(continued...)
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Part 4 - The New World Order -- the elite scheme for global fascism
The "Free World" -- a global playground for capital
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Following the war, the Western elite, led by America, drew a line on
the globe, separating the part they dominated from the part they
didn't. The "free world" (doublespeak for "elite controlled zone")
was organized into a new kind of global capital investment realm.
Meanwhile the "communist block" (doublespeak for "beyond elite
control") was contained: ostracized, pestered around its periphery by
provocative military deployments, and subjected to chronic economic
destabilization by means of the "arms race", expensive brushfire
engagements, and trade restrictions.
America could have used its position of strength to establish a
traditional American-centered imperial system in the "free" world,
relegating Europe to a secondary position, keeping Japan
underdeveloped, etc. Instead America implemented a bold new world
order. The elite had grander plans for capital growth than simply a
larger American economy. The old European empires were disbanded,
and a seemingly democratic United Nations was set up, promising to
maintain orderly international relations.
The "free" world seemed to be entering an era of national self-
determination and democratic renaissance -- a bright new day
following the fascist nightmare. But the reality -- as elite designs
unfolded -- turned out to be quite different from that.
Instead of an end to imperialism, as the propaganda myth would have
it, what was introduced was a collective imperialism. Under a pax-
americana military umbrella, an international economic infrastructure
was established (IMF, World Bank, et al). Investment and trade were
free to flow, for the most part, around the "free" world at will,
without the territorial partitions traditionally imposed by a
competitive European imperial system.
The result for the smaller countries (soon to be dubbed the "Third
World"), was that they found themselves dominated by the capital
elite generally, rather than by the enterprises of a single national
power.
Megacorps -- the elite's Frankenstein monster
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This semi-homogenized, semi-pacified, investment environment enabled
corporations (elite-owned money-multiplying machines) to develop
orderly operations on a global scale. Thus arose the era of
megacorps (aka: multinationals, transnationals) -- mammoth
corporations with wealth and influence on a scale comparable to some
nations.
While Third-World countries became acutely aware that megacorps were
becoming the autonomous overlords of the "free" world, the First
World did everything it could to encourage their growth -- they were
seen as the agents of First-World economic domination, and necessary
to maintaining "home-country" prosperity.
Megacorps are much more than simply large units of economic
enterprise, capable of executing big-scale transactions over time.
They are also significant social institutions -- semi-autonomous
global-scale societies -- which provide to their employees
sustenance, a sense of belonging, and a focus of identity.
Megacorps are also significant political and economic powers in their
own right on the world stage. They increasingly have outgrown any
sense of home-nation loyalty, view regulations and trade barriers as
provincial interference, and see themselves as autonomous masters of
the globe. Their needs and demands are more often than not the
hidden agenda behind the policies of the Western powers.
The rise of megacorps must be viewed as an historically momentous
development: the emergence of a new species of political entity, a
species in direct competition with its ancestor species, the modern
national state. Born out of limited-liability laws, nurtured in a
capitalist culture, and lacking any natural bounds to growth or
restraints on behavior, megacorps extend themselves as would cancer
cells, poisoning and strangling their host planet in the process.
Megacorps, in the end, are capitalist investments, and their
motivation, pure and simple, is to increase their own market value,
on behalf of their absentee owners. This means that the primary
"drive" of the megacorp species is growth. Unlike natural species,
where individuals grow only to a certain size, and mating habits
limit population to what the environment will support, megacorps are
driven to grow without limit, and have no natural concern with
whatever stands in their way.
Megacorps are cancer cells on steroids, expanding their dominance
daily over commerce, communications, finances, public opinion, and
governments. If allowed to continue on their current evolutionary
path, megacorps threaten to become the dominant species on the globe,
with humanity serving as ant-like cells of these larger organisms,
and governments reduced to the role of subjugating the
disenfranchised population, keeping them subservient to megacorp
operations.
It is well to consider what would be the nature of a megacorp-
governed world. In short, its slogan would be "Feudalism locally,
Gangsterism globally". Locally, the role of the employee to his
megacorp would be much like that of a vassal to his lord in the
middle ages: without rights, and serving at the will of his master.
Globally, megacorps would interact with one another according to the
dynamics of mafia bosses: usually cooperating, sometimes feuding, but
always thinking about what collective scam they can engineer next.
Another word for such a system is fascism. Mussolini's original
fascista were corporate committees who were given responsibility for
managing aspects of the Italian economy -- an early experiment with
privatization. Hitler too emphasized corporate management, and made
Herr Krupp Oberfuhrer of Industry in the Nazi realms.
The Neoliberal Revolution -- the elite changes horses
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For thirty-five years megacorps continued to spread their tentacles
in the "free" world, pressure was kept up on the "communist" hold-
outs, and the elite-controlled regions were increasingly consolidated
into a tightening noose of international financial arrangements and
dependence on megacorp operations.
Then in 1980, a new phase of elite power-consolidation was launched
simultaneously in America and Britain, under the stage-management of
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, respectively. This new phase
was the "neoliberal revolution", and its platform was lower corporate
taxes, reduced regulation, privatization of public services,
liberalization of international trade barriers, and the self-
demonization of democratic political institutions -- "The only good
government is less government" became the official kamikaze agenda in
both countries.
What the neoliberal agenda amounts to is a wholesale transference of
power, assets, and sovereignty into megacorp hands. The thrust of
government activity under neoliberalism is embezzlement on the
grandest scale ever before attempted. Public lands, rights,
responsibilities, and assets are being given into private hands at
undervalued prices and without effective public oversight.
Government itself is being dismantled, defunded, and prepared for the
scrap heap. By rights, neoliberal government leaders should be
indicted for conspiracy and high treason against the state.
What the neoliberal revolution is really about, is a declaration by
the elite that nations are no longer their chosen tools of power, and
that megacorps are to become their primary vehicle not only of wealth
accumulation, but also of organizing global society. The elite are
now making it clear, under the rhetoric of neoliberalism, that First-
World nations and their populations are no longer to be privileged
partners in the elite game -- they are scheduled to come under the
same kind of corporate domination that the Third-World has long been
accustomed to.
To this end, international arrangements such as WTO, IMF, World Bank,
NAFTA, and GATT have been set up so that economic, and increasingly
social and political, polices can be dictated on a global scale by
corporate-dominated commissions.
Global propaganda -- exporting the American model
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In its fundamentals, the neoliberal revolution is a replay writ-large
of the American revolutionary scenario. On the one hand there is a
propaganda cover story -- modernization, competitiveness, greater
efficiency, universal prosperity, reduced corruption -- while on the
other there is the unspoken elite agenda -- firmer elite control,
expanded exploitation opportunities, dismantlement of democratic
institutions.
Just as the early American elite had overthrown royalty, today's
global elite aims to dethrone nation states -- the principal source
of popular interference in elite hegemony. "Democracy", the scam
which unleashed capitalism, has now become a hindrance.
As happened in America, the myth-fantasy unfolds in the elite-
controlled media, while the hidden agenda is being systematically
implemented behind the scenes. The promise is to make the whole
world a "land of opportunity", but that opportunity is to be for
elite investments, not popular prosperity.
The globalization of American-style propaganda was critical to the
orchestration of this scenario, and thus Milton Friedman and his
Chicago conjurers were dispatched to Downing Street to help sell the
package. Neoliberal mythology became a global media phenomenon, with
CNN, Hollywood, Murdoch, et al, deftly spreading the phony gospel of
free-trade, government inadequacy, deregulation, and, as always, the
American Dream.
A significant difference between the neoliberal and American
revolutions, is the lack of propaganda emphasis on democracy and
freedom. The promises are related to "land of opportunity" much more
than "land of freedom". The propaganda intent, here, is to portray
neoliberalism as an economic movement, and to keep its political
agenda hidden. Citizens are encouraged to assume that democracy is a
fact of life, an unshakable institution, secure from any fatal
dangers.
They are also, with mind-boggling irony, encouraged to perceive
capital exploitation itself as a sign of democracy, particularly in
formerly socialist states. As we watch those populations suffering
under intentionally destabilized economies, while megacorps organize
their own exploitive infrastructures, we are told that the people are
"slow to adopt to democracy".
The police state -- public order under neoliberalism
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Traditionally in "democracies", police forces have been small, and
order has arisen from the spirit of citizenship -- "This is our
country", "We are benefiting from its existence", and order comes out
of "following our own rules". Under neoliberalism, maintenance of
public welfare is being abandoned -- undermining public satisfaction
-- and nationalist ideology is being de-emphasized -- undermining
civic identity and voluntary compliance.
The elite is well aware that massive economic suffering and political
discontent are an inevitable part of the megacorp future, with its
obeisance to the religion of market forces, and its abandonment of
citizen motivation via democratic processes.
Not surprisingly then, what we see growing up, in tandem with the
neoliberal revolution, are police-state systems and an intense
propaganda-myth campaign regarding crime, its causes, and its cures.
More police, longer sentences, and more prisons are the elite's
answer to the question of public order.
Third-World countries show where this leads: military dictatorships,
systematic torture and killings, and suppression of unions, political
parties, and non-compliant publications. In America, the First-
World's most fully developed neoliberal state, we can see clearly how
such regimes are to incrementally imposed on the First World.
The media plays its part by ignoring the obvious fact that planned
high unemployment and the abandonment of national hope are the
primary causes of crime and the erosion of civic compliance. In
place of this obvious truth, is offered a mythology which blames the
victims: they lack "family values", they are lazy, they have a
genetic predisposition to crime, they are habitual offenders -- the
only solution is to lock them up. How one can follow "family
values", when one has no family income, is strangely absent from
"public debate".
The nature of the penal system is rapidly changing in America,
reflecting the anticipated further increase in social unrest, and
justified by the propaganda mythology. A formidable prison capacity
is being built -- prison construction is the largest growth industry
at present in the U.S. -- and the concept of who the prisons are for
is undergoing radical change.
It used to be the case that punishment was a response to a crime, and
when the "debt to society" was repaid, the offender was expected to
join the ranks of the responsible citizenry. Increasingly, prisons
are being seen as a place to house certain segments of the
population: those who can't or won't fit into society. That's what
"three strike" laws and mandatory sentencing (and soon, preventive
detention) are all about.
Under a neoliberal, megacorp-centered system, there are two kinds of
people: megacorp members (employees, contractors, etc.) on the one
hand, and the redundant, on the other. Without social services, the
redundant become a starving, potentially dangerous under-class, and
stiff laws and numerous prisons are being implemented as the final
solution to this problem.
In a very literal sense, prisons are to be the concentration camps of
the neoliberal regime -- a place to isolate those redundant to
corporate needs. Never wanting to waste an exploitable resource, the
elite in America are now developing an extensive prison-labor system,
renting out inmates to fill lower-rung corporate labor needs. Thus,
in the "land of the free", we see the development of a network of
slave-labor concentration camps, without the fact seeming to reach
public awareness. Again, fascism seems to be the most descriptive
word available to describe the situation.
In terms of America's traditional "class ladder" system, what's
happened is that the lower part of the ladder has been shoved down
into the mud. As feudalistic social arrangements are being re-
introduced by neoliberalism, there comes also a re-introduction of
slavery, with, as it turns out, a familiar ethnic bias. It is
disproportionately blacks who are confined to crime-likely life
scenarios by corporatization, and it is largely blacks who seem
destined to populate America's slave-labor prisons.
The Gulf "War "-- America becomes the official elite enforcer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With megacorps evolving into the world's dominant political-economic-
social institutions, and with their open grab for political power
being reflected in the neoliberal revolution, the question remains as
to how order in the world is to be maintained.
If nations are to be weakened -- and especially if identification
with nationalism is to be de-emphasized -- then where are the armies
to come from to maintain the elite-architected system? Nationalist
spirit -- with a feeling of everyone pulling together -- has been
central to modern war efforts. How can a disenfranchised, betrayed
populace be expected to rally "to the defense" when the elite need
their support?
And if strong nation-states are to be dismantled, whence will come
the infrastructure to maintain systems of weapons and delivery? What
will be the command structure, and on behalf of what political entity
will military operations be carried out? And what about public
opinion? Even though the police state will have the capability to
suppress troublesome dissent, the myth of continued democracy
requires that some degree of popular sentiment be roused for dramatic
military interventions.
The Gulf "War" and its aftermath demonstrate clearly how the elite
has chosen to deal with these problems. This war was a major
historic precedent on several levels. It established new paradigms
for global propaganda, weapons technology, blitzkrieg tactics, and
international law. It established in the global public mind the
principle that America has a justifiable global policing role, and it
exported to the global stage America's traditional war-incident
scenario.
Technologically, the war was in fact a field test of significant new
blitzkrieg weapons systems. Precise night operations, stealth
defenses, guided weapons, satellite navigation, cruise missiles,
bulldozers as mass-murder devices, air-fuel explosives, uranium-
weighted shells -- an entire new generation of weaponry -- were
tested on a modern, supposedly well-armed, industrial nation. With
almost no loss of life in the elite forces, it was demonstrated that
Iraq's infrastructures could be systematically destroyed, and her
population could be subjected to relentless terrorism from the skies.
This suite of technology and operating procedures solves the problem
posed by the demise of strong nationalism, which formerly provided
massive, motivated armies willing to risk their lives for "freedom".
By emphasizing hi-tech weapons, operated from safe havens -- and by
using blitzkrieg tactics -- the duration of an intervention is
minimized, the number of aggressor casualties is kept low, and the
need for a large, non-professional army is eliminated.
The elite no longer needs public support for its military ventures,
it only needs acquiescence. A gulf-style approach minimizes negative
public responses, making acquiescence easier to achieve. But
acquiescence is too important to leave to chance, and so the Gulf War
also served as field test for a new generation of propaganda
techniques.
Starting with the source of information itself, the propaganda was
characterized by a complete lack of information regarding the
objectives of the intervention, the targets of attack, the morale of
the troops, the type of operations being carried out, and the
behavior of the enemy. From this base vacuum of actual war
information, an intensive PR campaign constituted the fare from which
war entertainment could be constructed.
The war-provoking incident was a direct exportation of the proven
American scenario. The incident was arranged, by an economically
provocative policy by Kuwait, followed by a "go signal" from the U.S.
Secretary of State regarding the invasion by Iraq. Once the incident
occurred, outrage and surprise were feigned, and a world-wide
media/lobbying campaign was launched to achieve UN approval of U.S.
military action.
Once the approval was obtained, the U.S. then launched on a military
campaign of its own design (the destruction of Iraq), and -- as with
the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution -- the UN approval turned out to amount
to a blank check, to be interpreted however the U.S. administration
wished.
This Gulf-War precedent has established itself very firmly on the
media-managed "world stage". When the Bosnia situation advanced to
the point where the U.S. wanted to jump in and manage the sequel, it
was able to get its way with very little fuss. The U.S. has all but
been handed the official title of "Judge Dredd" -- judge, jury, and
executioner of international law -- and U.S. intervention, certainly
not a new phenomenon, seems no longer to be viewed as imperialism.
The New World Order (NWO) -- global feudalism & corporate overlords
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
These then are the essential elements of what amounts to an historic
New World Order. Overall policies are to be set by non-elected,
corporate-dominated commissions; the world's economy, information,
and working conditions are to be managed directly by megacorps; and
governmental function is to shrink down to administrative matters and
police-management of the populace. All this to be enforced globally
by an elite-dominated strike force built around the U.S. military and
NATO.
America clearly has a unique role in this scenario. Partly this is
because America has the dominant military power. But it also
reflects the fact that America, compared to other First-World
countries, is the most thoroughly captured by megacorp interests
(recall Eisenhower's speech re/ military-industrial complex), and
that the American people, in their habitual credulity, are the most
effectively mesmerized by the media mythology they are fed via
television. America is a kind of "safe house" for NWO operations.
Humanity on the precipice -- is a second Dark Ages inevitable?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is now a brief window of opportunity in which First-World
populations could get it together and reclaim their paper democracies
through intensive political organizing and the creation of broad
coalition movements. Soon their governments will be disempowered and
that opportunity will be lost.
Such an unprecedented peaceful revolution will only become possible
if people generally wake up to the true nature of the threat facing
them. Helping them wake up becomes a duty of citizenship for anyone
who's managed to grasp the situation.
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Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - Wexford, Ireland
Cyberlib: www | ftp --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib
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