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others have already made the central points.
the waning days of empire give rise to all manner of curious phenomena; imaginary persecutions, displacements about loss of power onto fantasies of loss of control. the imperialism game has never been in the control of us little people---we just bought the commodities like good little citizens---and there was never any impetus to understand the imperialism game---because if you take a commodity and turn it over you don't see the infrastructures that enabled it to be produced and distributed for that prices---you see the back of the commodity---so the imperialism game is invisible for folk whose politics operates at the retail level (you know off the shelf standard issue fox news talking head thinly veiled racist paranoia). but Something Is Happening. you just can't say what it is. must be the barbarians at the gate.
but you should read the cavafy poem, waiting for the barbarians.
it kinda sums up the fun and excitement to be had getting all paranoid and hysterical about imaginary fragmentation.
and all this democracy business breaking out. funny how that is correlated with the decline of the american empire. why you'd almost think that the americans liked the word democracy in the way stalin liked the word socialism....you know, the americans who run the show...not those who only see the retail face of things.....democracy is just a word. scary bad when it breaks out.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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