Slashdot Mirror
EU About To Grant US Unlimited Access To Banking Data
An anonymous reader points out a blog post reporting that on Monday The EU Council is set to give US intelligence services full access to SWIFT banking data, despite a unanimous call by the European Parliament not to do so. "The move of SWIFT the data server to Switzerland would be an excellent opportunity to stop the nearly unlimited access of US authorities on EU bank transactions. But EU justice and interior ministers are apparently keen [on agreeing to] a deal as soon as possible, on 30 November. Why 30 November? Because one day later, on 1 December 2009, the EU’s Lisbon Treaty will be in force and would allow the European Parliament to play a major role in the negotiations of the deal with the US. A deal one day before will be a slap in the face to democracy in the EU. ... [W]hile the US will be able to access EU banking data, no access to US banking data by EU [authorities] is being foreseen."
Now while the privacy issue is an obvious one, are there also any sum +'s that will boost our banking in a better direction? Or is this just another way to leave a trail of breadcrumblies behind us?
If that's not a coup from above, I don't know what is.
Wired money to Turkey? Terrorist.
Unexplainable transfers of cash into your account from $MUSLIM_STATE? Terrorist operative.
Bought floor tile from a man with the same surname as a well-known Taliban leader? Suspected terrorist.
etc.
I mean, I'm all for national security and sharing information but what is so lacking about the EU's ability to make and investigate the above claims?
My work here is dung.
democracy? What is this democracy you say. I know about republic (for the good of the people; "for your own good"), but who has a democracy?
... does the 30th of November sound like a great day to pull pranks like false fire-alarms and what-not to interfere with the deal? For once I my life I would condone civil disobedience, and for once it might even have an impact.
She: Hey, are you a traitor? Me: No, I'm atheist.
David Brin in his novel: Earth had some backstory (which is not in that link) about a war on the "Gnomes". This was a war on secrecy in banking. The story went along the lines of it was a purging moment in human history, in secrecy evil hides. Purging the "Gnomes" stripped a great deal of power from the corrupted mechanisms of society. Now, with that said any information collected will be abused but this offers some perspective.
Shh.
Hillary and her compadres met with the relevant officials over here and told them scare stories about how crucial a time it is for the western world and such bullshit.
None of our politicians have the balls to simply say f.o. and slam the door, no no, request to help spying on our own ppl granted - What could go wrong?
It's like if there was an American pizza, and European pizza, and the Americans got to have some of the European pizza, but no Europeans could have any of the American pizza, and, and, and.....well, dammit, I just want some pizza! Why do I have to explain it to a bunch of smelly asocial geeks? Fuck you all, I'm ordering a pizza and none of you can have any!
The tax cheats are going to have a much harder time when the want to park their money offshore. This is really good news.
The EU Council doesn't give a shit about European Parliament. Seriously, Iran is probably a better democracy than the EU. Most if not all democratic elements of the EU organization do not have any real power.
They'll give access to all inter-bank transactions. The whole issue started with the revelation that US intelligence had access to SWIFT data through SWIFT's US data center. SWIFT then shifted its operation to its other data centers and will cease channeling EU transaction data through the US data center by the end of the year. So the loss of access for the US spies is the SWIFT data, but the treaty will give them access to all inter-bank transactions, even those which are not processed by SWIFT. This is a classic rebound technique: The EU cannot spy on its own citizens like that, but they do get information back from US spies.
Who's to blame? The US, for shamelessly exploiting the people they often call their friends? The EU council, for betraying their people? Why choose...
If this goes through on Monday, there will be calls to punish the EU Council for treason, but of course nothing will come of it.
to access our bank data, QUIETLY. That is why EU is real interested in passing this. If not, then we are just as likely to QUIETLY deny them. PATRIOT act is a real wicked item.
How do you ask for a deal like this with a straight face, while not offering quid pro quo?
No really, I'd love to know how.
The United States is so clearly the new Roman Empire that it makes it
almost cute that they keep denying it.
There is no clearer sign than this agreement that we are
officially living in a PAX AMERICANA in the 21st century.
I guess we better hope that the guy with the somewhat forced
smile is nice to us.
If the US wants to have jurisdiction over the populations of the
world though, wouldn't it be only fair ("all men are equal...")
to give citizens of the colonies (= world - China) a vote in the
US presidential election?
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
As a US citizen, I say "WTF Europe -- are you insane?!"
I believe in the right of every country to protect their sovereignty, and this sound like a gigantic ceding of that sovereignty, and as egregious as the formation and delegation of power to the EU. The absolute best way to avoid tyranny on a massive scale is to ensure the distribution of power to the greatest extent possible. That's why I believe in states' rights, and why I believe Europe is being a bunch of asshats right now. I'm as patriotic as they come, but I understand the capability of anyone -- Americans as much as anyone else -- to become drunk with power. In the same spirit, I applaud that no American financial data will be given to Europe. At least they got it half right.
"I know that every word that man just said is true, because it's EXACTLY what I wanted to hear." -- Space Ghost
Excellent! A little deeper digging has revealed: The Transparent Society (Google Books, preview a bit online!) which is a non-fiction work by him, an author of the caliber of mind to successfully have made his predictions in Earth. It is summarized on this wiki page: Here. Now I will admit that I have not read that particular work but I trust Brin as enough of an authority that I will assume its mostly good! Now I am going to have to go and peruse that text! ;)
MOST importantly the wiki page specifically mentions the war on the "Gnomes!" So The Transparent Society will cover the reasoning in non-fiction!
Shh.
The EU governments are pushing the issue so they do not have to discuss it in the EU parliament. The Lissbon Treaty which will give the parliament a say in this matter is not in place right now. The parliament is strongly opposed of SWIFT.
But the whooshing sound as a joke goes over someone's head is universal.
wouldn't it be only fair ("all men are equal...")
to give citizens of the colonies (= world - China) a vote in the
US presidential election?
What good would that do? Corporations bought and paid for the US government long ago. It's all a big kabuki theater. They'll continue to get away with it too, because Americans continue to get shiny new gadgets and gizmos to keep them occupied and stupid.
As all of the EU can use IBAN for European transfers, I don't see the issue. The only reason we're still stuck with SWIFT is when making a transfer to/from outside the EU anyway, which invariably means US / Canada, in which case they already have access to the data.
In return, the US government should at least provide EU citizens with two-weekly overviews of their recent bank transactions. FREE OF CHARGE!
I'm American and I've traveled overseas quite a bit. I didn't run into a lot of hate. So either I beat the odds or else you're full of shit. I know which side my bets are on.
And it's not like Europeans don't pull shit trying to tell others what to do. The EU tries to enforce their Protected Geographic Status stuff in the US all the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origin
And yet I don't hate Europeans.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
I just send out some emails to my representatives. If you're an European, I urge you to do the same.
Yeah, and the Roman Empire fell into darkness (mostly) because they couldn't retain control over their over-extended dominion. No nation-state has ever survived at such a large size. As soon as all the troops are over in
X-istan or wherever, revolt would happen somewhere else.
Simply put, when the people aren't happy, there is no way to keep the peace. If these men abuse their powers, but the people are happy - whats to say that a blissfully happy life isn't a good life?
If the decision is scheduled to take place a day before the treaty becomes effective, wouldn't it be possible for a small group of motivated Brusselers to, oh I don't know, fill the streets of Brussels with foam of some sort for a day, making it impossible for the functionaries to reach their work?
And couldn't the European parliament annul the sharing of banking data the moment the treaty engages?
Hello, you do not have to
put line breaks in your
post, this is not a type-
writer.
Sincerely,
Anonymous Member of the New Roman Empire
It's just another case of USA forcing their laws, ideas and politics to other countries.
The US isn't forcing anything on any other nation. The US can do this because the US branch of SWIFT (a Belgian company) is operating in the US, and hence is subject to US laws.
SWIFT is free to end its US operations any time it wants to. And European governments are free to pass laws that prevent companies like SWIFT from shipping data to the US. But as long as neither of those happens, the US is within its rights to demand that the US branch of SWIFT conducts business according to US law.
I had more than one banking professional tell me, that if you want to have your money well handled, you should avoid using banks at all.
Every time you put money on one of their accounts, they can lend out ten times that amount (yes, that’s it fact imaginary money) to other people at a interest. If you use one of their funds or something like that, it’s even worse, since they take most of it, but if it goes bad, you pay for most of it.
And when you lend money... well the method goes like this: Take an example economy 100 people. Now lend all 100 people 100 dollar at 1% interest. Then they have to pay it back at the end. But they still will only have 100 times 100 dollar. So for 99 to pay the 101 dollar back, one of them has to go bankrupt. Because where would the money come from? All money you earn always comes from someone else in the economy. And he either also earned it from someone else in the same (global) economy, or he had to lend the above mentioned imaginary money from a bank. It’s futile. There is no way around one of them being fucked at the end.
But then, what is the point of a bank, if there is nothing left? Well... exactly.
The only idea that now may be left, is the easy transfer of money. Put it on an account, so another one can instantly draw it out again. This is what I’m doing right now.
And for lending money: Well, I go the old-fashioned way: I save up money that I get from earning more from working harder. It’s harder (and it should be hard), but at the end, whatever I get out from it, will be mine, mind and mine!
Now for the even worse part:
On top of all that... what is that green bill in your wallet? What is that “money”?
Well, if you look at it, it is the debt of someone else. You are literally holding a piece of debt in your hands.
It is not bound to any real thing with a real value. Like being a paper that says that you get X real physical gold pieces when turning it in at a bank.
In the EU it’s even worse. The “money” in not associated with anything anymore. Only the belief of people is giving that paper and worth.
Well, that can all be good and well, as you might say.
But now imagine, if that belief... or that credit... breaks down...
Then your one hundred trillion dollars can suddenly become worth just about one cent.
And funnily, this still can work. But in reality, there is a nice scheme if you yourself are the one printing the money: Just keep all your own money in gold. And then twist the value of the paper money at will, depending on who has more of it: If all the money is in their hands, let the money crash to worthlessness. And if it is in your hands, let it rise.
In essence this gets you work for free! If it costs twice as much work as the money was worth when they got it, to earn the money to pay you back, you got the work difference for free.
Rinse and repeat.
And you wondered why after the trillion dollar “bailout” flowing to the banks, the value of money suddenly rose, and why when the economy and life went upwards in the Clinton era, suddenly an election fraud brought people into power that created a big war for which they had to lend as much money as possible...?!?
The nice thing is: Banks and the federal reserve can only fuck with you, if you use their money!!
This is a bit hard in the real world, of course. ^^
But look at what the banks do. Do it, and do it better! Learn your stuff!
If they can profit from it, so can you!
One trick is to just always have as little “active”/paper money as possible. Always put it straight into real goods, gold/silver/$otherValueGainingOrStableResource or (if you are wealthy) houses, and similar stuff that can make you more money.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
The American empire, such as it is, is only analogous to Rome in its scope, not at all in nature. For one, the US has not added to its directly controlled territory since WW2 regardless of numerous opportunities to do so (and is unlikely to do so ever again without an unforseeable radical change in the US approach to geopolitics). Secondly, rather than extracting tribute from its immense sphere of influence, instead the US sends ridiculous amounts of 'aid' everywhere, undermining its own ecomony to try to buy loyalty (which hasn't worked very well) and the ability to parade around how much of a 'positive difference' we're making in the world. (Which to be fair is the preferred pissing contest of all first world nations and makes for great feel good photo ops to prop up incumbents.)
Although eclipsed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military operations by the US worldwide are largely humanitarian. Task forces are routinely sent in to assist with recovery efforts internationally for major disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes/cyclones. Everybody seems content to hate US military, its size, capacity, and deployment until they're stuck on a roof surrounded by some species of the Crocodilia order, then it's 'oh thank you brave American soldiers whom we previously hated for no reason other than that was the popular opinion to hold'.
If the Romans were running the US, we would have probably done what Patton had wanted, attacked the Soviet Union immediately following the defeat of Germany and Japan, nuked the Russians years before they could have developed the same capacity, bypassed the Cold War and its contingent proxy wars in Asia, and the world really would be a complete and total US hegemony. Then your analogy would work, but in comparison to that context, the way things are now have little direct comparison to the way the Romans operated during and after the lifetime of Julius Caesar.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
So what stupid european company is selling stuff to "my clients", hum, at what price...
The "con" goes this way.
Hum Company "stupid enough to compete with US" could be bribing people, that would be baaaad...
So I'm allowed to look at their transaction datas.....
Ho strange they are not bribing people after all....
Ok, hum by the way during this investigation I accidentally noticed that they are selling a lot of stuff (paper napkins for instant) that an American company could sell also at a specific price.
Hum by the way it happen to be strategic for the US that we sell paper napkins...., so since it is strategic we can tell the company at what price the potentially but actually not but who cares european company sells paper napkins.
A froody good the nice US company can blast the bad (well actually not but they could have right) eurotrash company out of the market.
Profit
It sucks
When evaluating the effect of passage type on reading rates, the narrative passages were read significantly faster than the news articles. in this experiment the 35 characters per line condition resulted in the highest comprehension score for the narrative passages. In the news article condition, the best comprehension score was at 75 cpl.
from: http://soar.wichita.edu/dspace/bitstream/10057/482/1/grasp0637.pdf
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
The United States is so clearly the new Roman Empire that it makes it almost cute that they keep denying it.
US politicians have clearly been arguing for a unipolar world, with the US as the only superpower. So, I don't see why you think Americans are denying hegemony over the rest of the world.
However, there are two major differences between the US and the Roman Empire. First, the Europeans and Japanese aren't paying taxes to the US; in fact, the US is actually still effectively financing part of the European and Japanese economies. Second, Europeans and Japanese can rid themselves of US hegemony any time they choose by building up their own militaries and taking care of their own defense. The US not only won't object, US politicians have been asking for this repeatedly, as US tax payers and US soldiers are getting tired of paying for Europe's defense.
If the US wants to have jurisdiction over the populations of the world though, wouldn't it be only fair ("all men are equal...") to give citizens of the colonies
You'd first need to start paying US taxes and use the US Constitution as your basic law. Until you do, you don't get to vote.
But as I was saying: once Europe spends $500-1000bn of its annual budget on defense, creates a nuclear arsenal, and greatly increases its troop strength, it can rid itself of any kind of US influence. As long as Europe is spending its money on cushy social programs and letting the US handle its defense, it has to accept that the US uses its power to get its way on some issues.
Your choice.
You have a situation of power with out accountability. When you own government can do something, the good news is that there is accountability. You, the people, have the ability to call them to account on it. Now it does seem that people often don't do that, but you can. For that matter the government itself can demand accountability. One branch can get the records and check up on another branch.
However all that goes away when you are talking about another government. The US government is not accountable to the people of Europe in any way shape or form. There is no ability for the Europeans to demand access to what is happening. The US can do as it pleases unless its own citizens demand some accountability, and why would they in this case? It isn't as though it targets them.
While I'm all about countries working together for law enforcement, I mean you don't want a criminal to just skip across a border and be free, it needs to go through the local governments and have oversight. So a bank info sharing setup might be a great idea. After all, hampering the flow of money from illegal activities is a major step to slowing down those activities. However said agreement should be set up such that countries request the data from each other, and that request is reviewed by some entitiy in that nation. Thus there is accountability to the citizens who it impacts.
"For one, the US has not added to its directly controlled territory since WW2 regardless of numerous opportunities to do so"
- Unless you count active covert ops and financial support for the overthrow/assassination of disagreeable governments throughout Latin America. That's pretty direct control of the territory if you ask me.
- Unless you count the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
- Unless you count the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
- Unless you count the economic blackmail (threats of trade restrictions) of countries around the world to force them to adopt equivalent laws to US laws on topics such as drug enforcement, copyright, rights of unfettered operation of US companies etc.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
I'm more used to Europe having the right idea about privacy, while the US (at least lately) tends to put individual rights to things like privacy in secure storage where nobody can use them, "to keep them safe for future generations."
Modding "-1, Troll" is not a proper response if you disagree with me. Try reason.
We only recently gave the right to vote in Presidential elections to our territories and capitol city, what makes you think we'd want the proles from the rest of the world adding their voices to the din?
Besides, our ancient rallying cry of "no taxation without representation" has a flip side: if you have representation, expect to start paying taxes.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
If the US wants to have jurisdiction over the populations of the world though, wouldn't it be only fair ("all men are equal...") to give citizens of the colonies (= world - China) a vote in the US presidential election?
That sounds fair enough. As long as we Americans get to vote on your leaders as well.
A Haiku: my language choices/assembler pascal lisp c/old school programmer
Unless you count the economic blackmail (threats of trade restrictions) of countries around the world to force them to adopt equivalent laws to US laws on topics such as drug enforcement, copyright, rights of unfettered operation of US companies etc.
A lot of that bullshit is as much the doing of Europeans as it is of Americans.
Unless you count active covert ops and financial support for the overthrow/assassination of disagreeable governments ... occupation ... invasion ...
Sorry, but that's not the same.
That is a good question to ask. Another one is:
What is the bigest treat to freedom, the government inspecting people for corruption or allowing corruption to go unoticed (even inside the government)?
As of today, I have no answer to both of them.
Rethinking email
Could you just clarify for me what the military threat is to Europe that would make it need "$500-1000bn of its annual budget on defense, creates a nuclear arsenal, and greatly increases its troop strength."
Last I heard, the iron curtain was pulled back (and the wall fell) around 1989, and the countries on the other side of it are now just democracies, or crimino-capitalist-libertarian-mafia-dictatorship states (pretty much the same kind of state the US tends to create in Latin America so it should be comfortable with them.) No red menace there. As for the occasional leftover nuke in private hands. Send in Jack Bauer or 007 if you must. Anyway. Curious on your perspective on the imminent threat menacing Europe.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
It's some sort of sausage/pasta/tomato casserole.
But, hey, it's a hell of a lot better to eat than that thin (albeit tasty) stuff you get in Italy or that thin (made from cardboard and mostly tasteless stuff) you get in New York.
Unless you count the economic blackmail (threats of trade restrictions) of countries around the world to force them to adopt equivalent laws to US laws on topics such as drug enforcement, copyright, rights of unfettered operation of US companies etc.
I hate to break it to you but at least one item on your list (drug enforcement) was done through the UN and the international treaty system. Ever heard of the Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics? I know it's politically popular at the current moment in time to bash the United States but you might actually learn something about these subjects before you open your mouth.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Orchestrating overthrows are the very description of indirect control. Pretty much all you're guaranteed is losing the previous regime. US geopolitical history is rife with case after case of the 'solution' being worse than the 'problem' even in terms of purely US interests. In case you haven't been paying attention, this includes Afghanistan, and probably will include Iraq.
Direct control, regardless of your desire to spin things, requires an unmitigated ability to enact and enforce laws (which results in the ability to levy and collect taxes, manipulate other tangible and intangible assets, regulate industries and social interactions, etc.).
The Romans directly administered their holdings. Granted, they allowed many local authorities to have their own laws, even their own taxes, in addition to the Roman laws and taxes, but the Roman laws and taxes always had precedence or the local Praetor would get some buff guys with swords to go door to door and set things right. Back then it wasn't loud music, sleep deprivation, and simulated drowning either, it meant crucifixion. Miles and miles of whomever dared oppose Rome lined up on roads moaning and writhing in the worst and most painful days of living death imaginable. Yeah, we're totally like that. Can't believe I didn't see it before.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
wouldn't it be only fair ("all men are equal...") to give citizens of the colonies (= world - China) a vote in the US presidential election?
Sure. As soon as you adopt the United States Constitution as the supreme law of your land. That includes the parts of it that you might not necessarily approve of. Personally I'd love to see the 2nd amendment applied to the European countries that have disarmed their populations and infringed on their citizens basic right of self-defense.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The ZOG under Rockefeller's and his crew of bad twisted monkeys are now on the move. I must quote something: "A world banking system was being set up here... A superstate controlled by international bankers... Acting together to enslave the World for their own pleasure. The FED has usurped the Governament" - Louis McFadden
I am not a banker (IANAB or W?) but:
- the only reference is a blog /. I am shocked)
- AFAIK SWIFT is but one method of *inter* bank, *international* transfer so "Unlimited Access To Banking Data" of the title is a gross exaggeration (what, here on
- given that there are other methods of funds transfer (IBAN, Tipinet?) SWIFT will die a quick death if this comes about
You should panic because :
Many european national traffic is going through SWIFT. (BE, UK, FR,......)
All the details are now mandatory in any wire transfer instructions,
All operations above 10.000 EUR must be made electronically
Bottom line : US and soon EU will be equiped with data to control financial fluxes and impose new taxes. (This is the real goal !)
So techniques for control have got more sophisticated over the centuries. Big deal. It's still control without political representation. i.e. it is undemocratic.
Scarily, the US government and US culture's most effective tool for projection of influence and hegemony these days is probably its corporate-cabal mainstream media. Did you notice how they unleashed project brainwash on their own population and the rest of the world's population in unison in the lead-up to the (second) Iraq war? It was enough to influence gullible puppy puppets like Tony Blair into committing his nation's forces to the biggest windmill-tilting exercise since the crusades.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Because the U.S. has never interfere with European elections.
But billions of unknown money pour into Obama campaign last year from all over the place. That is why U.S. need all the data everywhere.
New Economic Perspectives
SWIFT is used by major banks in Australia too for various inter-bank transactions. It wouldn't surprise me if other countries also use the SWIFT systems.
David de Groot Snr Systems Engineer
The US government was modeled on the Roman republic. The Pax Romana began with the establishment of the empire:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_romana
I'm not seeing a lot of pax in the world.
What the EU wants to do is up to the EU, but if the system is installed in Switzerland you can bet on it that Swiss data isn't going to be provided because (AFAIK) it would break the Swiss banking law.
I think it would probably require a public vote before that would be legally permissible - there was already enough noise about this data uncontrolled going to Europe..
Insert
The United States is so clearly the new Roman Empire
Then why is our infrastructure so bad?
It is untrue that the Council's members are unelected. The Council is composed of the ministers of government from the member states. The exact minister who attends depends on the subject that is being discussed. For example, the when the Council is discussing agricultural policy, it is the Agriculture minister from each member state who attends. When the subject is foreign policy, it is the Prime Minister (or head of state) and the foreign minister. These people are all elected by the laws of their respective countries.
Nice fear mongering, though.
I've never heard of presidentelco's (theory?) that fixed-width columns are an eye-catcher (it DOES seem intuitively correct), but it's entirely possible that GP is using a WYSIWYG browser or text editor (that auto-wraps lines and inserts
s) and a skinny browser window or low(er) resolution. Or, he could be using the "Extrans" option for posting (I'm not sure how it works WRT line wrapping, since I use Plain Old Text).
I'ma sipping my coffee and looking at your p0rn habits. I wonder how many billions I can make blackmailing you socialist cretins.
I think the Pax Romana and the Pax Britannia were nicer. They actually developed their colonial areas. Hell, the British Empire was a net loss for most of its existence; only the freedom of markets and Britain being ahead of the curve in industry propped it up. Once that was gone, the Empire was gone. Anyway, today it's all about exploitation.
Incidentally, Pax is a relative term and applies only to the allies of Top Nation, for whichever of the three you look at.
Does this mean USA will have access to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbered_bank_account transactions?
I'd like to buy homeland for our 10 million people. http://twitter.com/mahadiga
I think the Pax Romana and the Pax Britannia were nicer. They actually developed their colonial areas.
Paul Collier has a different opinion on this. He might be wrong, but he at least RTFA. In fact, I suspect he read the entire fine literature, which requires a time frame known by the ancient unit of "year".
Paul Collier on the "bottom billion"
Collier on the Bottom Billion
Marshall Plan
America has arguably done as much to revitalize Western Europe and Japan in the aftermath of WWII as nation in history. Because they had to slow the Red Menace.
For the guy who thinks that the American empire is overextended like the Roman empire, one small difference is that ability to collect information about how the far flung empire is functioning.
Ancient Rome measured this in fortnights, modern America measures this in milliseconds. Roman conquerors had world maps skirted with sea monsters. American school children pan and zoom the world over at the resolution of habitable structures or backyard orchards. I don't see *any* grounds for useful comparison. America is a fickle beast of a strange new stripe. Historical antecedents merely confuse matters. I don't understand this thread at all.
Better than Collier is the Mesquita interview on EconTalk. He's a much darker pessimist, who doesn't think America does a lot in this world entirely out of the goodness of its heart.
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Democracies and Dictatorships
He does concede that the American political system still runs on the production of public goods (aka policy), and not pure kleptocracy--yet--though IMO the system is increasingly straining in that direction.
I think I've posted this one before. The dark banking sector scares me, in combination with the technology and will.
Misha Glenny investigates global crime networks
That's fairly grim. This next fellow is perhaps too dour to be much use to anyone.
Bill Joy: What I'm worried about, what I'm excited about
But above all, what we have to do is we have to help the good guys, the people on the defensive side, have an advantage over the people who want to abuse things.
The problem is, he's probably right, and some of those "advantages" are going to look ugly by the standards of fraternal liberty.
Sure... as long as the citizens of the world consent to be taxed by the same government in which they wish to have a voice. I mean... it would be only fair.