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CHAPTER 16 World War III
Bankruptcy statistics for both Canada and the United States indicate that the North American marketplace has become an economic war zone. The marketplace, as currently constituted, is not working -- certainly, not for all the people. The mounting destruction -- both economic and psychic -- betrays a massive struggle for power. The immense concentration of economic powers has made it easy for big players to destroy or overthrow their competitors. The Citizen can easily be overpowered by Transnationals; these increasingly behave like Para-Governments. Many Laws are effectively being replaced by the Administrative Procedures of Para-Governments. And Governments are behaving like Big Business.
Many people feel plundered by what they perceive as economic tyrants. Frustration and anger against Big Business and Big Government are visible everywhere. As a result, loyalty and social cohesion have degenerated into considerable distrust. Despite incredible achievements in science and technology, many feel oppressed and subjugated by hostile economic forces. Science and technology should have increased human freedom. Instead, they are increasingly used to control and dominate almost every aspect of human economic life. Most dangerous, the Rule of Law has become substantially biased in favor of Big Business and Big Government. In other words, many believe that the very foundation of Democracy -- the Rule of Law -- has been corrupted to the detriment of the Majority. So far, the economic war between the Citizen and the Money Trust has been limited to individualized economic duels. The naked economic power of the Money Trust -- which derives from depositors' money, net litigation advantages, governments that have been subjugated by massive debts, propaganda, etc. -- can be targeted arbitrarily at anyone, anytime, anywhere. Most citizens are a few paychecks away from poverty. Many, therefore, are terrorized by the fear of losing their jobs, their homes, their cars, their loans, their dignity . . . So long as citizens are not organized, and a new universal creed for overthrowing greed has not been found, the Money Trust has little to fear. Still, in a democracy, the ultimate power resides with the majority. And the Tyranny of the Majority can bring down the Money Trust. The combats between citizens and the Money Trust can escalate if distrust spreads spontaneously to a significant majority of the population. Without trust the Money Trust collapses:
Should there be a spontaneous open rebellion (a generalized legal withdrawal of unmerited cooperation, loyalty, or trust) against the Money Trust, then, following the logic of Carl von Clausewitz, both "superiority of numbers" and "moral forces" would favor the Citizen.6 Tactics could be modeled after those that led to the Declaration of Independence. Citizens could declare their independence from the Money Trust and call for the establishment of that Rule of Law that would be "most wholesome and necessary for the public good."7 Note that the objective of the rebellion could never be the destruction of the Money Trust, as this can never be in anyone's interest. The objective could only be the destruction of the Darwinistic net advantages that are embedded in the Rule of Law. For this, the People would have to change the orientation of the Law:
Only then would Jefferson's Revolution be truly complete; only then would the Voltairian two plus two make four. The Economic Rights of Man are not a luxury -- they are absolutely essential to the conduct of business in the marketplace. The reason is elementary:
But there is still the Adam Smith problem: so long as "work done by slaves" remains "in the end the dearest of any,"8 greed could still compel the Money Trust to maintain economic servitude by force. If so, would the People defend their interests? I believe they would. Why? Because:
Niccolò Machiavelli on War and Money. What would the People need to win the War? For an informed answer, follow Machiavelli's procedure: look in history. First search for similar incidents, then enquire as to "consequence" and "line of conduct" of those involved.9 What you find out might surprise you. For example, citing Titus Livy, Machiavelli pointed out that "three things are necessary for war; plenty of good soldiers, wise generals and good luck."10 But, what about money? Machiavelli: " . . . it is not gold, as is acclaimed by common opinion, that constitutes the sinews of war, but good soldiers; for gold does not find good soldiers, but good soldiers are quite capable of finding gold"11 [my emphasis and italics].
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See David Ricardo, On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Vol.
1, 1951, at 352-372 (On Currency and Banks), especially 359. 2 Ibid., at 358-359.3 See Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present, 1995, at 618-628 (The Coming Revolt of the Guards).4 Ibid., at 624.5 Ibid., at 627.6 Clausewitz's expressions; see Carl von Clausewitz, On War (1832), edited with an Introduction by Anatol Rapoport, 1968, at 251-252 (Moral Forces), and 264-269 (Superiority of Numbers).7 See The United States Government Manual, 1987, at 1-3 (The Declaration of Independence).8 Smith's expressions; see Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Vol. 1, at 411-412 (slave labor).9 See Niccolò Machiavelli, The Discourses (1531), edited by Bernard Crick, using the translation of Leslie J. Walker, with revisions by Brian Richardson, 1970, at 51 (expressions from Father Leslie Walker's The Discourses of Niccolò Machiavelli, Vol. 1, London, 1950, at 82-83).10 Ibid., at 300-303 (Money is not the Sinews of War, as it is commonly supposed to be), especially 303.11 Ibid., at 302. |
