Might is Right, or is it? The Empire Strikes Again Part 3

(𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯).

In many ways, the world according to Donald Trump feels like a blend between the two great dystopian visions of the 20th century: the pain-based control of George Orwell’s “1984” and the pleasure-based sedation of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.”

While I focused earlier in this essay on the doctrine of “Might is Right", the raw, muscular exercise of power, Huxley’s masterpiece as well as Orwell’s vision both offer a more subtle lens through which to view the current era.

In “1984,” the state bans books and erases history. In “Brave New World,” no one bans books because no one wants to read them, anyway.

In other words, today, even with the banning of certain books, we aren't necessarily deprived of information; we are, as a matter of fact, drowned in it. Between the sensationalism of the "Art of the Deal" and the endless stream of entertainment, coupled with the so-called “fake news,” the public is often too distracted to notice the erosion of sovereignty.

Huxley predicted that "what we love will ruin us." In 2026, the weaponization of social media and "alternative facts" acts like a digital “soma,” - that feel-good drug of the “Brave New World”

that keeps the populace in a perennial state of amused indifference while the "World Controllers" redraw the geopolitical map as if they were at a new Berlin Conference.

The Return of the Caste System

In Huxley’s visionary work, World State uses genetic engineering to create Alphas and Epsilons.

In our time, the "backyard" mentality is a geopolitical version of this. The world is being reorganized into "Castes of Nations,” in which the Alphas are the "Empire" states that hold the oil and the "Art of the Deal" leverage, backed by a military behemoth that replaces the whip of Slavery days.

Continuing with the comparison with Huxley’s “Brave New World,” the Gammas/Deltas would be the countries like those in the Caribbean and Africa, expected to be "useful" for labor or migration management but kept in a state of economic dependence. They are those infamously labeled in a denigrating way as “shit hole” countries.

Stability as the Supreme Virtue

One of the protagonists in Huxley’s novel, Mustapha Mond, argues that "high art" and "pure science" are dangerous because they cause instability. Much of the 2026 new US foreign policy is sold under the guise of "National Security" and "Order." The intervention in Venezuela was framed as restoring stability, just as the deportee MOUs are framed as managing chaos.

In both Huxley’s world and the Trumpian world, individual rights and sovereign dissent are treated as threats to the "Stability" of the system. Life, it would seem, imitates art.

The Illusion of Consent

Huxley’s greatest insight was that people can be "conditioned" to love their servitude. In the present Trumpian world, "conquest" isn't always through guns; sometimes it is through the conquest of the imagination, making nations believe that there is no alternative to obeisance to Washington. One nation that has so far succeeded in standing up against this is Cuba.

It can be argued that Cuba has always been the main target of the Marco Rubio-crafted new US foreign policy all along. In that sense, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was perhaps nothing more than a Rambo-style movie distraction. The objective seemed to be to take possession of Venezuelan oil, ensure not a drop of it gets to Cuba and frighten off other suppliers to strangulate Cuba’s energy arteries and choke the life out of that Caribbean nation’s economy.

Why?

Following the failure of one of the longest and most cruel embargos against a sovereign nation in modern history, an oil blockade seemed quite an appealing strategy, preferable to a military intervention because the latter could turn out to be Trump’s Waterloo.

Besides, it would seem obvious that President Trump is gunning for the title of the Greatest Of All Time, GOAT. Bringing Cuba to its knees and having Havana call him “Uncle” would, in his narcissistic mind, qualify him for that title. Forget the Nobel Peace Prize, at least for now. Nothing can be compared to being the GOAT; nothing at all!

If he succeeds in Cuba, he would have done what about a dozen US Presidents before him did not achieve. He would have finally atoned for the embarrassing defeat of the Bay of Pigs. And maybe, just maybe, he might even consider renaming Guantanamo after himself.

Except that this scenario apparently underestimates the spirit and resolve of the Cuban people whom he is starving to death paradoxically to “save” them from their own government. Cuba epitomizes the Caribbean ethos of resistance, resilience and survival. The island nation is not a pariah state. It is an important and integral member of our Caribbean family and has consistently offered its most treasured resources - its doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers - to serve the needs of the Caribbean whenever it was called to do so.

Will the Caribbean man up?

That is why all eyes are now focused on the 50th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM that opened in St. Kitts on February 24, 2026.

The invitation to US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the chief architect of the very "might is right" policies I have been discussing—suggests that the "Brave New World" conditioning runs much deeper than it appears.

Clearly, Rubio isn’t coming to discuss shared prosperity; his stated goals are "strategic alignment" and "countering Chinese influence." He is coming to ensure that the "backyard" is secure. And Cuba, to him, is a big threat to that “security.”

I don’t know if we can talk of a historical coincidence in the fact that Rubio shares the same first name with another famous explorer who was a foreign emissary - Marco Polo. But while there are some striking similarities between them, Marco the “Polo-tician” sees China as an existential threat to US “national security” and certainly wants to chart his way to the White House by bringing his ancestral land, Cuba, to the “Emperor” in Washington.

So, what would Caribbean leaders tell him? What will be their response to the oil blockade of Cuba which he engineered and which has precipitated the most severe economic and humanitarian crisis the island has ever experienced since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959?

Will they hearken to the call of Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness for a joint courageous action or will they tow the cowardly line espoused by Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Bissessar-Persad?

Will they man up and collectively pay back the debt we all owe to the Cuban people? What real options do they have other than capitulate to the evil desires of Washington?

For one, the recent decision by the US Supreme Court declaring Trump’s tariffs illegal could offer our Caribbean leaders a breather. The ruling proves that even within the heart of the "Empire," there are those who believe that might is not right if it violates the rule of law.

But sovereignty is not given by a court; it must be asserted and defended by a people. Until the Caribbean finds its collective voice, the region will remain a series of dots on a map redrawn in the image of others.

‍

‍