Is Instability in the World Recreating World War Conditions? US Preparations Are Already Underway
This is Agitation and Propaganda.
We don't care about hard facts. We care about causes and consequences.
June 22, back then and now.
Unique documents, declassified by the Ministry of Defence, such as Zhukov's report, debunk a myth, widely popular in the 90's, that the Soviet leaders missed the start of the war, were too relaxed and didn't believe their own intelligence.
"On June 22-23, 1941, there's a possibility of a sudden German attack. The German attack might start with provocative actions".
The provocative actions in Gliwice, where the Germans staged an attack on themselves, gave the Soviet Union all reasons to expect a re-run of that scenario. So almost 2 years into World War II, the Soviet Union was definitely preparing for that. The question is, had they prepared enough? But 4 million Wehrmacht soldiers crossing the border in the first several hours was not expected by the military command or political leadership. The crucial thing that countless denouncers of the Soviet pre-war politics don't understand is that it wasn't driven by personal ambition, but rather by a big number or differences and coincidences that had to be accounted for: from the possible anti-Soviet alliance between Hitler's Germany and England to the threat of the Far East being invaded by Japan which had a 10-year head start on the world war by occupying Manchuria.
If the history teaches us anything, it's that we should trace and explain differences. Eras begin and end. Differences remain. Differences between the interests of monopolist capitals that are fighting for the living space. Social differences: a growing discontent that makes the nation unite against an outside enemy. Differences in the needs of the military-industrial complex and society. Can we say that all these differences are now obsolete?
"President Trump is threatening to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods. The president directed the US Trade Representative to identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs after Beijing retaliated to Trump's initial restrictions. In a statement, President Trump said, "Further action must be taken to encourage China to change its unfair practices".
Not a probable, but an actual trade war which can affect the enormous two-sided trade. But there's more. Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro, who authored the book Death By China, explains it.
"Beijing's secret plan to dominate emerging technology industries will be thwarted. Chinese investments in strategic technologies pose a grave threat for the US machine-building and defense industries, as well as for the national security".
On Tuesday, the Directorate of Trade and Industrial Policy, led by Navarro, published a report titled “How China's Economic Aggression Threatens the Technologies and Intellectual Property of the United States and the World”. In the report, China is accused of espionage and stealing in the most sensitive areas, such as Deep Learning or Artificial Intelligence. The report calls on the FBI to consider the 300,000 Chinese students.
"The State Department will shorten the visa length to one year for those Chinese citizens who work in science, technology, engineering, and maths. The restrictions are imposed on the H1-B visa that allows foreign students to stay in the US for up to 6 years. According to the World Economic Forum, the number of Chinese students in STEM fields who might be affected by this measure is close to 5 million".
China doesn't take long to respond, and it has a lot of bargaining chips, from the assets of American companies that are doing business in China to a monopoly on the rare-earth metals market, to China's biggest weapon— American debts bought by the central bank.
"If the US loses its mind and imposes tariffs, China will take forceful and comprehensive countermeasures that combine qualitative and quantitative aspects".
For now, another bargaining chip is on the table. A joint photo shoot with Kim Jong-un as if tells the Americans, "You won't succeed in luring North Korea to your side. Look for other idiots".
The second historical difference that's still relevant nowadays manifests itself in social payment cuts and growing protests in many countries. Capital flight that started after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates forces governments to do the hard thing.
"The International Monetary Fund has stepped in to shore up the Argentinian economy with a $50 billion loan agreement. Argentina requested assistance on 8 May after the peso weakened once again. For years, Argentina shunned the IMF blaming it for the 2001 economic crisis. The president Macri's decision to turn to the lender and impose austerity measures has triggered national protests".
"Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said pension reform is very important because an unreformed pension system could be bankrupt by 2020. Thousands of veterans have regularly gathered outside parliament to protest the cuts".
"Greece's parliament passed a reform package to unlock the final payment of the EU bailout program. The package includes measures to expedite privatizations in the energy sector, tweaks in taxes and extra pension cuts. "You created a large mass of desperate people who are drowning in debt and have no hope," said conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a heated debate in parliament".
"On Wednesday, Armenia's National Assembly made a final vote for the pension system reform which was launched four years ago. The new Western-backed system is to cover 280,000 Armenian workers born after 1973. From now on, their monthly financial contributions will go to two private pension funds, both of which are owned by European companies. The former government said that the existing mechanism was not sustainable because of demographic issues which was one of the reasons behind street protests".
Protests are not a nice thing. It's better to have a fallback. To this end, big and small governments, separately from each other, adopt laws that increase censorship and Internet control. It's okay to have fun, but not to talk about real problems. Some places do it crudely, some are more elegant. The Walt Disney Company, for example, is about to take over Fox News, while AT&T is going to merge with Time Warner. Some will say it's market economy. Some will recognize the planet's biggest media empire that includes hundreds of TV channels.
And the final difference. Consulting company Capgemini presented a new report on the wealth distribution in the world. It tells us that the fortune of all the millionaire's on our planet has predictably increased in the past year, reaching $70 trillion. These people, regardless of their citizenship or nationality, are not threatened by austerity measures. Interestingly enough, the super rich, which is around 124,000 people, account for $25 trillion which is more than the GDP of the US or the combined GDP of Japan, China and Germany. Where does it come from? From the stock market. And how did it get there? The printing presses are printing away. The pyramid of loans is growing. Only the way debts are written off remains the same. No one came up with another option.
"Defense ministers from the NATO discussed plans for how to deal with adversaries in the light of Russia's growing threat to Europe. Defense ministers announced that they would have 30 troop battalions, 30 aircraft squadrons, and 30 warships ready to deploy in just 30 days to combat any future threats. Meanwhile, the Trump administration had been pushing its NATO allies to boost their defenses to prepare for a potential war with Russia".
These big words about Russia may be just that, big words, but it's so easy to take the opportunity and leave the UN Human Rights Council, especially since the current High Commissioner Zeid bin Ra’ad al-Hussein dared to criticize chauvinistic nationalism which has become somewhat of a sacred term.
In 1933, Japan and Germany stormed out of the League of Nations. They were followed by Italy and Spain. What happened next is well known. Fortunately for the humanity, chauvinistic nationalism met on its way the Soviet people and Brest Fortress. This is probably the biggest difference between two June days, back then and now.
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