Another great Mencius Moldbug passage, which reminds us why we should quit saying America or US Government and call it WashGov…or, better yet, WashCorp.:

“But wait – as Americans, why should we mind if Washington conquers the world? Isn’t it awesome, always and everywhere, to rule?

Not at all. The doctrine of ultra vires exists for a reason. Every institution, private or public, is chartered to serve the interests and purposes of its beneficiaries. If it decides it has the right to trade off the interests of those beneficiaries, purportedly for the purpose of serving other beneficiaries to whom it is not contractually responsible, but has decided to love simply out of the goodness of its gigantic and perpetually hemorrhaging heart –

When USG decided it had the right not to serve the people of America, to whom it was exclusively responsible, it set the precedent that it could abuse American interests for any purpose it desired. And what other precedent could tyranny demand?

USG certainly was never responsible to any other party. Operating ultra vires as a world government, like any regime it worked assiduously to curry the favor of its foreign subjects. But how could it possibly be responsible to the mango farmers of Pakistan?

No – in its capacity as planetary benefactor, USG could only be utterly irresponsible and autocratic. In time it probably would have followed the example of Rome and extended the citizenship of the metropolis to the entire empire. Not that this would have given foreigners any more real authority over “their” government than Americans already enjoyed. But at least it would have fixed the optics.

And why? Why this amazing planetary empire? Ostensibly, we were told, the motive was the benefit of humanity. What a purpose! What benefit! The progressive global leadership that at home produced Clockwork Orange Detroit also gave us Clockwork Orange France, Clockwork Orange South Africa, Clockwork Orange Haiti, Clockwork Orange Syria, etc, etc, etc. Nor may we forget its earlier patronage of Clockwork Orange Russia and Clockwork Orange China. All told, the murders on USG’s tab run well into 9 figures. Hitler was an amateur and Mao was a cheap local punk.

No, there is a simpler reason. Washington loved it. It was not America that got to rule the world, but Washington. This amazing global empire was responsible neither to Americans, nor to foreigners; neither did it serve the interests of either. The interests it served were its own. How fortunate we are that this monster is at the bottom of a river! Happy the crabs that feast on its corse! May never drought undrown its bones! Roll on, great Potomack, roll.”