=By= Mike Kuhlenbeck
A Book Review
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he international financial crisis that defined the first decade of the “New Millennium” forced many people to seek alternatives to replace the social-economic system that devastated countless lives.
The younger generation that had been raised on hope, the hope that if they worked hard at their goals they would be financially secure, soon realized there was no such future for many of them. The crisis brought on by the greed of the banking cartels and the unstable appetites of corporations (“job creators”) rattled what little faith millions of people had in the system. People were desperately seeking solutions on how to survive and build a different future.
Some people picked up copies of Paul Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal, some Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative. Others picked up Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. The latter two seem to be making the most impact, rendering the “accepted” conservative-liberal paradigm obsolete. Journalist Caleb Maupin was one of those who chose The Manifesto and has since expanded his revolutionary library.
In his book Satan at the Fountainhead: The Israel Lobby & The Financial Crisis, Maupin takes readers on a journey through the flowery utopia of Israel, a twisted tourist attraction based on a “Garden of Eden” concept, and helps navigate readers through the real-life hell on earth lurking behind this romantic political fantasy:
“The height of Israel’s strength was when it could deceive the world about its nature… The myth of Israel as a utopian incarnation of the national aspirations of Jews was very effective in furthering Israel’s aims, and gaining approval for its crimes.” (Pg. 251)
Maupin’s book found an eager audience in places such as Tehran, but not so much so in his country of birth, the United States. This is not surprising. Any meaningful discussion about Palestine is censored in the American press, as well as any discussion of economic alternatives to capitalism. It is no coincidence that these two subjects are ignored for they are intertwined. The author shows why Zionists, Christian Fundamentalists, Islamic Theocrats, atheistic Libertarians, Neo-Conservatives and Anti-Semitic Fascists make for strange bedfellows.
Satan at the Fountainhead details the methods used against critics of Zionism: the sacking of college professors, the harassment of human rights workers, endless threats of violence hurled at journalists, the censoring of news stories and other tactics to suppress the truth are supported by the Israel Lobby, a force whose influence in Washington D.C. is largely ignored by the majority (albeit a shrinking one) of Americans.
This book is not about a “Jewish conspiracy” but a conspiracy of the “One Percent” being committed in the name of “monopoly capitalist imperialism.”
The Western Media relies on ad hominem attacks and character assassination as key threads to help weave a growing spider web of lies to protect the interests of exploiters. In order to tell one lie, other lies must be created to build the foundation around the initial lie. The foundation on which Israel was built upon has been crumbling for quite some time due to the exposure of its true nature.
Maupin draws on the radical history of liberation movements in the US and around the world to show the historical development of the American Empire and its strange relationship with Israel. He presents evidence of “undisputed trends among the most elite forces in US society,” as he phrases it, and “how these trends ultimately culminated in the dramatic episode of 2008.”
Maupin’s steady-handed dissection of the mythical fable of pro-capitalist philosopher and author Ayn Rand (1905-1982) exposes the true nature of Rand’s “Free Market” cult of personality and her ruthless disciples in business, media and politics. Supplementing elementary information about Rand, Maupin portrays an honest if startling image of a morally-degenerate woman who herself struggled with her own philosophy when it was pitted against reality.
Maupin explores Rand’s wealthy upbringing in Tsarist Russia, the development of her political philosophy and her support of Zionism, which this reviewer was not aware of. Rand supported the so-called “right” of Israeli settlers seizing Palestinian land by armed force, partly motivated by her obsession with private property-holders of European descent, and her belief in “the virtue of selfishness.” This is consistent with her sociopathic outlook.
As noted by Maupin, “Rand admitted in a lecture at the Ford Hall Forum in 1972 that the first political cause she ever donated money to was the Zionist movement to create a ‘Jewish State’ in the British mandate of Palestine.” In the past, Rand referred to Palestinians as ‘savages’ and the nation of Israel as an ‘outpost of civilization.’”
Rand did not believe the Indigenous peoples in North America, particularly the United States, were entitled to the land they had lived and worked on for generations. She allegedly denounced racism as “tribalism,” but openly expressed her disregard for Native Americans due to her views on private property. She defended the genocide against the Natives during a 1974 speech at West Point, calling them “savages,” as she did with Palestinians:
“Any white person who brings the elements of civilization had the right to take over this continent, and it is great that some people did, and discovered here what they couldn’t do anywhere else in the world and what the Indians, if there are any racist Indians today, do not believe to this day: respect for individual rights.”
For Rand and other strange bedfellows, the environment and human life must be sacrificed on the altar of the “Free Market” for profits in the name of their real god, Mammon.
Satan at the Fountainhead is an impassioned and fiery journalistic polemic. Maupin applies his rhetorical skills as a soap box speaker and TV commentator to this bold work, displaying his strengths as a revolutionary pamphleteer. There is little doubt that Maupin will be wrongfully slandered as an “anti-Semite.” Such baseless allegations have greeted his articles and speeches at protests denouncing the atrocities of Zionism and other forms of oppression. But he is not alone.
On March 20, there will be a march in Washington D.C. to coincide with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention to be hosted downtown. Demonstrators will stand up against apartheid to call on the world to recognize the rights of Palestinians and denounce the crimes of the Israeli government and those who cheer for bloodshed committed in its name.
To close with Maupin’s words:
“The hope of the country lies with the rising protest movements. In recent years, the young people in the United States, who have been condemned to a low-wage economy and a rising police state, have shown a willingness to take politics into their own hands, and challenge the decaying order. They are beginning to draw from the country’s heritage, and revive the revolutionary traditions of opposing injustice that have been too long forgotten.” (Pg. 166)
Special Roving Correspondent Mike Kuhlenbeck, is a journalist, photographer, researcher and media critic based in Des Moines, Iowa. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the National Writers Union UAW Local 1981/AFL-CIO.
Kuhlenbeck works as a reporter for Iowa Free Press and as a freelance journalist. Besides The Greanville Post, his work has appeared in publications such as The Des Moines Register, The Humanist, Z Magazine, Foreign Policy Journal, Eurasia Review, People’s World, The Palestine Chronicle, Paste, Little Village, Industrial Worker, Earth First! Journal, Intrepid Report and the National Writers Union newsletter.
His extensive and wide-ranging reportage has covered a myriad of subjects including news, politics, social issues, entertainment and local events. His work has been published nationally and internationally, and has been translated into numerous languages.
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