Propaganda: the message communicated to achieve a political agenda, often by misinformation and misdirection. Taught in American high schools as something the enemy does or only used during great wars of distant past – today we re-examine the extent to which propaganda permeates American society to this day, and it really means to be ruled…
Pinochet – Life and Legacy in Chile
Like many of history’s famous dictators, Augusto Pinochet – Chile’s ruler from 1973 to 1990 – has many in the world who condemn him to this day. What some may not know, however, is that many in Chile still remember the 1973 Coup that Pinochet led with gratitude, seeing his rule as a stabilizing force…
Detroit – The Shadow of Decline
Detroit – once America’s shining example of a city built on the principles of a prosperous middle class, considered the Paris of the Midwest and submitted as America’s choice in 1963 for the upcoming summer olympics – today is America’s capital for unemployment, dropouts, and foreclosures – ranked #1 Most Miserable City by Forbes in…
American Gun Culture
If you’re like most Americans, you’ve grown up on a combination of Hollywood movies and public education, which, to varying degrees of surreality, depict guns as either cartoonish props used by heroes and villains, or weapons of war abstracted away by the faceless masses of soldiers of allied and enemy nations. The truth – whether…
Petrodollar – American Political Economics
The United States dollar is undisputed as the world’s most dominant reserve currency. What is disputed, however, is to what degree this is good for the world, let alone the United States. Also disputed is how sustainable this arrangement is, given perennial trade and US government budget deficits that call into question the strength of…
The New Deal – Reflections on Italy, Germany, and the United States
Every generation has a choice – that of adopting the previous generation’s ways and customs, or to cast some or all of these away in forging a new path. Most choose the former, inheriting the structural inertia of generations past, while occasionally, a people decide the time is right to try something new. In the…
The Great Depression – Origins
Like war, few who haven’t experienced losing their job and home, let alone seeing millions of others experience the same, can fully understand the suffering and psychological horror an economic depression brings. But from 1929 to 1932, the United States experienced its worst depression in history, and the world’s deepest decline in industrial production, falling…
Antarctica – The Last Frontier
Antarctica – a land of extremes. It is the coldest, driest – and loneliest continent on Earth. Bathed in darkness for 6 months of the year, and exposed to intense radiation, wind, and snow for much of the rest – Antarctica – even after its first visit in 1821 – has never attracted more than…
The CIA – Wilderness of Mirrors
America’s chief spy masters – the Central Intelligence Agency – came into creation during the second world war, and it received official congressional funding with the National Security Act of 1947. Ever since, the CIA has been involved in every major war the United States has engaged in – officially or not – and now…
Rhodesia – Last Days of Empire
Today we are joined by a very special guest Jayoh de la Rey to talk about Rhodesia and South Africa. After growing up in Detroit and working as a development economist in Africa, one day his convoy came under fire traversed a country road. Demonstrating his capability with a rifle, Jayoh soon found himself working…
The Philippines – Crucible of Empire
The Philippines has for centuries sat at the crossroads of foreign empires, serving as the gateway to the Pacific for the Moro, Spanish, American, and Japanese empires. As President Duterte considers aligning his country with the Chinese while leaving the relationship open to the Americans in the 21st century, we look back at the forces…
Yugoslavia – Origins and Breakup
The Yugoslavic people have a history stretching back centuries to the Ottoman Empire, but the concept of a “Southern Slav” national identity was first developed in the 20th century while within Austro-Hungarian Empire. Yugoslavia came into existence in 1918 after the end of WWI as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a reward…
