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The World - A Viciously Contested Prize The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial con - trol in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. — Carroll Quigley, President Clinton's history professor at Georgetown University, quoted from his book, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (1966) Step 2 - Mortgaging National Wealth In countries governed by a Bill of Rights and a Constitution guaranteeing the government is by the people for the people, Congress and Parliaments have been busy drafting up mountains o new legislation and passing laws to allow international bankers to bankrupt, take over or merge with national financial institutions (called "deregulating", and touted to create wealth for everyone). This includes floating a nation's currency to remove all controls, allowing money to flow freely into and out of the country (except, o! course, if private citizens wish to transfer internationally a sum of money in excess of $10,000, in which case they are suspected of money laundering—a plausible reason for strict controls on the individual). For the world's elite, however, an amount of $1.5 trillion is trades each day in foreign exchange markets, and any country's economy can be instantly destroyed through the manipulation of its floate — Oooo rr sae nana -- wey yee -- Globalisation and its one-world government have never been a course, 2 if private c: itizens ' wish to trai sfer internationally a sum n of secret. There were many open announcements from the highest offi- money in excess of $10,000, in which case they are suspected of cial sources who also reminded us of its arrival by dropping watch- money laundering—a plausible reason for strict controls on the words such as "global governance" into the language. individual). US Council of Foreign Relations member James Warburg For the world's elite, however, an amount of $1.5 trillion is traded announced as early as the 1950s: "We shall have world government, _each day in foreign exchange markets, and any country's economy whether or not we like it." Former US Deputy Secretary of State can be instantly destroyed through the manipulation of its floated Richard Gardner stated in 1974: "In short, the house of world order currency. will have to be built from the bottom up... An end run around This has been shown to be useful to globalists when Populist anti- national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish more _ globalisation movements arise. They can be instantly disposed of by than the old-fashioned assault..." global interests that can impose tough economic hardship on a coun- The assault from the bottom up begat the largest global redistribu- _ try with one finger on a keyboard somewhere in World Bank head- tion of wealth and power in recorded history. It is ludicrous to sug- quarters. gest that so many powerful individuals who were kind enough to announce the coming change in world order might Globalisation by Corporate Takeover not have had an organised plan. Fascism’ should be more Corporatisation, the vehicle that dri- Indeed, the plan becomes patently obvi- A S eC ic globalisation, has relied ous when the events ofthe last 20 years appropriately called on obedient politicians around the are reviewed. Even more obvious are ‘corporatism’ because it Is world to create thousands of laws the laws that have been passed to erode the sovereignty of nations piece by a merger of state and piece and step by step in order to com- corporate power." plete the work of centralising power in the hands of the elite few. This was A Aaa accomplished by using specific and — Benito Mussolini well-defined steps. Twenty years later it is self evident that many changes did indeed occur, but not with consent from the people. Without consent by democratic barriers. process, the one-world government has technically acted without Politicians all over the world are opening their national doors to authority. the feeding frenzy of predatory corporations and their global Th at ao hlin. which protect multinational corpora- tions against competition from nation- ally owned companies and small busi- nesses. This is called creating a "level playing field"—a curious term, con- sidering corporations don't pay tax on their profits. Meanwhile, local busi- nesses are burdened with high taxa- tion and no longer protected by trade currency. This has been shown to be useful to globalists when Populist anti- globalisation movements arise. They can be instantly disposed of by global interests that can impose tough economic hardship on a coun- try with one finger on a keyboard somewhere in World Bank head- quarters. appropriately called ‘corporatism’ because it is a) barriers. Politicians all over the world are opening their national doors to the feeding frenzy of predatory corporations and their global investors. This is occurring at a blinding pace. In 2000, there were 37,000 corporate mergers that took place worldwide. The mergers have been effective, as now 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world are corporations. Globalisation is working well for the rich, who are getting richer. While the assets of the top three wealthiest individuals exceed the gross national product of 48 least developed countries, 41 million Americans are medically uninsured. Even the middle class is feeling the pinch as two-income families are working longer hours. The US, once a wealthy nation with vast resources and a skilled and affluent labour force, now has the highest unemployment rates in almost a decade. Homeless live openly in the streets as shelters overflow. At least 15 US cities are responding to the emergency, not by guaranteeing basic human rights and freedoms or allocating funds to house the dispossessed but by passing laws that make it ille- gal for homeless persons to perform "life-sustaining activities in public" (such as washing and eating). In many US cities, homeless people who breach the local by-laws because of their poverty are issued tickets by police—no doubt a new source of much-needed public revenue, considering multinational corporations pay no taxes. Even worse off is nearly half of the world's population, now a cheap labour source for corporations, living on less than $2.00 per Step 1 - Public Assets Sell-off Governments have routinely cried poor prior to viciously slashing budgets for education, health care, essential services and social wel- fare programs. This creates a crisis, but the public, ever eager to be saved by "more efficient" management in "private hands", had been carefully prepared by spin doctors before politicians began the dis- posal of the public's assets during the 1980s. While voters agonised over which candidate to elect, so-called "democratic" countries were in the grip of a 20-year epidemic of corporate bribes and pork-barrel politics. Politicians of all major parties passed scores of laws to enable international corporate ownership of local industries, agricultural land, banks, water and other natural resources as well as foreign ownership and takeovers of national public institutions such as hospitals, government departments, the post office, telecommunications and public utilities. Government PR departments called this "global free trade", "economic rationalism", "deregulation" or "privatisation". Public assets, the wealth of the country and the sovereignty of the nation were delivered into corporate hands. The laws that were used to enable the transfer were statute laws serving the interests of cor- porations, enacted without public debate or consent. 18 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2004 Fascism’ should be more a merger of state and corporate power." — Benito Mussolini www.nexusmagazine.com