Protecting The “Global Economy”

(a.k.a. – “The Evolving Commercial Empire”)

by Doug Krieger

 

AN OPEN LETTER APPEARING IN USA TODAY

THE US SECRETARY OF STATE:

COLIN L. POWELL

“In today's world, business is global.  In a world of advancing freedom and markets, opportunities do not stop at the water's edge.

I am proud that American businesses stand in the forefront of firms working to capture business opportunities in every region, and on every continent. American firms are doing business, sharing American know-how and best practices, and expanding the circle of prosperity.

However, as events of the past 18 months have brought painfully home, the world is a dangerous place.

In business as in government, the security of our people and of our facilities is our most important responsibility. Security must be a cooperative effort between business and government. That is why I am such a strong supporter of the Overseas Security Advisory Council, or OSAC.

OASC is a partnership between the American government and the American private sector to increase the security of Americans doing business abroad.

OASC works. From its beginning with a handful of companies in 1985, it has grown into a network of some 2200 American businesses and other private sector organizations.

Please join us. Let OSAC work for you. Together we will do everything possible to make this world one of opportunity safely realized.”

Sincerely, Colin L. Powell,
U.S. Secretary of State (an open letter-
USA Today, March 27, 2003)

 WORLD-WIDE ECONOMIC HEGEMONY – THE COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC (a.k.a. “EMPIRE”)

It is good, from time to time, to allow the record to speak for itself.  As our current Secretary of State passes from the professional scene, I reflect upon his “open letter” (full-page) in the national USA Today newspaper of March 27, 2003—I’m sure that the Secretary’s fine efforts have resulted in many more firms who have joined in this “security network” designed to demonstrate support to America’s global marketplace.

Now, a great deal can be construed from the above letter—which is just as viable, if not more so, in the current economic climate.  “Expanding the circle of prosperity” is an interesting phrase—projecting mercantile dreams on behalf of the “merchants of the earth” – as well as those international investors who are willing to take risks outside of the USA—knowing full-well, that the government of the United States of America is THERE to protect their fine efforts.

And, in case you’re not convinced as to what America is up to—consider this phrase:

“Security must be a cooperative effort between business and government.”

The straightforward wording of Mr. Powell places business and government working side by side in a COOPERATIVE SECURITY effort!  Consequently, when visiting the site, you will discover a wide-variety of information relative to that subject; with many articles in many lands declaring the “security situation” and how the USA is protecting American business overseas.

In point of fact, this model of cooperation has been emerging for decades; however, its acceleration during the Bush Administration is altogether pronounced.  Industry, and the so-called “Military-Industrial Complex” that President Eisenhower warned us before he left office—is very much alive and well.

NATIONAL SOCIALISM

I am not here to elaborate on the above sub-title—only to say:  National Socialism (absent its racial peculiarities and prejudices) is a demonstration of Federal Government working hand and glove with mega-corporations/industry.  The same corporations of Nazi Germany who paid Hitler’s party’s debts and “cut a deal” with Herr Hitler, were the immediate corporations who so handsomely benefited from Hitler’s economic policies—policies which mirrored the general interest of these same corporations.

Dr. Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Professor of Economics at Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, wrote an article entitled Economic Fascism which appeared in The Freeman, June 1994—it may be ten-years old, but its import is very up to date!

“When most people hear the word "fascism" they naturally think of its ugly racism and anti-Semitism as practiced by the totalitarian regimes of Mussolini and Hitler. But there was also an economic policy component of fascism, known in Europe during the 1920s and '30s as "corporatism," that was an essential ingredient of economic totalitarianism as practiced by Mussolini and Hitler. So-called corporatism was adopted in Italy and Germany during the 1930s and was held up as a "model" by quite a few intellectuals and policy makers in the United States and Europe. A version of economic fascism was in fact adopted in the United States in the 1930s and survives to this day. In the United States these policies were not called "fascism" but "planned capitalism." The word fascism may no longer be politically acceptable, but its synonym "industrial policy" is as popular as ever.”

Listen to DiLorenzo’s conclusions—and then think from whence dictatorships spring!

“As most of the rest of the world struggles to privatize industry and encourage free enterprise, we in the United States are seriously debating whether or not we should adopt 1930s-era economic fascism as the organizational principle of our entire health care system, which comprises 14 percent of the GNP. We are also contemplating business-government "partnerships" in the automobile, airlines, and communications industries, among others, and are adopting government-managed trade policies, also in the spirit of the European corporatist schemes of the 1930s.

“The state and its academic apologists are so skilled at generating propaganda in support of such schemes that Americans are mostly unaware of the dire threat they pose for the future of freedom. The road to serfdom is littered with road signs pointing toward "the information superhighway, health security, national service, managed trade," and "industrial policy.” 

 

The National Socialism of Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan wrought a relationship between the State and Commerce so binding and, in point of fact, similar to that of other “Socialist” endeavors amongst the communists.  Yet, today, the “national commercial pursuits” of corporations within the USA is altogether expansionist—i.e., DEMOCRATIC GLOBALISM is the wave that now rolls in. 

 

Hitler, for example, kept the “German economic miracle” alive by military conquest.  When the coffers of his treasury became overextended, he simply bit off another chuck of Europe—Austria, the Rhineland, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc.  Imagine, pillaging the gold reserves, industry, manpower, etc. of an entire nation; and, of course, in order to fuel his “security mechanism” and continue to protect German industrialists and their commitment to “take risks” with Nazi Germany, well, a whole lot of that booty had to go for further security.  So, it became a never-ending chain of insatiable quests to “keep hope alive!”

 

 SECURITY:  MILITARY/BUSINESS/POLITICS

 

 A euphemism is a word or phrase which “tones down” the severity of the meaning—so “water closet” is used instead of “toilet” – whereas “security”   is used instead of “military.”  

 

 Protecting the extension of US industry is the formidable challenge of current and successive administrations—make no doubt about that!  The age of democratic globalism—of “Commercial Empire”—has so extended itself throughout the planet, especially during the past thirty years, that the security imperatives of the United States have now become utterly integrated into nearly every branch of the Federal Government.

 

The result of all this FREE and FAIR TRADE instituted by the wealthy nations—spearheaded and egged on by the USA and its formidable trade and banking concerns, viz., the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, GAT, etc.—is the following: 

 

“Capitalist economic theory holds that a completely liberalized global market is the most efficient way to foster growth, because each country specializes in producing the goods and services in which it has a comparative advantage. Yet, in practice, cutting trade barriers and opening markets do not necessarily generate development. Rich countries and large corporations dominate the global marketplace and create very unequal relations of power and information. As a result, trade is inherently unequal and poor countries often experience not rising well-being but increasing unemployment, poverty, and income inequality.” (Global Policy Forum – International Trade and Development) 

 

COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC vs. COMMERCIAL EMPIRE

 

Again, Charles Krauthammer’s vision of the world’s singular Commercial Republic—disavowing land acquisitions and administrations, in place of trade acquisitions and administrations—is but a euphemism in the sum total of material reality.

 

What America has purposefully and/or unwittingly (the latter would prove me benign and the former conspiratorial—take your pick) embarked upon is commercial expansion through mandatory conquest and/or economic pressure through the aforementioned “international” trade agencies.  Under US aegis, the following is unavoidable: 

 

“The United States is the most powerful nation in the world and it often acts unilaterally, but is it an Empire? Though some insist that ‘empire’ means only direct rule over large-scale conquered territory, the United States today looks decidedly imperial. The term empire has entered common usage, not only among critics but also among advocates of muscular US policy and global superiority. Economist Niall Ferguson has written about the British Empire as a lesson-book for contemporary US power. Influential Washington neo-conservatives are using the E-word freely, insisting that the United States is the world’s most benevolent nation and that it should use its imperial power robustly to expand “freedom” across the globe. This section considers not only the utility of the Empire concept but also the way in which the United States (empire or not) deploys its economic, political and military power globally, limiting the force of international law, shrinking the capacity of international organizations, and reducing the possibility of multilateral action and democratic self-governance in an increasingly interdependent world. We ask also: what limits will this empire encounter, can it sustain ‘full spectrum dominance’ for the foreseeable future or will it provoke such broad opposition that its era of hegemony and prosperity comes swiftly and decisively to a close?” (Global Policy Forum – Empire?) 

 

An Imperial America from history would boggle the imagination—SOMETHING IS GOING ON HERE and it’s time we all woke up to the reality of what has happened:  THE AMERICAN EMPIRE is for real!   

 

What’s driving this COMMERCIAL EMPIRE is pure, unadulterated greed—it simply cannot be explained by any sophisticated socio-economic expression!  This THING’s appetite for “bigger and better” is unbelievable—spurred on by technology, unbridled scientific advances, unmitigated acquisition of the wealth of the world.  Like a druggie and boozer who can’t get enough to suffice his habit—he plunges deeper and deeper into the abyss of his despair and addiction; a gambler who’s consumed with the thrill of winning, casting all caution to the wind and selling his soul to the tables and professional bandits who rob him blind! 

 

Imperial America—it’s written all over the face of virtually every map of the blue planet—yet, these same MERCHANTS OF THE EARTH found in the Revelation, deny their economic malevolence, their COMPLICITY with the prophesied latter day COMMERCIAL CITY known as BABYLON THE GREAT.  Revelation 18 awaits her ultimate journey and destruction—she has been well warned of her future demise! 

Instead,   the search for cheaper labor is forced upon the entire economy—while the Fed inflates the fools gold value of virtually all things essential:  homes, land, minerals, etc. 

Former imperialism was easy to spot—Britain’s, France’s, Spain’s, etc.—even Rome, Tyre, Greece, etc.—but the insidious and ubiquitous nature of earth’s final BLACK HOLE OF MATERIALISM is about to suck the nations, tribes, tongues and peoples of the earth dry from its grotesque maneuverings and methodologies—methodologies which inculcate native oligarchs and their SECURITY POLICE/MILITARY into the SECURITY extensions of the USA—THAT’S WHY TRADING WITH CHINA IS TRULY AN “ECONOMIC MARVEL” MADE IN HEAVEN’S HELL—because there’s nothing like a huge military apparatus already in place to enforce the economic machine now feeding its thankful partner:  UNCLE SAM! 

 

Remember—to achieve SECURITY, one must first secure the goods and services and then PROTECT the goods and services, so that the FLOW of FREE and FAIR TRADE continues.  Simple, isn’t it?  But, my Oh my, it sure sounds familiar . . . . thank you, Secretary Powell for so clearly enunciating your intentions and our overall policy to the rest of the world.

Revelation 18

   ¹And after these things, I saw another angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened by his glory.
   ²And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
   ³For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of her indulgences pleasures."
   ⁴And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;
   ⁵for her sins have reached unto Heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
   ⁶Reward her even as she has rewarded you, and unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.
   ⁷How much she hath glorified herself and lived voluptuously! That much torment and sorrow give back to her; for she saith in her heart,`I sit a queen and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.'
   <sup>8</sup>Therefore shall her plagues come in one day" death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
   <sup>9</sup>"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
   <sup>10</sup>standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, `Alas! Alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour has thy judgment come.'
   ¹¹"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
   ¹²the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls; and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; all scented wood, all manner of vessels of ivory and most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
   ¹³and cinnamon, and perfumes, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat; and cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots; and slaves, and the souls of men.
   ¹⁴"And the fruits that thy soul lusted after have departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly have departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
   ¹⁵The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing
   ¹⁶and saying, `Alas! Alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls!
   <sup>17</sup>For in one hour such great riches have come to nought!' "And every shipmaster and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off;
   <sup>18</sup>and they cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, `What city is like unto this great city!'
   ¹⁹And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, `Alas! Alas, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her extravagances! For in one hour is she made desolate!'
   ²⁰Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her."
   ²¹Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
   ²²And the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
   ²³and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
   ²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."