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Nemesis

The Last Days of the American Republic

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About this listen

 In Nemesis, Chalmers Johnson shows how American imperialism is undermining the republic, both economically and politically.

Drawing comparisons to empires past, Johnson explores in vivid detail the likely consequences of dependence on a permanent war economy, and what it will mean when the globe's sole "hyperpower" is no longer capable of paying for the vaulting ambitions of its leaders - and becomes the greatest hyper-debtor of all time. In his stunning conclusion, Johnson suggests that the crisis of a financial breakdown could ultimately prove to be the only path to a renewed nation.

©2006 Chalmers Johnson (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc. Americas Corruption & Misconduct Elections & Political Process Politics & Government United States Middle East Military Imperialism Iran War Africa Socialism Imperial Japan Capitalism Russia Latin American Self-Determination American Foreign Policy Middle Ages American Politics

Critic reviews

"[A] biting, often effective indictment of some ugly and troubling features of America's foreign policy and domestic politics." ( Publishers Weekly)
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In Nemesis, Johnson overturns conventional understanding of American democracy using his phenomenal historical knowledge and special access to US government archives. Making frequent analogies with the Roman and British Empires and their wars he concludes that behind the scenes the US ecomonmy functions as a military-Keynesian empire in which a large fraction of government income is spent on weaons, military personel and overseas bases which, he argues, had little actual military or economic purpose at the time of writing and comparable to Enron's business accounts at worst.
The military ascendancy was famously identified by Eisenhower in the 1950's. Post-9/11, covert overseas operations fell further into CIA hands (the President's secretive fiefdom) under Bush. Extraordinary renditions, Guantanomo Bay etc appeared without democratic oversight. A rather disconcerting account, strangely relevant in the Trump era.

Is the US run by the military ?

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Whilst now 15 years behind Nemesis provides sufficient evidence of the direction of travel for the USA. And it’s not good.

I have listened to the trilogy and though understandably there is much duplication (triplication) it shows how things are connected.
The author asks which way will the US go - Roman or British? From a 2022 perspective they have chosen - Roman.
Goodbye USA!

Insightful

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