The World Of Dialectics In The 2016 US Presidential Elections

ElectionOracle / US Presidential Election 2016 Oct 26, 2016 - 03:14 PM GMT By: Jeff_Berwick

We have been very, very suspicious of Donald Trump since he began his political run.

Many believed he was an outsider who was our “only hope” to tame the US federal government beast.  But it has become very clear he is not.

First, Wikileaks showed that Killary herself actually approved Trump to be her competitor. According to an email sent from an assistant at the Clinton campaign, Hillary was aware that Trump was going to run before the political process was fully underway.

Clinton advised the mainstream media to push his legitimacy as a “pied piper” candidate because she realized, after looking at the poll numbers, that she wouldn’t stand a chance at winning the presidency against any of the establishment republicans without making them “pied pipers” –  it just so happened that Donald was the easiest to play the role considering his long history of friendship with the Clintons.

In addition, the mainstream media was more than complicit in creating a narrative that the 2016 presidential elections were about Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump from the get go.

But, barely reported in the media, was that after the 3rd presidential debate, Clinton and Trump went out for a night on the town together… and where they went is of great interest.

They went to an annual Jesuit function which is usually full of New World Order types.

THE JESUITS

One of the more interesting things that occurred right at the end of the Jubilee year in early October, was that the Jesuits installed a new Superior General, with the date to commence being actually at midnight on the end of Jubilee.

We found this interesting because there is plenty of evidence that the Jesuits are at least one major arm of what you can call the illuminati.

In fact, the Jesuits were founded in Spain by what various reports call  “crypto Jews” – those who are Jewish but pretending  to be Catholic. Certainly at that time in Spain it was safer not to be a Jew.

Even Wikipedia, which wouldn’t recognize a conspiracy if it were directly presented by its participants has this to say about the Jesuits:

… In the first 30 years of the existence of the Society of Jesus there were many Jesuit conversos (Catholic-convert Jews) including the second Father General Diego Lainez … The original founder Ignatius …  said that he,  “would take it as a special grace from our Lord to come from Jewish lineage.”

At the beginning of the Al Smith dinner party after Cardinal Dolan was introduced, a joke was even made by a speaker that “everyone in attendance is doing their part in supporting their charitable efforts and that it couldn’t be done without the support of many of the other devoted “Catholics” on stage like Henry Kissinger, Howard Rubenstein, and Mort Zuckerman” – all of whom are obviously Jewish so this remark was naturally met with a lot of laughter…

In fact, an extraordinary amount of controversy swirls around Jesuits. They are said to constitute the “Black Church” and thus adhere to the same Satanic religion as the world’s elite bankers supposedly hold.

The leader of the Jesuit order is commonly recognized in conspiratorial circles as the “Black Pope” whose signature staff is a crooked cross. Historically, the Jesuit Order has been seen as one that shirks no crime in expanding the power of the Church.

Lest this sound entirely outrageous, one must note that the Jesuits are, for instance, the inventors of concentration camps, which they established in Paraguay  in order to incarcerate and then torture the native indians of the area.

But the litany of attributed Jesuit evil is even darker than that according to those who believe in the order’s continued malicious pursuit. The supposed founder of the Bavarian-based Illuminati,  Adam Weishaupt, was a Jesuit.

In fact, the order is reputed to have been deeply involved in the Illuminati’s initial expansion, and chances are it is still deeply involved.

One more thing that highlights the evil of the Jesuits is their extreme oath of induction which all superiors must take in order to be elevated to the higher rungs of the organization. This is taken from the book Subterranean Rome by Carlos Didier, translated from the French, and published in New York in 1843 and reads in part,

“…promise and declare that I will, when opportunity present, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants’ heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus…”

One of the most poignant quotes regarding the malevolence of the Jesuits comes from Marquis de LaFayette 1757-1834; who was a French statesman and general who served in the American Continental Army under the command of General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

His quote is as follows:

“It is my opinion that if the liberties of this country – the United States of America – are destroyed, it will be by the subtlety of the Roman Catholic Jesuit priests, for they are the most crafty, dangerous enemies to civil and religious liberty. They have instigated MOST of the wars of Europe.”

THE BIG BASH

When evaluating Jesuit behavior and influence, please keep in mind that both Donald Trump and Hillary’s VP, Tim Kaine, are Jesuit educated. And it should be of GREAT interest, therefore, that practically on the eve of the US election, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton partied the night away at a Jesuit function that included such prominent Jesuit-trained attendees as Henry Kissinger.

Not only did the two not look like sworn enemies… they looked like two star crossed lovers going to their first prom.

We have long held to our stance that Killary will be the next President of the US.  The amount of vote rigging, murders and shenanigans to even get her to where she is so far has been tremendous… and it won’t stop.

That said, if by some fluke, and the Diebold machines malfunction or people in the US wake up slightly and Donald Trump gets elected… it is pretty clear they are on the same team and, as we’ve said previously, nothing major will change.

So, if you were hoping that this election could change things in the US… get over that hope right now.  It might change things, but only for the much, much worse.

This charade is being played right in front of everyone’s eyes and most do not understand what is happening or why jokes like the “Catholic” joke is actually funny to these elite people.

They are laughing at the peasants stupidity and lack of understanding, not because the men mentioned are Jews… anyone with half a brain knows that.

But while they laugh, we’ll be laughing all the way to the bank ourselves. Just because these sick people are formulating diabolical plans to enslave humanity doesn’t mean we can’t profit from their planned chaos. It’s better than sitting back in ignorance and making nothing.

Our analysis of these elite’s occult timelines which began with the Shemitah and culminated with the Jubilee, have helped us to accumulate around a 200% collective return on our portfolio in the last year.

The groundwork for global governance has been laid, don’t let them blindside you as they attempt to carry out their nefarious plot.  Donald Trump even stated at the dinner, “We’ve got to come together, not only as a nation, but as a world community.”

Promotion of the globalist new world order.

They want to keep you ignorant and powerless because after all, knowledge is power.                             Market Oracle

Conspiracy Theorist’ Max Spiers Found Dead Days After Texting His Mother to Investigate if Anything ‘Happened to Him’

 

Adam Boult 17 October 2016 • 9:13am

Max Spiers, a British Ufologist and conspiracy theorist, sent his mother a text message days before his death earlier this year saying: “If anything happens to me, investigate.”
Spiers, 39, originally from Canterbury, was found dead in Warsaw in June.

We all want answers to this and I will continue to fight to get to the truthVanessa Bates, Max Spiers' mother

Local authorities say he died from natural causes – but his mother has told reporters she has doubts over the verdict.
Vanessa Bates, an English teacher, said: "He was making a name for himself in the world of conspiracy theorists and had been invited to speak at a conference in Poland in July.
"He was staying with a woman who he had not known for long and she told me how she found him dead on the sofa.
"But I think Max had been digging in some dark places and I fear that somebody wanted him dead."

Ms Bates remarks have prompted fevered online speculation among conspiracy theorists. Scott C Waring of UFO Sightings Daily told Metro: “This is really strange. It does seem that UFO researchers are now being targeted, probably to slow the rate of information being leaked to the public.”

However, author and journalist Nick Pope, who investigated the UFO phenomenon for the Ministry of Defence in the early Nineties, said on Twitter: “The death of Max Spiers was a tragedy, but having run the UK Government's UFO project I promise we don't go around killing UFO researchers.”

Ms Bates described her son as a “very fit man who was in good health", adding: "All I have is a death certificate from the Polish authorities that it was from natural causes, but no post-mortem was done so how can they tell that?

"They are also refusing to release any paperwork about it to me because, absurdly, I don't have his written permission.

"He has a brother, Josh, and sister, Becky, who are both devastated, as are his two boys. We all want answers to this and I will continue to fight to get to the truth."

North East Kent coroner's office said that an investigation into Mr Spiers’ death was in its “very early" stages.                          Telegraph

Pope Francis Marks 500th Anniversary Of Protestant Reformation

October 31, 201611:42 AM ET

Rebecca Hersher

Pope Francis (left) hugs Lutheran Archbishop Antje Jackelen, primate of the Church of Sweden on Monday.

Andrew Medichini/AP

Pope Francis arrived in Sweden on Monday for services marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that split Lutherans and Catholics.

He arrived in the southern city of Malmo, and is scheduled to attend an event with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation on Monday afternoon. He will also lead a service at a Lutheran Cathedral in the city of Lund, and a Mass at the arena in Malmo on Tuesday.

Sweden is a secular, majority-Lutheran country. Some 72 million people belong to the Lutheran church worldwide, according to the Lutheran World Federation. The Vatican estimates about 1.2 billion people have been baptized in the Catholic church.

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis told the magazine La Civilta Cattolica that he hopes the trip will encourage Lutherans and Catholics to support each other, especially in places where Christians of different denominations are persecuted together.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that the trip is "in keeping with his efforts to reach out to other branches of Christianity — like the Russian Orthodox Church — and other faiths, including Islam and Judaism."

While the pontiff's visit to Sweden is only for two days, it kicks off a yearlong commemoration of the Protestant Reformation.

And if you don't know the story of the Reformation, Sylvia has you covered for the basics:

"It was the year 1517 when the German monk Martin Luther pinned his 95 Theses to the door of his Catholic church, denouncing the Catholic sale of indulgences — pardons for sins — and questioning papal authority. That led to his excommunication and the start of the Protestant Reformation.
"The Catholic Church reacted with the Counter Reformation, and mutual enmity led to decades of religious wars that devastated central Europe.
...
"The animosity and resentments left by the Reformation only began to heal after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, with the start of an ecumenical dialogue aimed at promoting Christian unity.
"There are still some doctrinal disputes. But Pope Francis says that while theologians iron out their differences, the two churches can work together on social issues like caring for the poor, migrants and refugees, and combating persecution of Christians."

Sylvia also notes that, in the spirit of reconciliation, Pope Francis went so far as to praise Martin Luther as a great reformer. Luther was long deemed a heretic by the Catholic church.

Still, differences in theology and ritual remain between the two churches. The Lutheran church allows women to serve as pastors, while the Catholic church does not permit women as priests, and the two churches have historically different relationships to the papacy itself.                                NPR

An Ecumenical Service Between Catholics and Lutherans

By CHRISTINA ANDERSONOCT. 31, 2016

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An ecumenical service with Pope Francis at Lund Cathedral in Sweden on Monday. Some Catholics and Lutherans hoped his visit would be a step toward the two faiths allowing members to take communion in each other’s services. Credit Emil Langvad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LUND, Sweden — Almost 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door, setting off more than a century of religious warfare and forever changing the practice of Christianity worldwide, Pope Francis on Monday urged atonement and Christian reconciliation.

Visiting the cities of Lund and Malmo in southern Sweden for a joint Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation, the pope observed the 499th anniversary of Luther’s protest of the sale of indulgences by noting the beneficial impact it had on Catholicism.

“With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the church’s life,” the pope said in a joint declaration at Lund Cathedral with Bishop Munib A. Younan, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the president of the Lutheran World Federation.

The trip, which kicked off a year of events leading up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, was announced in January, but it was no less striking for those who listened to the pope. Sweden played a pivotal and troubling role in Protestant and Catholic history. From the 16th century, Catholics were persecuted and even put to death in Sweden. As recently as 1951, Catholics were barred from becoming doctors, teachers and nurses, and Catholic convents were banned until the 1970s.

Some Catholics and Lutherans, especially those whose families are intermingled, hoped that the event would produce a concrete step toward the two churches’ allowing their members to take communion in each other’s worship services. In their joint declaration, Pope Francis and Bishop Younan acknowledged the divide, but said only that they were working toward a resolution through dialogue.

“We experience the pain of those who share their whole lives, but cannot share God’s redeeming presence at the Eucharistic table,” the declaration said. “We long for this wound in the body of Christ to be healed. This is the goal of our ecumenical endeavors, which we wish to advance, also by renewing our commitment to theological dialogue.”

The Lutheran World Federation was founded in Lund in 1947, in an effort to unite churches after World War II. One of the main obstacles to relations between Lutherans and Roman Catholics was bridged in 1999, when the Vatican and the federation signed a joint declaration on the doctrine of justification, a core belief about God’s forgiveness of sins.

Francis was the first pope to visit Sweden in 27 years, and only the second pope to visit the Scandinavian country. In Lund, he met with King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

“We, too, must look with love and honesty at our past, recognizing error and seeking forgiveness,” Francis said.

The prayer service in Lund was watched by about 10,000 people who packed Malmo Arena, about 14 miles away, where Caritas and the Lutheran World Service, humanitarian arms of the two churches, pledged to work together for peace and justice.

Teresa Jodar, 58, who lives in Stockholm but is a native of Valencia, Spain, said she had taken the train from Stockholm to Malmo in the morning to bear witness.

“This is a historic event,” she said. “I am a Catholic. We are not celebrating the Reformation. That was a sad separation. But we are celebrating taking a step closer. It is wonderful that we can work together instead of thinking about all of the differences that separate us.”

Ms. Jodar said she planned to stay for an All Saints’ Day Mass that the pope will celebrate on Tuesday in Malmo for an estimated 19,000 people.

Her friend Luisa Hugosson, 67, a native of Colombia, chimed in. “The pope’s visit is good for Lutherans and Catholics,” Ms. Hugosson said. “We are living in a new time, and we must be open and show respect.”

Carmen Godawszky, 71, sat with three friends on a train from Stockholm to Malmo, and they reflected on the pope’s message urging countries in Europe to open their doors to migrants.

“Of course, we can’t be against that,” Mrs. Godawszky said. “My husband came to Sweden as a refugee from Hungary in 1956. Everyone has been a refugee at one point or another. Just think of all the Swedes who moved to the U.S.A. because they didn’t have food or money.”

Although Sweden is predominantly Lutheran, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm counts 113,000 members in 44 parishes throughout the country.

Anders Arborelius, who converted to Catholicism when he was 20, is the country’s first Catholic bishop of Swedish origin since the Reformation.

“We are leaving the past behind us and focusing on what we have in common, that we can together go out and help people,” he said in a telephone interview on Sunday.

Although the ecumenical service on Monday marked a reconciliation, there are still major doctrinal differences between the churches, on subjects like the role of women in the church and the Eucharist.                       NY Times

Reformation Day

Happy Reformation Day - It isn't just Halloween!

True And False Peace In A Troubled World

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

I Thessalonians 5:1-6

“And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

Genesis 11:6

“Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.”

Obadiah 1:4

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

John 14:27

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will conduct another sobering study on today’s current events. The world as we know it today is filled with great turbulence, disorder, and uproar. We see a world that despite its amazing advancements seems to be deteriorating at a rapid pace. This downward spiral continues even as institutions such as the United Nations promise the world peace and safety.

On September 21, 2016, the United Nations observed the 35th annual International Day of Peace. In the days leading up to this event, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, urged the world to adopt its 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development insisting that these ambitious goals, which essentially amount to the establishment of a one world government, are the “building blocks” for peace. (1) “Sustainable development is essential for lasting peace, and both depend on respect for human rights. All of us can be sustainable development advocates,” Mr. Ban declared. He further went on to say, “On this International Day of Peace, express your commitment to peace by becoming a champion for the SDGs. (Sustainable Development Goals.)” (2)

Meanwhile, soon to be outgoing, American President Barack Obama gave his final address before the United Nations on September 20, 2016. In this speech, Obama urged the world to embrace a globalist agenda. “And so I believe that at this moment we all face a choice. We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion,” Obama said. He later went on to say, “We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development goals that we have set are more than words on paper. Human ingenuity now gives us the capacity to feed the hungry and give all of our children – including our girls – the education that is the foundation for opportunity in our world. But we have to put our money where our mouths are. And we can only realize the promise of this institution’s founding – to replace the ravages of war with cooperation – if powerful nations like my own accept constraints.” In another portion of the speech, Obama told his audience that “young people need a global education in order to thrive.” (3) It is interesting to note that rumors have circulated in recent months that claim Barack Obama would like to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. Perhaps this speech by Obama was an audition for the part. His goals certainly align with the United Nations, and we know that the UN is continually working to establish a global government.

As it turns out, Barack Obama was not the only notable figure who was busy on September 20, 2016. On this day, Pope Francis joined other religious leaders in the town of Assisi, Italy, to take part in an event called the World Day of Prayer for Peace. The event was also attended by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of the Eastern Orthodox religion, and Justin Welby, who is the Archbishop of Canterbury. (4) Also present at the assembly were leaders of Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. (5) At this event, the pope declared that “the world thirsts for peace.” (6)

From what I have seen and heard of Pope Francis, I do believe that he is a man who is determined to unite the religions of the world. Yet, religious leaders have been gathering each year in Assisi for the last thirty years, and there is still a profound lack of peace in the world. The United Nations has been observing an International Day of Peace for thirty-five years and still has not wrought peace in the world. There is no peace in Syria, there is no peace in Iraq, there is no peace in Israel, there is no peace in Afghanistan, there is no peace in numerous regions of Africa, there is no peace in Venezuela, and there is not even peace in the United States right now. How can we have peace? Uniting the religions of the world is not the answer, nor is establishing a one world government. Yet, there is a genuine peace of God that is unlike the highly sought after peace of the world. In John 14:27, Jesus tells us, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” If you have not yet found this peace, I urge you to turn to God, repent of your sins, and dedicate your life to Him.

Perilous Times In America!

When we read or watch the news in the United States, the headlines we see are quite distressing. Indeed, the opening stories for local news broadcasts will often recount numerous murders and acts of violence. In many large cities in this country, violent crime has risen exponentially. This development prompted the New York Times to publish a story on September 9, 2016, which declares, “Murder Rates Rose in a Quarter of the Nation’s 100 Largest Cities.” According to the story, murder rates began trending upward in 2015, with the most drastic increases occurring in Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C. (7)

The aforementioned report indicates that much of the increase in crime is drug related. During the month of April 2015, as the city of Baltimore, Maryland, was suffering from rioting, industrious thieves used the opportunity to steal 315,000 doses of drugs from pharmacies and medical clinics. This flooded the market with illegal drugs, which in turn led to violent crimes as competing factions jockeyed for territory in Baltimore. (8) However, drug use is not just a problem in large cities like Baltimore or Chicago. My hometown of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, which is located just ninety minutes away from Milwaukee, is now suffering the detrimental consequences of heroin abuse. Following the deaths of two people who overdosed on heroin in early 2016 in Beaver Dam, plus two more deaths within the county line, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt was quoted as saying, “It’s everybody from teens to people in their 50s. We’ve definitely seen an increase. I’ve never seen it this bad.” This ordinarily quiet region of Wisconsin suffered twenty deaths from heroin overdoses in 2015. (9)

Meanwhile, the racial tension in the United States is palpable. This tension has grown worse in the month of September 2016 as two black men were shot and killed by police officers. The first incident occurred on September 16, 2016, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a white female police officer inexplicably shot and killed an unarmed 40 year-old black man by the name of Terence Crutcher as his car idled on the road. In the aftermath of this shooting, the police officer, Betty Shelby, has been charged with first degree manslaughter. (10)

The second shooting occurred on September 20, 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to reports, a 43 year-old black man by the name of Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by a black police officer after refusing repeated orders to drop a gun he was carrying. (11) The shooting led to violent rioting and protests in the city of Charlotte that lasted at least three nights. One protestor was reportedly shot by another protestor in Charlotte on September 21, 2016, and eventually died. (12) In response to the uproar, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory activated the National Guard, and riot police were also on hand to stem the violence. (13) “We are going to be a lot more proactive. We made 44 arrests last night because we are not going to tolerate the behavior,” declared Charlotte Chief of Police Kerr Putney. (14)

Sadly, the prevalent racial tension in America is stoking the flames of hatred once again. For example, a man claiming to be the brother of the man who was shot in North Carolina is featured in a video that surfaced on the Internet. In this video, the man is heard to say, “Just know that all white people are (expletive) devils. All white cops are (expletive) devils and white people.” (15) This statement was made despite the fact that the police officer who was involved in the shooting, Brentley Vinson, is a black man. (16)

When Barack Obama became the first black president in the United States, there was an expectation from many people that he would be a leader who unites the country and alleviates racially motivated strife. Oddly enough, since Obama became president in 2009, there have been at least ten race riots in the United States, and it has been increasingly common to see National Guard soldiers patrolling the streets in America’s largest and most volatile cities. In 2016, riots erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and St. Paul, Minnesota. In recent years, there were riots in such places as Baltimore, Maryland, and Ferguson, Missouri. (17) It seems that there are forces behind the scenes that are determined to fracture the United States and reshape the country to their liking. According to a report in the Washington Times, this includes the elitist billionaire George Soros who has been privily funding protests via backchannels dating back to the unrest of Ferguson in 2014. (18) Perhaps it is a scheme to establish order from chaos. In any case, we know that Satan loves to watch people destroy each other, and he is ultimately the driving force behind the hatred that is so common in our world today.

Is Hillary Clinton’s Health In Question?

For many months, there has been speculation that American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is suffering from serious health conditions. People have wondered if this is the real reason she has avoided holding press conferences and is often reluctant to speak with reporters. For most of this time, mainstream news sources have not covered these rumors. In fact, one reporter, who formerly wrote for the liberal news outlet known as the Huffington Post, was terminated from his employment in late August 2016 after he wrote two articles which questioned the health of Clinton. “I’ve written hundreds of stories, filed hundreds of stories over my years as a journalist and pundit, and I’ve never had this happen,” said reporter David Seaman. He further went on to say, “A couple of times in the past, I’ve had legal concerns with something I’ve reported on so there was discussion with something I’d reported on… but they didn’t simply delete the articles, make them disappear from the Internet and revoke my access. I’ve honestly never seen anything like this, and this is happening in the United States in 2016. It’s frankly chilling. I’m a little scared.” (19) It certainly was stunning that these reports were squashed so quickly, but it is not surprising considering the penchant of Hillary Clinton to silence all opposing voices by any means necessary.

Events that transpired in September 2016, however, forced the media to report on Clinton’s condition. The first of these events occurred on September 5, 2016, when Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Cleveland, Ohio. As she began her remarks, Clinton was pestered by a persistent cough that simply would not go away for a lengthy period of time. Clinton blamed her coughing fit on allergies and even told the audience, “Every time I think about (Donald) Trump I get allergic.” Her voice remained shaky and weak for the duration of her speech, and MSNBC news anchor Ari Melber was quoted as saying, “She had quite a coughing fit. That’s one of the worst coughing fits I have seen from her.” ((20) Of course, everyone has a coughing fit from time to time, so the fact that Clinton suffered from one does not necessarily mean she is in poor health. However, less than a week later, Clinton’s health was again called into question when she attended a memorial in New York City on September 11, 2016. According to reports, Clinton had to leave the event early because she was feeling overheated. As Secret Service agents attempted to escort her to a vehicle, she fainted. The agents were then forced to transport her to the vehicle while hoping to avoid unwanted attention, but this entire fiasco was captured on video and widely viewed by audiences all over the world. In the aftermath of Clinton’s fainting episode, her physician, Lisa R. Bardack, issued a statement saying, “Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies. On Friday, during a follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely.” (21) After Clinton’s mishap in New York, the mainstream media finally began to question her health. A headline from the Washington Post that was published on September 11, 2016, declares, “Hillary Clinton’s health just became a real issue in the presidential campaign.” (22) Of course, this was not the first time Clinton has fainted. In late 2012, Clinton fainted, suffered a concussion, and was eventually found to have a serious blood clot. (23) Perhaps the weight of Clinton’s sins and treachery are affecting her health. Without question, attempts have been made by Clinton and her campaign to hide the truth of her condition, but the truth always seems to come out eventually.

“Though Thou Set Thy Nest Among The Stars”

WWe live in a world today that is continually advancing by way of extraordinary technology and amazing capabilities. However, sometimes a society can advance too far. In the eleventh chapter of the book of Genesis, we learn that a one world government once existed. This was an advanced society where everyone spoke the same language, and the people assumed that there was nothing that could stop them. It was at this time that these people decided to build the Tower of Babel which they said would reach the heavens and thus prevent God from destroying them with another flood such as the one He had caused in Noah’s day. It was at this point that God looked down at the endeavors of man, and His reaction is found in Genesis 11:6 which tells us, “And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” It was at this point that God made the decision to scatter the people by confounding their languages, and then He further emphasized this separation by dividing the land mass of the Earth. We live in a world today where technology is reuniting the world and removing language barriers.

Once again, man is reaching for the stars, so to speak, with the expectation that even the average man or woman will soon be able to visit outer space. In fact, Jeff Bezos, who is the well-known founder of the famous Internet retailer known as Amazon.com, has ambitions that go far beyond selling books, electronics, appliances, groceries, and household items. In addition to Amazon, Mr. Bezos also owns a space exploration company known as Blue Origin. This company has already been launching rockets into space, and plans are underway to develop special transport capsules suitable for space travel that will allow tourists to venture beyond our planet for the first time. Incredibly, it is expected that Blue Origin will have these space vehicles ready by the year 2018. It is the hope of Mr. Bezos that the human race will someday expand beyond the constraints of earth. “I wish there were a trillion humans in the solar system. Think how cool that would be. You’d have a thousand Einsteins at any given moment – and more. There would be so much dynamism with all of that human intelligence. But you can’t do that with the resources on Earth or the energy on Earth. So if you really want to see that kind of dynamic civilization as we expand through the solar system, you have to figure out how to safely move around and use resources that you get in space,” Bezos said. (24) This plan is obviously quite ambitious, and it sounds too fantastical to believe, yet men such as Jeff Bezos believe such plans will really be possible someday. Could this be another attempt by man to outsmart God? Perhaps they think that if the earth is destroyed, they can simply move into space. Considering the inability of the human race to live peacefully on earth, perhaps ambitions to expand into space are not such a good idea. When I ponder this thought, I cannot help but think of the words we find in Obadiah 1:4 which declares, “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.”

Human Transportation May Soon Change Forever!

In last month’s issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we covered some of the rapid development now occurring in the field of autonomous vehicles or driverless cars. If you read last month’s issue, you are well aware that an autonomous vehicle taxi service is now being tested in Singapore, and the ride service company known as Uber is testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Just how close are we to such vehicles reaching the mainstream? We are so close to this becoming reality that the federal government of the United States has issued new guidelines for the usage of such vehicles in this country. “We’re saying that when the software is operating the vehicle, that is an area that we intend to regulate. When a human being is operating the vehicle, the traditional laws that have conventionally applied will still apply,” stated Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. The government has promised to expedite requests from vehicle and technology companies for approval and guidance on how to use new autonomous vehicle technology. (25) The iconic Ford Motor Company is planning to use driverless cars to shuttle its employees around its facilities beginning in 2018. They also plan to release such vehicles to the general public in 2021. “Strides in this technology have the potential to improve safety on our roads and reduce congestion in urban areas. We also look forward to collaborating with states on areas that complement this national framework,” Ford said in a statement. (26)

When people hear all this talk of driverless cars, they might think it will just be an unusual novelty that will never really catch on. However, the mainstream news media outlet known as Bloomberg recently published a story with an ominous headline which declares, “Get Ready for Freeways That Ban Human Drivers.” (27) According to the article, it is fully expected that people will be forced to use autonomous vehicles in the future and no longer be allowed to drive! “In city centers, you don’t want non-automated vehicles: they would just ruin the whole point of why you have a smart city. It makes it a dumb city,” opined Kristin Schondorf, a consultant at the professional services company known as EY. (27) It has even been proposed that a 150 mile stretch of Interstate Highway 5 that goes from Seattle, Washington, to Vancouver, British Columbia, ban all human drivers. “Problems with drivers not paying attention or getting sleepy or getting drunk are really ripe for autonomous to do a better job than humans,” declared Ron Medford, who is the safety director at Google’s self-driving car division. (28) His peers echoed this sentiment. “Long term, these vehicles will drive better than any human possibly can. We’re not there yet, but we will get there sooner than we believe,” insisted Danny Shapiro, a senior director at Nvidia Corporation. (29) Finally, Raj Rajhumar, who is co-director of the General-Motors-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab was quoted as saying, “Behind the wheel, we are only human and we are expected to screw up. There will come a point in time where we should not be allowed to drive.” (30)

A world where human beings are no longer allowed to drive vehicles would be an ideal situation for an oppressive one world government. In essence, people would be surrendering their autonomy to a machine. Whether or not we actually reach our destination would suddenly depend on if we were allowed to go where we wanted to go. It would also certainly be most difficult to live off the grid away from the prying eyes of Big Brother. Yet, this could be the condition of our world very soon.

IIn closing, there are many things happening in this world that cause great anxiety. We live in a troubled world. While I do not know what the future may hold, I do know that ultimately, God is in control. I find great comfort in the words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In John 16:33 he tells us, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Note that Jesus warns us that we will have tribulation, but He also tells us that we will have peace at the same time. The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is not the same peace they talk about at the United Nations. It is a peace that cannot adequately be explained with words. For as it says in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Thank you all for your continued support of this ministry. We could not do what we do without your help. By the grace of God, we will continue this ministry, which began so many years ago, for as long as we possibly can. If you have any prayer requests, you can send them our way through the mail or email. We always give each prayer request individual attention. We know that God hears us when we call on Him. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Samuel David Meyer

Acknowledgements

01. UN News Centre, September 16, 2016, By UN News Centre, http://un.org.
02. Ibid.
03. Time Magazine, September 20, 2016, By Katie Reilly, http://time.com.
04. PBS News, September 23, 2016, By PBS News, http://pbs.org.
05. Ibid.
06. AFP, September 20, 2016, By Catherine Marciano and Ella Ide, Assisi, Italy.
07. The New York Times, September 9, 2016, By Haeyoun Park and Josh Katz, http://nytimes.com.
08. Ibid.
09. Fond du Lac Reporter, March 14, 2016, By Nate Beck, http://fdlreporter.com.
10. Associated Press, September 22, 2016, By Associated Press, Tulsa, OK.
11. The Washington Post, September 21, 2016, By Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Derek Hawkins, and Lindsey Bever, http://washingtonpost.com.
12. CBS Local News, September 22, 2016, By CBS Local News, http://newyork.cbslocal.com.
13. ThinkProgress, September 22, 2016, By Alan Pyke, http://thinkprogress.org.
14. AFP, September 21, 2016, By Michael Mathes, Charlotte, NC.
15. The Blaze, September 21, 2016, By Chris Enloe, http://theblaze.com.
16. Charlotte Observer, September 21, 2016, By Langston Wertz Jr., Rick Rothacker, and Maria David, http://charlotteobserver.com.
17. The Daily Caller, September 24, 2016, By Justin Caruso, http://dailycaller.com.
18. The Washington Times, January 14, 2015, By Kelly Riddell, http://washingtontimes.com.
19. The Daily Caller, August 29, 2016, By Christian Datoc, http://dailycaller.com.
20. Real Clear Politics, September 5, 2016, By Ian Schwartz, http://realclearpolitics.com.
21. NBC News, September 11, 2016, By Monica Alba, Kristen Welker, Ali Vitali, and Hasani Gittens, http://nbcnews.com.
22. The Washington Post, September 11, 2016, By Chris Cillizza, http://washingtonpost.com.
23. Ibid.
24. The Washington Post, September 15, 2016, By Christian Davenport, http://washingtonpost.com.
25. The Detroit News, September 20, 2016, By Melissa Nann Burke and Michael Wayland, http://detroitnews.com.
26. Ibid.
27. Bloomberg News, September 22, 2016, By Keith Naughton, http://bloomberg.com.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.

Last Trumpet 

Is the SDA Leadership Hiding Our Past?

The study suggests that telling small, insignificant lies desensitises the brain to dishonesty

American fraudster Frank Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, started out swindling his father out of small change for date money and ended up impersonating an airline pilot, despite the admission that he “couldn’t fly a kite”.

Now scientists have uncovered an explanation for why telling a few porkies has the tendency to spiral out of control. The study suggests that telling small, insignificant lies desensitises the brain to dishonesty, meaning that lying gradually feels more comfortable over time.

Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist at University College London and senior author, said: “Whether it’s evading tax, infidelity, doping in sports, making up data in science or financial fraud, deceivers often recall how small acts of dishonesty snowballed over time and they suddenly found themselves committing quite large crimes.”

Sharot and colleagues suspected that this phenomenon was due to changes in the brain’s response to lying, rather than simply being a case of one lie necessitating another to maintain a story.

In the study, published on Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, 80 volunteers played a game in which they estimated the value of pennies in a jar and sent their guess to an unseen partner. Sometimes participants were told they would secretly benefit at their partner’s expense if they overestimated the cash in the jar, incentivising them to lie.

Neil Garrett, also of UCL and a co-author, said: “We knew by how many British pounds they lied on each trial. The amount by which participants lied got larger and larger.”

At first, volunteers tended to alter the jar’s value by around £1, but this typically ramped up to about £8 by the end of the session.

Twenty-five of the volunteers played the game while having their brain activity monitored by an MRI scanner. This showed that the amygdala, a part of the brain linked with emotion, was most active when people told their first lie. But while the untruths escalated in magnitude, the amygdala’s response gradually declined - and larger drops in brain activity predicted bigger lies in future.

The researchers said this adaptation effect was similar to those seen in basic sensory experiences. A scent becomes less potent when smelt repeatedly, for instance.

“You can imagine cheating a bit like perfume,” said Sharot. The first time you cheat on your taxes you feel quite bad, she added, but if you get away with it and benefit this bad behaviour is reinforced and the next time it doesn’t feel quite so bad, leading you to cheat even more.

Professor Marcus Raichle, a neurologist of the Washington School of Medicine in St Louis who was not involved in the work, said that lying was probably a learnt behaviour. “It’s a nice study... It seems reasonable that if you develop a pattern of behaviour and it’s reinforced that you would return to that habit,” he said. “An interesting question is whether there would be interventions to un-train somebody. If you’re a chronic liar that’s really a problem for society.”

He added that there was little prospect of converting the findings into a more accurate lie detection test - in fact, the variation over time in the brain’s response to lying demonstrates how difficult it would be to come up with a universal test. “Lie detection using fMRI isn’t ready for prime time,” he said.

The scientists speculate that the amygdala activity could represent the internal conflict between wanting to see oneself as honest and being tempted to act in self-interest by lying. This would fit with the scientists’ observation that people appeared to lie more readily in tasks where it benefited both themselves and their partner - possibly because it was easier to justify a lie that served the common good.                                   The Guardian

Life expectancy for Americans aged 25 to 85 is getting shorter

Published time: 28 Oct, 2016 19:44

© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Life expectancy for Americans aged 25 to 85 is getting shorter, according to a new study. For 65-year-old males and females, expected lifespan has fallen by six months compared to projections in 2015, the study found.

TagsHealth

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) released its latest annual mortality improvement scale for pension plans earlier this month. The scale is crafted using Social Security Administration data from 2012 to 2014 on mortality of Americans of all ages, and is used by pension plans to "help accurately measure pension obligations,"said Dale Hall, SOA's managing director of research.
"The updated improvement scale suggests US mortality continues to improve, but at a slower average rate of improvement than previous years, which may decrease pension plan obligations slightly," SOA said, adding that the "updated improvement scale indicates a slight decline in life expectancy as a result of the slower average rate of mortality improvement."
For example, in 2015, the average 65-year-old American male was expected to live to 86.2, while the average female of the same age was expected to live to 88.2. New projections by the SOA posit that life expectancy for 65-year-old males is more like 85.8, and 87.8 for females of the same age.
SOA's calculations are made with an assumption that Americans' longevity will continue to improve. And while the average millennial that reaches age 65 is expected to live a few more years than the average baby boomer, life expectancy is getting shorter for younger Americans as well, the study found.
Life expectancy for female Americans ages 25 to 55 went down by 0.6 years – same as males ages 45 to 65 – while males in the 25-55 age bracket were down by 0.7 years. Americans ages 75 and 85 also saw decreases in life expectancy projections, but less so than younger age groups.
In June, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 2015 marked the first time in ten years that the American death rate had increased. Unlike trends for other age, racial, and ethnic groups in America, the death rate for middle-aged white Americans is rising, according to a Princeton study released in November 2015. Furthermore, the suicide rate in the US spiked by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to the federal government.
One in three Americans is obese, the CDC said in September 2015. The agency also found that one in three children and teens in America eat fast food daily. Meanwhile, the maternal mortality rate in the US is on par with nations such as Palestine and Libya, according to a study released earlier this month.                             RT

The Other Explanation for Venezuela’s Economic Crisis

March 24, 2016 COHA 22 Comments Chavez, chavismo, Maduro, Peter Bolton

By Peter Bolton, Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

To download a PDF version of this article, click here.

Reports in the English-language press last week highlighted a series of small-scale street protests in Venezuela that bemoaned the scarcity of certain basic products, chronic shortages of medical supplies, and continued power and water outages throughout the country. According to Reuters, for instance, more than a thousand such protests occurred in January and February and, taken together, “show the depth of public anger” and “could become a catalyst for wider unrest.”[1] News accounts proclaiming Venezuela’s state of emergency are not new but in recent weeks have reached hysterical levels, with the Boston-based Global Post claiming that Venezuela’s economic situation is now “worse than 1960s Cuba.”[2]

The mainstream narrative explanation is that the crisis is the result of economic mismanagement and the ideological rigidity of the country’s “authoritarian” Chavista led-government. For instance, Andreas E. Feldmann, Federico Merke, and Oliver Stuenkel, writing for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote last November that “Venezuela’s steep recession has been worsened by economic mismanagement leading to mounting inflation, a widening fiscal deficit, and growing shortages of essential goods including food, soap, and diapers.”[3] Similarly, Arlecchino Gomez at The Daily Signal, wrote, also last November, that Venezuela’s recession “was largely due to government incompetence and mismanagement.”[4]

The Workings of the “Free” Market

These sentiments are strongly predicated on the standard line of economic thought prevailing in the Western media and political class: that stringent price and currency controls are distorting the mechanisms of the “free” market and have led to stagnant production, soaring inflation and a burgeoning black market in U.S. dollars and consumer goods. The explicit or strongly implied conclusion is that the crisis proves beyond doubt that socialism “doesn’t work” and that the solution to Venezuela’s ills is a return with gusto to Chicago School economic policy and hence a restoration of the unimpeded mechanisms of the market. Making this point in Forbes magazine, Tim Walstall goes so far as to compare the situation in Venezuela with the collapse of the Soviet Union; he argues that the solution “is to do as Russia did at the end of their socialist nightmare… [and implement] an immediate move to full blown free marketry [sic].”[5] To achieve this, “regime change” is presented as an imperative prerequisite and the only viable way for things to improve. Michael Shifter, writing in Foreign Affairs, says that even though many on the Latin American left initially found Chavismo an “appealing alternative to market-based approaches,” these days “few dispute that it has failed.”[6]

The Alternative Thesis

Within Venezuela itself, however, this analysis is just one of two competing narratives, both of which are discussed and taken seriously in discussions of policy, governance, and economic dynamics. The economic mismanagement thesis is the natural position taken by the Venezuelan opposition and its allies. But the fact that it is practically the only narrative reported in the English-language press misrepresents the intricacies of Venezuela’s economic problems while revealing how Western media heavily favor the opposition’s analysis, often by its own admission. (Rory Carroll of The Guardian, for instance, boasted that he moved almost exclusively in opposition elite circles while based in Caracas as the paper’s Latin America editor.)

But there is another narrative, favored by the government and the pro-Chavista social movements and civil society sectors, which, it is important to stress, are independent of the government. This perspective can loosely be called the economic war thesis. It explains the crisis in terms of the economic and social dynamics at play outside policy and governmental action. It holds that business sectors friendly to the opposition are waging an aggressive and protracted campaign of economic sabotage to deliberately stir up social unrest to destabilize and discredit the governing Chavista bloc and in the ensuing chaos bring about an end to the PSUV government and the installation of a new one made up of opposition parties. The central pillars of the economic war thesis are that these hostile sectors have been engaging in acts such as hoarding and price speculation and have purposely generated scarcity in pursuit of calculated chaos.

Naturally, all of the allegations that make up this narrative are dismissed out of hand by the opposition, which argues that they amount to a desperate propaganda stunt to shift blame from the government’s own incompetence onto its political opponents. President Nicolás Maduro’s use of the term “bourgeois parasites” in particular has been seized on by opposition commentators to portray him as a hopeless buffoon desperately holding onto to power and flailingly seeking to prop up a failed political project. Friendly commentators in the Western press are equally disparaging, with the aforementioned Michael Shifter, for instance, claiming that these accusations “have no merit,” but do serve to “show that any semblance of cooperation between the executive and the assembly to alleviate the country’s economic collapse is, at least for now, far-fetched.”[7] Similarly, Jeffrey Taylor writes in Foreign Policy, “Maduro’s response [to shortages and currency crises] has been to blame everything on scheming “Yanquis,” Venezuela’s “far-right elite,” the “parasitic bourgeois,” and, of course, the opposition, “even though he has effectively neutralized its leadership.”[8]

But though more scholarly research is necessary for a detailed and considered analysis of the myriad factors contributing to Venezuela’s economic situation, it is worth giving the claims of Chavismo a fair hearing. A fuller picture shows that this alternate thesis should not be so glibly dismissed.

Take hoarding, for instance. Before Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998, the economic levers of society were near-exclusively in the hands of a social elite of overwhelmingly light-skinned Venezuelans: the inhabitants of the wealthy neighborhoods of Venezuela’s urban centers and wealthy landowners of the campo. Not only were they in charge of importation, distribution and wholesaling of all manner of goods for the Venezuelan markets, but they also had a stranglehold over the state apparatus needed to profiteer from effective importation in the first place. A central goal of Chavismo was to wrest control of the economic levers from this elite and more evenly disperse it throughout society. The Chávez and Maduro administrations have sought to democratize economic decision-making and predicate it on serving the public interest rather than the pursuit of private profit.

Confronting Entrenched Privilege

Political psychology provides important insights into the socio-economic dynamics of Venezuelan society. In his book, Angry White Men, sociologist Michael Kimmel argues that much of white men’s rage in the United States is the result of privileges that were historically bestowed on them gradually becoming less automatic. As historically disadvantaged sectors gain more opportunities and influence, the change appears to the previously favored group as a great injustice.[9] The same dynamic is evident in Venezuela: an unaccountable elite of overwhelmingly white, Euro-descent Venezuelans hold positions of influence and has had control of many of the important economic decisions. In great part the Chavista movement was based on giving voice to the country’s poor majority, which incidentally is overwhelmingly black, brown, indigenous, and/or mixed race. Hugo Chávez was himself of mixed-race heritage, with European, native Venezuelan, and African ancestry. The mere idea that such a person (or mono, meaning monkey, as the opposition frequently called him) could be president and give voice to the dark-skinned chusma was seen as a veritable insult to the Venezuelan elite.

The Chávez and Maduro governments have attempted to transition Venezuela away from a society that has been not only inherently racist and classist, but also highly rigid, stratified and oligarchic. Problems inevitably arise because this elite already holds the reins and can aggressively resist a recalibration of economic and social power. In 1998, the highly corrupt business class controlled almost every economic structure imaginable from distribution of food and production of oil to systems for obtaining dollars and importing consumer goods. As James Petras and Henry Veitmeyer argue in their 2013 book What’s Left in Latin America? Regime Change in New Times, “The government’s socialist project depends on mass social organizations capable of advancing on the economic elite and cleaning the neighborhoods of rightwing thugs, gangsters and paramilitary agents of the Venezuelan oligarchs and [Colombia’s] Uribe regime.”[10] Since these are the people who were already in positions of economic power and influence when the Bolivarian process began, their ability to throw a wrench in the government’s efforts for reform has been formidable. Ryan Mallet-Outtrim, writing in Venezuela Analysis, points out that “Venezuela’s private sector has long attacked the socialist government.” So much so, he adds, “that for years Venezuelans have acknowledged that scarcity of basic consumer goods spikes around important elections, as businesses seek to pressure voters into turning against Chavismo.”[11]

Evidence of such efforts by pro-opposition sectors has not been lacking. Immediately following the opposition victory in the 2015 National Assembly elections, for instance, social media commentators indicated that staple goods miraculously began to reappear on shelves throughout the country.[12] Tellingly, some of the products had expiration dates that suggested that the problem was not with production but rather with distribution, which is largely controlled by the right-wing business elite. By creating this kind of scarcity, the elite were essentially trying to starve the public into rejecting the revolution, a tactic influenced by the United States’ economic blockade against Cuba.

When these dynamics are taken in the wider context of Venezuelan politics over the last two decades, they begin to seem less and less ridiculous and more and more plausible. Throughout the period of Chavismo there have been times when these aggressive tactics of economic sabotage have been too obvious to allow for the opposition’s usual equivocation. During the so-called oil strike, for example, opposition forces led by Venezuela’s largest business association, Fedecamaras, orchestrated a nationwide disruption of oil production in hopes that the ensuing economic chaos would destabilize the government and precipitate a coup.[13] Taken in the context of this history of instigated pandemonium, the economic war thesis emerges as at least equally worthy of consideration as its major competitor.

Internal and External Challenges to the Revolution

None of this is to say, of course, that there are no legitimate criticisms of the central government, far less that the opposition’s explanation for the economic crisis should be dismissed as casually as it dismisses the government’s. Yet there are mitigating factors that must be raised in the government’s defense. The Bolivarian process has attempted not just to pay the social debt that was owed the country’s poor majority, but also to radically transform society by offering an alterative development model to the neoliberal consensus of the 1980s and 1990s that plunged the entire region into disarray. The Chávez and Maduro administrations have attempted this task while facing constant hostility not only from an aggressive internal political opposition that has often resorted to violence, but also from the hemisphere’s hegemon, the United States. Washington, which almost instinctively has been opposed to Chavismo from day one, has consistently interfered in Venezuela’s internal affairs in the hope of crushing the Bolivarian process. From a Bush administration-backed[14] and CIA-aided[15] coup in 2002, in which then-President Chavez was nearly removed from power by force, to refusals to recognize Chavista electoral victories, threats of sanctions, and covert funding for opposition candidates, the United States had been determined to do everything possible to ensure that it would fail. The United States has viciously opposed anything that threatens the dominance of the unfettered neoliberal capitalist vision that it has sought to defend, and then spread, throughout the world. As William Camacaro and COHA Senior Research Fellow Fred Mills wrote early last year in Counterpunch, “A great deal hangs in the balance with regard to the feasibility of advancing a democratic socialist project while under the continuous attack of a U.S.-backed opposition, elements of which are bent on restoring the neoliberal regime.”[16]

The U.S. mainstream media, overwhelmingly owned by large corporations and loyal to their interests, naturally reflects and promulgates the ideological contours of this worldview. Herein lies the explanation for why the debate has been so narrow, so inordinately skewed toward the opposition’s account of the situation, and so disregarding of the complexities and subtleties of the discourse regarding the admittedly tragic and desperate circumstances in which the Venezuelan people find themselves.

By Peter Bolton, Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Please accept this document as a free contribution from COHA, but if re-posting, please afford authorial and institutional attribution. Exclusive rights can be negotiated. For additional news and analysis on Latin America, please go to: LatinNews.com and Rights Action.

Featured Photo: Venezuela Central Madeirense. Taken from Wikimedia.

[1] “Small Protests Proliferate in Simmering Venezuela,” The New York Times, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/03/17/world/americas/17reuters-venezuela-politics-protests.html?ref=americas&_r=0.

[2] “Venezuelans in the US say their country is worse than 1960s Cuba,” Global Post, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.globalpost.com/article/6749177/2016/03/21/venezuelans-us-say-their-country-worse-1960s-cuba.

[3] “Venezuela’s Political Crisis: Can Regional Actors Help?,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, accessed March 21, 2016, http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/11/30/venezuela-s-political-crisis-can-regional-actors-help/im9t.

[4] “Venezuela’s Economic Crisis,” The Daily Signal, accessed March 21, 2016, http://dailysignal.com/2015/11/09/venezuelas-economic-crisis/.

[5] “Venezuela’s Economic Catastrophe Isn’t About To Happen, It Has Happened,” Forbes, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/02/07/venezuelas-economic-catastrophe-isnt-about-to-happen-it-has-happened/#41880a0a5a1e.

[6] “Venezuela’s Meltdown Continues,” Foreign Affairs, accessed March 21, 2016, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/venezuela/2016-03-10/venezuelas-meltdown-continues.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Venezuela’s Last Hope, Foreign Policy, accessed March 21, 2016, http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/10/venezuelas-last-hope-leopoldo-lopez-maduro/.

[9] Angry White Men: A Book Review, Huffington Post, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tristan-bridges/a-review-of-angry-white-m_b_4611216.html.

[10] James Petras and Henry Veitmeyer, What’s Left in Latin America?: Regime Change in New Times, Routledge (2016).

[11] How Bad is Venezuela’s Economic Situation?, Venezuela Analysis, accessed March 21, 2016, http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11832.

[12] Basic Goods ‘Suspiciously’ Begin to Appear in Venezuela Stores, TeleSur, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Basic-Goods-Suspiciously-Begin-to-Appear-in-Venezuela-Stores–20151214-0018.html.

[13] “Venezuelan general strike extended,” BBC News, accessed March 21, 2016, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1918189.stm.

[14] Venezuela Coup Linked to Bush Team,” The Guardian, accessed March 22, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela.

[15] “The CIA Was Involved In the Coup Against Venezuela’s Chavez,” Venezuela Analysis, accessed March 22, 2016, http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/800.

[16] “Revolution, Counter Revolution and the Economic War in Venezuela,” Counterpunch, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/27/revolution-counter-revolution-and-the-economic-war-in-venezuela/.                                     COHA