The Circle Remains Unbroken

Another war of aggression funded by the American tax paying public was initiated on February 28th when the United States Military preemptively and illegally attacked the country of Iran for the second time in seven months. The initial reason, dubious at best, was based on knowledge that Israel was about to attack Iran so therefore, the US, its ally and financier, had to front run the ensuing counter in order to save Israel from residual carnage. Not surprisingly, we were never told why the current administration in charge didn't demand its regional bulldog to back down and allow current, on-going and positive negotiations to continue. At the very least, this is something most would expect from a President who campaigned on peace and the termination of all foreign wars of aggression. 

But this the United States - a country that has been at war for all of 20 to 30 years of its 250 year existence. War is intrinsic to its collective DNA and a necessary component of its economic machine given the defense industry is one of the very few manufacturing categories retained during Wall Street's offshoring escapade over the past half century.

And of course, it's no coincidence that all major U.S. wars fought post Vietnam were conducted against oil rich nations including the latest three - Iraq, Russia (a US proxy war) and now Iran, its latest obsession of choice. While these facts are undisputed, all three countries share another commonality that is rarely discussed but critical when assessing motives - all three countries had nationalized their oil wealth. Same holds true for Venezuela.

Approximately 90 percent of the worlds oil rich nations work within the context of an NOC (National Oil Company). The reasons should make sense to everyone given the tremendous advantages embedded within an oil rich nation when the accumulated wealth is applied to public institutions, infrastructure and people focused initiatives. The one country that does not adhere to this nationalization model is the United States. This, despite the fact the U.S. is currently the largest producer of oil and natural gas on the planet. Instead, from initial discovery in 1859, the United States decided oil wealth was the property of the private sector based on discovery or land ownership at the point of extraction. And any oil or gas extracted from public lands is contracted through a lease. Today, the massively profitable Petroleum Industry is controlled by a small cartel of corporations who consistently rank in the top five or six highest spending lobbyists in Washington DC. Sure, a small percentage of their profits are recycled into government coffers in the form of taxes and fees (12-18%) but most of the financial largesse is enjoyed by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Marathon Petroleum and their shareholders. As an added bonus, this Oligopoly receives over 30 billion in subsidies from the very tax paying public who sees little to none of the financial windfall. 

As a reminder, most countries on the planet consider its natural resources the collective wealth of its citizens. Yes, private industry can and does play an important role in the extraction and refining process but if the residual wealth is not primarily directed towards the people of its nation, what is point of national sovereignty? 

To expand upon and broaden the scope on this observation, lets take a closer look at an industry the United States government has nationalized.

The Military

Clearly, the Military its not a natural resource nor a source of profit for the tax paying public (just the opposite), but it is a man made construct that is national in breadth, therefore, a nationalized institution. Yes, the defense of a nation is considered mandatory in the 21rst century-especially if you're the world hegemon, but it doesn't change the fact that the military is funded by citizens through taxation. Technically, its a classic example of corporate socialism.

So, if a country is willing to spend one trillion tax dollars on its Department of War each year and that fighting force is more offensive than defensive in pursuit of conquering oil rich nations around the world-especially those who have nationalized their resources to benefit its citizens-shouldn't the tax paying public of that thieving nation benefit through lower taxes, improved infrastructure, universal health care and free education? Setting aside the illegal nature of attacking a country for their resources via international law, this business model levies all the burden (blood and treasure) on the public while privatizing profits to some of the wealthiest corporations on the planet. To make matters worse, spiking oil prices (a typical blowback of war) benefit the oil industry while forcing the public to endure inflation and residual stagflation.

Ingeniously, those at the top and in control have propagandized the American people into accepting, subsidizing and never debating alternatives to the privatization of their collective oil and gas wealth. Conversely, they've agreed to fully fund a trillion dollar military that attacks, extracts, removes, or controls other nations’ oil wealth while receiving very little in return.

To summarize: In spite of the US government's (aka the people) 40 trillion dollar debt obligation, the US tax payer openly gives away its collective oil wealth to private industry and then funds its military to illegally extract natural resources from nations abroad. The benefit of those profits are mostly privatized for the selected few. The debt continues to grow while inflation increases and infrastructure wanes. Publicly defunded entities such as education and healthcare endure a slow death and eventually succumb to privatization limiting access to all at much higher costs. The populous is programmed to continually live within a fear based world on threats of terrorism of which, if real, are manufactured and justifiably derived from resisting forces fighting back in response to wars of aggression on their country. Consider a reverse scenario if you're skeptical of my observation.

Essentially, growing military budgets are fed by the remnants of its own actions as the cycle repeats until the entire process implodes under unstoppable inertia. To put it bluntly, War is more profitable, therefore, more valuable than Peace within a system that rewards wealth accumulation above all else. Its the ideal Silicon Valley business model of recurring revenue built upon monopolization.

And so the circle remains unbroken. 

Drill down a little further and you discover something even more disturbing. Those trillion dollar Pentagon budgets have little to no accountability with trillions of dollars lost. Imagine what could be created domestically with a spare two trillion?! And thats just the amount of money that's officially unaccountable. What about Pentagon funds that have already been spent (in todays dollars). These costs do not include future veteran medical costs or interest on the debt used to finance the operations.

Vietnam - 1.0 trillion US tax dollars spent

Vietnam remained communist and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

.

Afghanistan - 1.0 trillion US tax dollars spent

The Taliban is back in power and stronger than ever.

Iraq - 2 trillion US tax dollars spent

The US controls Iraqi oil proceeds but not the extraction which is divided among eight nations including two US adversaries - China and Russia.

Ukraine - 188 Billion US tax dollars spent (so far).

The war is in its fourth year with no resolution in site and hundreds of thousands dead.

Iran - 120 Billion US tax dollars spent as of this posting ( April 28rd, 2026).

A quick search from credible, independent sources reveals the following: The Strait of Hormuz is closed and in control of Iran. Future tolls will generate trillions in revenue for their Republic which did not exist before the war began. Their government hasn't changed and now in control by hardliners. The Iranian population is more galvanized than ever and gaining support of the world. US military bases in the region have been completely destroyed with every GCC nation is questioning their Petro dollar agreement -a contract built upon their protection. Oil prices have doubled with supply lines crippled leading to a worldwide economic recession, or worse.

Finally, in order to illustrate this iniquitous transfer of wealth from the American public to the one percent through propaganda and taxation, I have purposely left out the cost of human lives-both civilian and military. That number is estimated to be around 13 million post WW2. This does not include an even larger number of deaths caused by economic sanctions (technically, an act of war) levied by the US government on about 30 percent of the planet. That death toll was estimated at 38 million (1971 - 2021) by the prestigious Lancet institute of the United Kingdom.

One of the primary reasons for the American Revolution leading to the founding of the United States as country was taxation without representation. 250 years later on the eve of its Semiquincentennial Celebration, it might be time to dust off the old playbook and seriously consider round two.

"The wars are not meant to be won, they are meant to be continuous."

George Orwell (1984)