I understand the practical ‘why’ behind the U.S. sending more money and weapons to every place around the globe, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey. There are moral stories to justify each, but ultimately empire has its upkeep. It’s of little consequence in the long term, though, because western leaders have forgotten how to govern, how to rule. There are no countries, no people, only factions and classes.

The religion of commerce and generational privilege have blinded them to the non-socially-constructed realities of human life. They tell, and hear, only disjointed ideological stories, now. None of which have anything to do with actual stability or justice. They have forgotten that the weapon is only the immediate solution when all other social avenues have failed, and they are failing in every place, with everyone. Even the Earth’s systems themselves are rebelling against them.

There has never been any such thing as ‘democracy,’ only the consensus of oligarchs and the hearts and minds of those deprived of knowledge and experience. And the only consensus the West has come up with, since the dawn of capitalism, is that the strong should consume the weak and the Earth, until nothing remains to take (just as their supposed adversaries do and believe). It’s a global genocide of the poor and the unheard by the wealthy and by those considered ‘beautiful.’

The smell of death is upon this global order, and it makes no difference what stories these so-called leaders tell themselves, or how many people they work desperately to silence in a collective fit of denial. This international order will come to nothing, because it stands for nothing except a momentary gratification in history for the few who won the lottery of birth. It is only a matter of time before the majority of humanity become displaced and orphaned, physically and in their own hearts.