What If The Empire Ended?

What if the US empire came to a crashing halt? What would life be like for the vast majority of us? (I suspect it would be better. Much better.)

Divest From Death

Words and Protest Photos by C. A. Matthews

“Invest in Democracy! Divest from Death!” was the theme for a statewide protest march this past weekend that just so happened to take place in my hometown of Findlay, Ohio. Why was a rather small city chosen for a statewide protest demanding the end of Ohio’s $260 million+ worth of Israel bonds? Findlay also happens to be the hometown of the current Ohio state treasurer, Robert Sprague, that’s why. Also, it’s where Marathon, one of the largest oil companies on the planet, was born.

Most people don’t realize that oil and natural gas was struck in Northwest Ohio in the 1880s, beginning the world’s first oil rush. Our “toxic tour guide” led protesters in a march from the Hancock County courthouse where the first vertical monopoly in US history was created when John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil bought and ran both the oil refineries and the oil producing fields of Ohio. (And now you know how Rockefeller became one of the worlds’ all-time richest people.)

From there we marched and chanted along Main Street to the headquarters of Marathon Petroleum. (Marathon Oil, having split into two entities a while back, was recently sold to ConocoPhillips while the refinery side of the business stayed in Findlay and renamed itself slightly.) Once in front of the towering 8-story building/landmark our tour guide shared more information about how Big Oil is profiting from death—the genocide of the Palestinian people.

After that stop, we marched a few blocks south to Ohio Treasurer Sprague’s home where we chanted and picketed on the sidewalk in front of his house, demanding that he divest Ohio taxpayers’ money from Israel bonds. These bonds are unrestricted loans to the genocidal-apartheid state’s treasury to spend as they choose. Mr. Sprague has prioritized purchasing Israel bonds with public funds since he became the state treasurer in 2019, effectively acting as a salesman for the Development Corporation of Israel.

After our visit to the Spragues’ home, we headed back north to the courthouse. Over all, it was quite a good day. I hope our state officials get the message that Ohioans want to divest from death—from supporting a genocide against the Palestinian people and destroying our world with burning ever more fossil fuels. The people have spoken. If Ohio’s politicians don’t listen, they could be out of a job soon.

And now to this week’s piece where I contemplate why we must divest from death and embrace life.

What If The Empire Ended?

I was driving to a local college this past week to hear a talk by a friend about her time living in Haiti when a intriguing song came on the radio. It was totally unexpected. I was listening to a smooth jazz station run by the local school district and usually the songs are instrumentals. But the lyrics of this song struck me as being extremely relevant to the situation we find the world in today. The opening lyrics went something like this:

What if the world ended? Would those I had befriended be my friends anymore?

This wasn’t a sentiment I expected hearing in a contemporary jazz song. I wanted a copy of it*, and I was sorry there was no identification given of either the artist or the song title by the time I reached my destination. (I drive an old car. My car’s radio doesn’t have an electronic readout. It’s primitive, but it does the job. I like my car’s CD player, too.)

Anyway, the song’s lyrics intrigued me in a slightly different way than considering the end of all life on Earth. What if the empire ended? What would life be like without the US empire? What if today—not next year or the next decade—the US empire came to a crashing halt? That’s it—it’s dead and gone. What would life be like for the vast majority of us?

For one thing, I’m sure my friend’s story about her time in Haiti would have a happier ending. The US empire has meddled, couped, invaded, and generally taken advantage of that small Caribbean country over and over and over again. (Read Major General Smedley Butler’s War Is A Racket to see how he felt about his part in it.) I believe the US government owes reparations to the Haitian people for our imperialist treatment of them—and to many others as well.

So, what if the empire ended? Would those whom Americans have betrayed become our friends again? What would the world be like if the driving force behind empire building (that is, capitalism) no longer existed?

Let’s do a thought experiment with some recent headlines. What would the world be like without the US empire—or any empires—screwing over ordinary people? Dare we consider such an earth-shattering possibility?

First up, let’s consider the current tensions building up between the US and Venezuela.

‘Massive privatization’: María Corina Machado offers to sell $1.7 trillion of Venezuela’s assets to US corporations

Now, let’s imagine how this headline could read if the US empire and its allies didn’t lust after Venezuelan natural resources. How about:

Venezuelans have one of the highest standards of living due to their excellent social programs funded by their nationalized oil and mineral industries.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Let’s consider what the world would be like without a US military presence in almost every corner of the globe. Here’s a recent headline:

US to establish ‘large military base’ on Gaza border

Wouldn’t the following headline make your day?:

US closes down all its military bases outside its borders and pays countries restitution for use of their land and the stress caused by its military operations.

I know which news story I’d prefer reading.

Let’s apply this thought experiment closer to home:

“You Have Arrived in Hell”: New Evidence Confirms Torture of Deported Venezuelans in El Salvador

It’s hard to believe that the US could be so cruel as to have people searching for asylum deported and tortured, but that’s reality. If the empire crumbled today, would we even see many refugees and asylum seekers trying to enter the US? Here’s a couple of headlines I’d like to read:

ICE disbanded and the era of its violent kidnappings of immigrants comes to an end. Federal charges brought up against all masked vigilantes working under DHS auspices.

Immigration prisons shut down. Released migrants offered permanent status or ‘green cards’ if they so choose. Most wish to return to their homelands.

Typing those words really brings a smile to my face. The world without an empire would be a happier and more stable place. People could move to and from other countries without too much hassle. Would anyone really want to leave their homeland if it wasn’t being threatened by US capitalists/imperialists? I guess most would only leave their home temporarily for a vacation or for business or to study aboard.

The world sounds like a wonderful place in that scenario, doesn’t it? Travel because you want to see other lands, not because you have to leave your home in order to find a safe place to live.

Back to reality—here’s a headline and story that are only too familiar over the past two years:

Winter in Gaza

“I haven’t found eggs, chicken, or cheese since food supplies started entering the Gaza Strip,” Aya Abu Qamar, a mother of three from Gaza City, told Anadolu. “All I see are chocolate, snacks, and instant coffee. These aren’t our daily needs,” she added. “We’re looking for something to keep our children alive.”

On November 5th 2025 the Norwegian Refugee Council sounded this alarm about Israeli restrictions cruelly holding back winter supplies. NRC’s director for the region, Angelita Caredda, insists: “More than three weeks into the ceasefire, Gaza should be receiving a surge of shelter materials, but only a fraction of what is needed has entered.”

Israel is a part of the US empire—or is it the other way around? Either way, the genocide of Gaza and the continued killing of Palestinians is being aided and abetted by US imperialists. You only have to look at how quickly the American billionaires providing military and IT assistance to the IOF are becoming trillionaires.

What about a headline like the following:

Winter in Palestine is one of the best times of the year for sight-seeing to the Holy Land. Palestinians welcome you!

Or: Palestinians celebrate one of the best olive harvests ever.

This late-breaking headline really throws me for a loop:

The UN Is A Genocide Partner

On 17 November 2025, the United Nations Security Council didn’t merely “fail” Palestine, it aligned itself with the machinery of extermination. Thirteen members voted yes, two hid behind abstentions, and not one dared to vote against a US-Israel resolution crafted to entrench Gaza’s subjugation. Every single seat around that table chose empire over humanity. Chose colonial obedience over international law. Chose the ongoing genocide against Palestinians.

This wasn’t diplomacy.

This was collaboration.

I’m… just speechless.

It’s difficult writing a cheerful headline when I consider just how long this genocide has been going on and how many hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been tortured and brutally murdered by the IOF. I want to write angry headlines instead. I want to write something along the lines of Israeli war criminals brought to justice at The Hague. Netanyahu, government officials, and their collaborators sentenced to death.

However, that’s not what this thought experiment is about. Imagining a better world without the cruelty and greed of the US empire hanging over everyone’s head like the Sword of Damocles should generate positive and hopeful images. We should be able to imagine international cooperation on subjects ranging from working together to end the climate crisis to sharing health breakthroughs with each other to developing new technologies for the benefit of all humanity.

But the human desire for revenge is great. It’s hard to resist. I want to see the perpetrators imprisoned and punished harshly and made to pay for their crimes.

That’s why the world would be far better off if empires—and the corrupt system of capitalism that drives them—had never come about in the first place.

(*I’m looking for the lyrics and/or a recording of the song online. So far no success. There are over a hundred songs with the words “What if the world ended?” as a title or lyric, most of them rock anthems. If you happen to know the jazz song I’m talking about, let me know in a comment or send me a direct message. Thanks.)

Information to Aid in the Elimination of the Empire…

No Contract Means No Coffee as Starbucks Baristas Walk Out https://www.labornotes.org/2025/11/no-contract-means-no-coffee-starbucks-baristas-walk-out

What is really happening in Venezuela? US attacks and economic situation explained https://www.geopoliticaleconomy.report/p/analysis-venezuela-us-attacks-economy-sanctions

The Member States Complicit in Genocide (w/ Francesca Albanese) | The Chris Hedges Report https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-member-states-complicit-in-genocide

IDF soldiers admit to targeting civilians and using human shields https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/idf-soldiers-admit-to-killing-civilians

ICE Is Functioning Like an Occupying Army. I Know Because I Served in One. https://truthout.org/articles/ice-is-functioning-like-an-occupying-army-i-know-because-i-served-in-one/

The West Is Stuck in a World That No Longer Exists https://futuredude.substack.com/p/the-west-is-stuck-in-a-world-that

The Global Zionist Organ Trafficking Conspiracy https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/the-global-zionist-organ-trafficking

Rescue Teams Dig Up Over 50 Bodies Buried in Shallow Graves in Courtyard of Gaza City Clinic https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/civil-defense-exhume-palestinian-bodies-gaza-city-unidentified-sheikh-radwan-clinic

An Inconvenient and Problematic Holiday: The transfiguration of Armistice Day to Veterans Day and our recompense. https://matthewhoh.substack.com/p/an-inconvenient-and-problematic-holiday

America is a Banana Republic https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/america-is-a-banana-republic

Military Moral Injury, Violence, and the Parable of the Guinea Worm: An Unexpected Encounter with Compassion https://tomdispatch.com/military-moral-injury-violence-and-the-parable-of-the-guinea-worm/

US Inequality Is Way Past Revolution Time--New Report: The Rich Are Richer Than The Gilded Age And Half of All US Children Live In Poverty https://realleecamp.substack.com/p/us-inequality-is-way-past-revolution

Court Filing Exposes 9/11 Coverup https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/court-filing-exposes-911-coverup

‘National Security Threat’? 95-Year-Old Human Rights Scholar Richard Falk Interrogated for Hours by Canada https://www.commondreams.org/news/richard-falk-canada-gaza

Tech Giants Are Trying to Cover Up the Environmental Impacts of Their Data Centers https://progressive.org/latest/tech-giants-are-trying-to-cover-up-the-environmental-impacts-of-their-data-centers-cooper-20251022/

Why Are Pedophiles the Most Successful Capitalists? https://bettbeat.substack.com/p/why-are-pedophiles-the-most-successful

Sometimes The Media Ignoring A Major Story Becomes The Story https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/sometimes-the-media-ignoring-a-major

The Algorithm Has Become a Zionist Asset—And It’s Rewiring Your Brain https://bettbeat.substack.com/p/the-algorithm-has-become-a-zionistst

Why does this harmless emoji make ChatGPT lose its mind? https://www.makeuseof.com/chatgpt-meltdown-hallucination-prompt/

My recent Prolepilled interview https://prolepilled.substack.com/p/exclusive-interview-with-the-revolution