Who Gave Them the Money? Lenin, Hitler and Boko Haram
ISIS, the killers formerly known as good al Quaeda
Have you ever read a biography of a famous historical figure, like Hitler, and wondered, “Wait a minute, where did a starving artist get the money to start a political party?" I’m a starving artist and I don’t have the money to start a political party-do you?
Uniforms, pamphlets, flags and weapons all cost money. How did Hilter go from barely having enough food to eat to equipping his goose-steppers?
Biographers usually just skip right over this important point. But c’mon-somebody gave Hitler the money.
Boko Haram of Nigeria has been getting a lot of press lately for stealing young girls and blithely announcing that they are for sale as wives. This, along with their truly nasty terror attacks on civilians, causes outrage and demands to invade Nigeria, take them out and save those girls.
Sadly, the child-stealing practice is not uncommon and has been going on in Sudan for some time. But my question, as I look at photos of Boko Haram, who are supposed to be the poorest of Nigeria’s poor: Where did they get the money for their uniforms and weapons? C’mon-somebody is giving Boko Haram the money.
I just finished reading Autopsy for an Empire, about the seven Communist leaders of the USSR from Lenin to Gorbachev. Normally, biographies of revolutionaries just jump from: Young revolutionary is in jail or on the run, never actually working a day in his life, but now here he is living in a Swiss chateau writing pamphlets and preaching revolution.
Gee, I’d like to live in a Swiss chateau and write pamphlets-but I don’t have the money. Do you? Somebody gave Lenin the money.
I suggest that knowing who gave Hitler, Boko Haram and Lenin the money is extremely important. Without that money, they’d just be disgruntled bums griping about the wicked Jews, bourgeois or infidels.
In case you’re wondering, Wall Street funded Hitler, the German government funded Lenin and Boko Haram funds trace back to Saudi Arabia.
So when you see ISIS (the killers formerly know as “good al Quaeda") in their matching uniforms and Kevlar vests, riding in new pickup trucks loaded down with expensive weapons–ask yourself-who is giving them the money?
And you’ll note too, in the case of Hitler as least, that he’s always presented as this lone Evil guy. It makes for an easy boogeyman. But Nazism was around long before Hitler, and there were plenty of others just like him (including in the US - at least as far as the anti-Semitism is concerned). But he was selected for his speaking ability by the real powers of the movement. And then yes, he ran with the ball so to speak.
A great movie that isn’t necessarily a biography, but portrays his very first exposure to Nazism is named “Max” with John Cusack.
And you'll note too, in the case of Hitler as least, that he's always presented as this lone Evil guy. It makes for an easy boogeyman. But Nazism was around long before Hitler, and there were plenty of others just like him (including in the US - at least as far as the anti-Semitism is concerned). But he was selected for his speaking ability by the real powers of the movement. And then yes, he ran with the ball so to speak.Yeah, over the years as I've watched newsreels (and such) of grand diplomatic events, with their speeches and meetings and pomp and gala's, I wish they'd pan to the back rooms and the conversations taking place between the unseen masters of the universe. We think of the crazy guy who kills a prince and set's off two World Wars, and never stop to think about the arms merchants busily forcing their products upon everyone. But they're at their climax, the real world will put their follies into perspective soon enough.
And talking about Hitler - Admittedly I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard from sources I trust who have studied Mein Kampf, that Adolf clearly lays out the political military plan he wanted to follow in all its insane grandiosity. It was there for everyone to read long before the little man was enabled to fulfill his dreams, with all their inevitable self destructive consequences. Obviously, certain “Industrialists” liked what they read and the rest is history, as they say.
Oh that reminds me of a big lesson of history I’ve learned. Namely, history is full of examples where those types of individuals, the ruthless self-centered power hungry types, who attain power, such as our Cheney/Bush among others - they couldn’t care less about how self-destructive their actions will be to their society. It’s of no concern, all they see is their own desires as mandated by their inner God whom they mistake for some God on High.
[fixed some of that awful grammar] :red:
And talking about Hitler - Admittedly I haven't read it, but I've heard from sources I trust who have studied Mein Kampf, that Adolf clearly lays out the political military plan he wanted to follow in all it's insane grandiosity. It was there for everyone to read long before the little man was enabled to fulfill his dreams with all their inevitable self destructive consequences. Perhaps, shit obviously, certain "Industrialists" like what they read and the is history, as they say. Oh that reminds me of a big lesson of history I've learned. Namely, history is full of examples where those types of individuals, the ruthless self-centered power hungry types, who attain their power, such as our Cheney/Bush among others - they couldn't care less about how self-destructive their actions will be to their society. It's of no concern, all they see is their own desires as mandated by their inner God whom they mistake for some God on High.Nobel was one of those military industrialists who made millions on wars. In his later life he regretted this and established the Nobel Peace prize.
And talking about Hitler - Admittedly I haven't read it, but I've heard from sources I trust who have studied Mein Kampf, that Adolf clearly lays out the political military plan he wanted to follow in all it's insane grandiosity. It was there for everyone to read long before the little man was enabled to fulfill his dreams with all their inevitable self destructive consequences. Perhaps, shit obviously, certain "Industrialists" like what they read and the is history, as they say. Oh that reminds me of a big lesson of history I've learned. Namely, history is full of examples where those types of individuals, the ruthless self-centered power hungry types, who attain their power, such as our Cheney/Bush among others - they couldn't care less about how self-destructive their actions will be to their society. It's of no concern, all they see is their own desires as mandated by their inner God whom they mistake for some God on High.I haven't studied it, but I have read the whole thing, and yes it's all there as well as his statements that he is doing God's work. Apologists like to claim he wasn't and will parse later speeches and whatnot, but the truth is, he and the other Nazis did think they were doing the Lord's work. And I do think that's one reason why so many work so hard to revise history and/or to portray him as a lone wolf.
And talking about Hitler - Admittedly I haven't read it, but I've heard from sources I trust who have studied Mein Kampf, that Adolf clearly lays out the political military plan he wanted to follow in all it's insane grandiosity. It was there for everyone to read long before the little man was enabled to fulfill his dreams with all their inevitable self destructive consequences. Perhaps, shit obviously, certain "Industrialists" like what they read and the is history, as they say. Oh that reminds me of a big lesson of history I've learned. Namely, history is full of examples where those types of individuals, the ruthless self-centered power hungry types, who attain their power, such as our Cheney/Bush among others - they couldn't care less about how self-destructive their actions will be to their society. It's of no concern, all they see is their own desires as mandated by their inner God whom they mistake for some God on High.I haven't studied it, but I have read the whole thing, and yes it's all there as well as his statements that he is doing God's work. Apologists like to claim he wasn't and will parse later speeches and whatnot, but the truth is, he and the other Nazis did think they were doing the Lord's work. And I do think that's one reason why so many work so hard to revise history and/or to portray him as a lone wolf. Taking permission to act on behalf of a higher power is a form of insanity. Unfortunately, too many people believe the have permission from their higher power to impose his Will. Unfortunately, there are far too many insane people in the world.
We think of the crazy guy who kills a prince and set's off two World Wars, and never stop to think about the arms merchants busily forcing their products upon everyone. But they're at their climax, the real world will put their follies into perspective soon enough.I'm not sure who this "we" is you speak of. Hitler wrote a book then started speaking in little coffee houses then got elected, pretty mundane stuff really. Many people saw WWII coming, and very few did anything about it. The arms build up before WWI was many small decisions made by the bad leadership system that was left over from the Middle Ages and was failing. We had nephews of queens trying to run modern nations as if they were fiefdoms. When we had another arms build-up in the 1970's, me and half a million close personal friends got together in Central Park and demanded it stop. So far, we've averted that disaster. The Westphalian nation system is working pretty well. Unless you're talking about actual brief cases of cash being handed to people who then have a sudden change in ideology, I don't think "follow the money" has much meaning.
Oh boy this turned into a rant, sorry. Guess it’s the part about our generation having something to be proud of that caused the melt down - I even refrained from posting this yesterday - but reading through it again this morning, I figure what the hey, here it is.
We think of the crazy guy who kills a prince and set's off two World Wars, and never stop to think about the arms merchants busily forcing their products upon everyone. But they're at their climax, the real world will put their follies into perspective soon enough.I'm not sure who this "we" is you speak of [1]. Hitler wrote a book then started speaking in little coffee houses then got elected, pretty mundane stuff really. Many people saw WWII coming, and very few did anything about it. The arms build up before WWI was many small decisions made by the bad leadership system that was left over from the Middle Ages and was failing. We had nephews of queens trying to run modern nations as if they were fiefdoms. When we had another arms build-up in the 1970's, me and half a million close personal friends got together in Central Park and demanded it stop. So far, we've averted that disaster. The Westphalian nation system is working pretty well. [2] Unless you're talking about actual brief cases of cash being handed to people who then have a sudden change in ideology, I don't think "follow the money" has much meaning.[3] [1] We The People - the general masses, public, some call us sheeple. [2] Hmmm, when I see the trillions spent on arms and how those arms have made it into the hands of every crazy sociopathic thug who wants them bad enough - throughout the whole f'n world. Or when I think of the Afghanistan conflict (Carter days) and the inept handling of that, then Reagan's gung-ho war mongers, how we reacted and how that bled into the Middle East, eventually infesting nearly the entire world in these growing crusade wars - and then that truly monstrous Bush/Cheney insanity and at every turn our leaders made choices guaranteed to make the situation yet more horror and hate saturated, injecting ever more rage and vengeance lust into people's hearts (while lining their pockets with blood money and inflating their egos with power) - when I consider the nightmarish lives huge portions of our human population have been trapped in over the past decades I'm horrified. - I don't see where our generation did anything much* to be proud of and way too much to lament. But we have had a good time, those lucky enough to be in the top layers of this cake. *Beyond successfully trivializing our obligation to future generations, while aggrandizing the Western ideals of individual hedonism and childish God/faith fabrication. For instance, what we needed was for people, citizens, business leaders, politicians to act adult - and recognize the physical scientific realities of our planet. Then look at the reality of rapidly increasing populations and the reality of finite space and resources to satisfy the exponentially increasing demands… not to mention actually learning how to deal with our trash, be it solid, liquid or gaseous (think greenhouse gases) instead of just dumping where we think no one will notice. Just basic grown-up stuff like appreciating - compounding interest and living on a finite planet. All we needed was to get real and admit that humanity had finally conquered Earth and that the tables were turning and that we were entering a new era - where the future depended on us consuming less and treating our natural Earth, (you know the biosphere), with more restraint and sense of nurturing rather than our habitual rampant blind exploitation that's marked human rise to dominance. During the 60, 70s there was growing realization that slowing population growth need to be priority one. - BUT NO, we chose the siren song of an actor Reagan Administration to convince everyone that Too Much Was Never Enough and that Endless increasing Profits was a virtue - so rather trying to learn some restraint - like a bunch of spoiled rich college kids, we decided on peddle to the metal, consume like there's no tomorrow, to hell with the consequences, it's our party , it's our right. [were's that puking smilie]
So far, we’ve averted that disaster. The Westphalian nation system is working pretty well.Looking at the political, religious extremism, the warriors and the huddle civilians not sure what disaster was averted. Oh I know war in western cities - out of sight, out of mind, how handy. We haven't done a damned thing to slow down the rate of increasing our atmospheric insulation, thus absolutely guaranteed that the way of life we've come to take for granted is on a short fuse, with unimaginable horrors awaiting humanity over the course of the next decades. Geo-physically guaranteed!!! no amount of god faith, or libertarian childish denial of facts will alter the energized climate system destroying our culture, one domino at a time. Nothing to be very proud of. Refusing to even recognize what a warmed and moisture energized climate system means for the weather patterns that society has learned to depend on. Even now, when the signs are evident in every corner of our global system, we choose to ignore and rather continue spending vast fortunes demolishing precious biosphere, in order to continue supercharging our Earth's Atmospheric Insulation. All because the though of consuming less is anathema. but I digress [3] Don't know what you mean.
I used to live in that dark place, but the disaster that has so far been averted is all out nuclear war. You talk a lot about Reagan, but we’ve made a lot of progress since then. I’m more into highlighting the progress than pointing to some long past dark cloud. Yes, I’m aware we still have a big military and there are bad people. Anyone who doesn’t see that isn’t watching the news. I’m also aware that people are working across borders, across generations and across cultures in unprecedented ways.
One reason ISIS is a problem is no one wants to use one of the old solutions. Regime change, bombing raids, CIA installed dictators, all that stuff is harder to get away with now. We may actually be at that point where leaders have no choice but to do what people want.
I used to live in that dark place, but the disaster that has so far been averted is all out nuclear war. You talk a lot about Reagan, but we've made a lot of progress since then. I'm more into highlighting the progress than pointing to some long past dark cloud. Yes, I'm aware we still have a big military and there are bad people. Anyone who doesn't see that isn't watching the news. I'm also aware that people are working across borders, across generations and across cultures in unprecedented ways. One reason ISIS is a problem is no one wants to use one of the old solutions. Regime change, bombing raids, CIA installed dictators, all that stuff is harder to get away with now. We may actually be at that point where leaders have no choice but to do what people want.Yeah, the light at the end of the tunnel.
One reason ISIS is a problem is no one wants to use one of the old solutions. Regime change, bombing raids, CIA installed dictators, all that stuff is harder to get away with now.Yeah that's worked so well in the past. Imagining we can build peace by destroying everyone we don't like or want. And let's never ever look at the carnage, fallout and flashback we create.