W. Bush administration), Wilkerson was responsible for the unfounded information on Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction. This was the smoking gun in Powell’s speech to the United Nations to call for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Wilkerson has been deeply remorseful for his lack of critical scrutiny on the CIA intel, which turned out to be from an unreliable informant. His remorse is seen today in his highly knowledgeable condemnation of how the U.S. government, the president, and the deep state operate in the interests of a U.S. supremacist mindset.
So it’s not a pretty picture moving forward for our everyday lives in this belly of the monster. If we keep our minds open and look for it, there is hope on the horizon. But you may have to drop all preconceptions of what that hope might look like.
Wishing you warm holiday greetings and good times with your loved ones! Keep what is precious in your daily lives, and appreciate all living beings.
Mary Uyematsu Kao is the author/photographer of “Rockin’ the Boat: Flashbacks of the 1970s Asian Movement” (second edition is now available) and formerly the publications coordinator of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (1987-2018). She received her MA from UCLA Asian American Studies in 2007. She welcomes comments, questions, and/or criticisms at uyematsu72@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.