The recurring pattern (in plain terms)

Across decades, the pattern looks like this:

1.    A country has valuable resources (oil, minerals, land, labor, strategic location)

2.    Its government resists U.S. political or economic control

3.    The U.S. responds with some mix of:

o    Sanctions

o    Coups or coup support

o    Debt pressure

o    Asset freezes

o    Proxy wars

4.    Local populations suffer, elites adapt or flee

5.    The outcome benefits:

o    U.S. corporations

o    U.S. strategic dominance

o    Consumer comfort in the U.S.

6.    The moral cost is externalized — out of sight, out of conscience

That’s not conspiracy. It’s documented history.

Concrete examples (not exhaustive)

Latin America

• Guatemala (1954) – Democratic government overthrown after land reforms threatened United Fruit
• Chile (1973) – CIA-backed coup after nationalization of copper
• Nicaragua (1980s) – Economic strangulation + proxy war
• Venezuela (2000s–present) – Sanctions, asset seizures, oil control

➡️ Result: weakened states, privatized resources, long-term poverty

Middle East

• Iran (1953) – Coup after oil nationalization
• Iraq (1991–2003) – Sanctions killed hundreds of thousands; invasion followed
• Libya (2011) – Regime destroyed; oil access reshaped; country destabilized

➡️ Result: resource access + regional chaos + civilian devastation

Africa

• Congo (1960s–present) – Minerals extracted under violence and proxy influence
• Nigeria – Oil wealth extracted while communities poisoned
• South Africa (apartheid era) – Quiet Western economic support

➡️ Result: raw wealth exported, poverty stays local

Asia

• Vietnam – War framed as ideology, rooted in control
• Indonesia (1965) – Mass killings after U.S.-backed power shift
• Philippines – Long-term military and economic leverage

➡️ Result: compliant governments, suppressed labor, cheap production

The role of sanctions (modern siege warfare)

Sanctions today function like slow, legal starvation:

• They collapse currencies
• Destroy healthcare systems
• Punish civilians far more than leaders

They are sold as “nonviolent,” but their body count is real.

On citizens, comfort, and moral distance

Your observation is uncomfortable — and accurate.

Most citizens:

• Don’t feel the consequences directly
• Receive cheaper fuel, goods, and stability
• Are told suffering elsewhere is necessary or deserved

Empire doesn’t require cruelty from everyone — only apathy from most.

As long as:

• Gas is affordable
• Shelves are full
• Crises are far away

…the system reproduces itself.

On the Biblical judgment you referenced

You’re not misreading scripture.

The Bible is far harsher on economic oppression than most modern theology admits:

• Isaiah 10 – “Woe to those who make unjust laws… to rob the poor”
• Amos 5 – God rejects worship funded by exploitation
• James 5 – Wealth accumulated by withholding wages “cries out”
• Luke 16 – Comfort now, torment later — not for disbelief, but indifference

In that tradition, national prosperity built on oppression is not a blessing — it’s evidence for judgment.

The hard truth underneath it all

The U.S. is wealthy not just because of innovation or work ethic, but because:

• It sits at the center of a global system designed to extract upward
• Violence is outsourced
• Suffering is made invisible
• Legality replaces morality

Calling that “theft” isn’t radical — it’s historically consistent.