The Militarization of Our Political Imagination: A Deep State Panel w/ Richard Falk, Peter Dale Scott, and Aaron Good

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On this edition of Parallax Views, what is the meaning of the term deep state? Is the concept dangerous in light of the rise of QAnon? Is there a usefulness to the concept when used in a different context and meaning than the way its been used by the QAnon movement? What of the left-wing uses of the term to describe the National Security State? Has the deep state created a society in which our horizons are limited by a militarization of the and moral and political imagination?

We explore those questions and many more in this panel discussion featuring international law scholar Prof. Richard Falk (professor emeritus of International Law at Princeton University), Prof. Peter Dale Scott (poet, essayist, and all-around maverick thinker who helped popularize the concept of the "Deep State" in the U.S.), and Aaron Good, Ph.D. Among the topics we discuss:

- Richard's conceptualization of the deep state as being the force behind the bipartisan U.S. foreign policy consensus in favor of militaristic approaches
- How Peter's conceptualization of the deep state differs from that of Trump supporters; Steve Bannon's hijacking of the term deep state and its shallowness
- Continuity of Government (COG), Operation Garden Plot, Rex 84, and 9/11
- The militarization of problem-solving and conflict resolution as a major threat to peace and harmony in our world
- How threats are used to bolster militarization; "The New Pearl Harbor", the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld
- The deep state and the positive role it could play in addressing the climate change crisis
- Richard's belief that the military aspect of the deep state as the worst aspect of the deep state
- Peter's formulation of the deep state as including more elements than merely intelligence agencies and beltway institutions; the deep state as having warring faction (the right-wing being represented by groups like the John Birch Society)
- The possibilities of nuclear war as we move towards a New Cold War with China (and Russia)
- The current issues facing America today as a systemic failure related to economic globalization rather than simply an elite failure; the blowback of economic globalization's failing; the resurgence of the far-right on a global scale (specifically seen in countries like Brazil and the Philippines)
- Mass alienation in the U.S. and economic decline across the globe
- The multipolar world and hopes for the future
- Is the deep state more than merely the National Security State?