"In all normal civilisations the trader existed and
must exist. But in all normal civilisations the trader was the exception;
certainly he was never the rule.
The predominance which he has gained in the modern world is the cause of all the disasters of the modern world. . . The complexity of commercial society has become intolerable, because that society is commercial and nothing else. The whole mind of the community is occupied, not with the idea of possessing things, but with the idea of passing them on. When the simple enthusiasts say that Trade is Good, they mean that all the people who possess goods are perpetually parting with them. These optimists presumably invoke the poet, with some slight emendation of the poet's meaning, when he cries aloud, 'Our souls are love and a perpetual farewell.' In that sense, our individualistic and commercial modern society is actually the reverse of a society founded on Private Property. . . the actual direct and isolated enjoyment of private property, as distinct from the excitement of exchanging it or getting a profit on it, is rather rarer than in many simple communities that seem almost communal in their simplicity." G.K. Chesterton, in The Well and the Shallows: Reflections on a Rotten Apple (1935) |
Vol. 24, No. 2. March-April 2002.
The Defence of New Zealand New Zealand has had an airforce since shortly after WWI. The initial
initiative came not from the government but from a private donation
of land near Christchurch where the Wigram airbase was established.
Wigram is now the domain of private aviation enthusiasts and an excellent
aircraft and war museum The early days of our airforce parallel in a
few aspects the development of Britain¹s RAF. After WWI governments
quickly lost interest in maintaining more than a token defence force.
The financial hardships of the 1920s and 1930s, resulting from the banks
telling governments what to do rather than the other way around, was
the main cause of this. WWII permanently established the role of airforces. New Zealand, in association with its natural allies Australia, Britain and the United States managed to maintain a small airforce for 56 years since the end of WWII. That was until last year when the Clark government arbitrarily, and with little notice completely dismantled our one fighter squadron and quickly sold off all aircraft and equipment. The present remnants of the squadron are half a dozen pilots and some of the CT4 trainers that still perform brilliant displays at airshows. Will they too go soon? It should be recorded that the CT4 Trainers were originally designed and manufactured in New Zealand by a private company. Our one fighter squadron may not have made us a world power but our pilots were among the best in the world. Their dismissal has destroyed over 50 years of invaluable experience and expertise. What remains is a small transport division and an air-sea rescue service, both reliant on ageing aircraft and inadequate parts. We have it on good authority that in recent times there have been brief occasions when all five of the transport Hercules have been non-airworthy. It is a fact that the Labour Party has never been overly disposed towards defence. Early Socialist theory, combined with the imprisonment during WWI of a number of party leaders as conscientious objectors, may help explain this. But the National Party, the so-called party of freedom, private property, traditions and Monarchy, has been the more treacherous. In opposition it barely made more than a few squeaks when the Squadron closure was announced. Before the last elections the Shipley National government had agreed to purchase almost-new state-of-the art F14 fighters from the U.S. Although not freely admitted, the U.S. deal was clearly being subsidised by the Americans. The cost to New Zealand was minimal and was largely to be offset by some favourable trade deals. National's Minister of Defence Max Bradford had signed an agreement
to buy the new aircraft. But Bradford was easily criticised by his detractors.
His atrocious incompetency over the unnecessary revamping of the country's
electricity system had made him one of the most unpopular people in
government. The situation was not helped by the increasingly sanctimonious
attitude of then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. Had the Shipley government
put a little effort into trying to involve the public, including providing
better information, in the decision over the F14s, it may have made
it much harder for Helen Clark to do as she has. But the Shipley mob
were too preoccupied with following image consultants to bother about
what the peasants might think. The result was that the arbitrary decisions
of Shipley and Bradford were merely replaced by the arbitrary decisions
of Clark. Switzerland probably has the most efficient and effective defence system
in the world. The Germans dared not attempt an invasion during two world
wars. Every able-bodied man in Switzerland has military training and
keeps a weapon and ammunition in his home. It is probably the only truly
decentralised defence system in the world. They do also have a well
equipped and defended airforce but no navy because they are a landlocked
nation. For geographical reasons a Navy is particularly essential here.
But a modern navy without capable air support seems to be a flawed policy.
For training purposes our Navy is now forced to hire the services of
a couple of privately owned jets that are 40 to 50 years old. Whether
we ought to have had the new fighters or not is up to those with the
proper expertise and based on proper defence considerations. But defence
must also involve other factors. How is a nation to have any sort of
reliable defence if its governments continually adopt policies that
destabilise its society. Since the 1960s, but particularly since 1990, our governments, despite
massive public disquiet, have adopted an open door immigration policy.
Actually, it is not a truly open door policy. Despite denials there
are numerous reports of people from Europe and the UK becoming frustrated
with immigration red tape. Yet, hundreds of thousands of people have
arrived from the Pacific Islands, China and India. Fortunes have been
made by a few immigration consultants who have learnt how to "work
the system". They advertise widely in Asia and India and charge
large fees. They can place bulk applications before the immigration
officials with all the t's crossed and i's dotted. Both National and
Labour governments have given a virtually free hand to selected consultants.
Do these firms contribute to party coffers? Despite massive evidence of big-time people smuggling rackets operating
out of South-East Asia, particularly Indonesia, and that often the same
criminals are involved in drug trafficking and other crime, this fact
is seldom mentioned here. A realistic defence policy must begin with a desire to defend ourselves,
and clearly has to involve internal as well as external defence. Those
who still form the mainstay of the country, the Europeans, whose forebears
developed the nation and gave it its dominant culture should not be
derided at every opportunity. Their children have a right to be taught
about a past that has much to commend it and for which they should be
proud. The "sickly white liberals"who hate their own culture
and race need to be reminded it is still the stability derived from
the old British culture that makes us an attractive destination for
other people. It is even possible that, given a say, a fair number of
recent migrants might oppose the continued open door policy. The liberals
will deny it but it is a hard fact that most Chinese do not want to
live in a suburb where they are surrounded by Indians or Africans, and
vice versa. Race is a factor in human affairs and we have denied it
to our peril. This doesn¹t negate the fact that people of good will,
no matter what their racial, cultural and religious differences can
and do cooperate in numerous ways. But the collectivist agenda pursued
by the amalgam of revolutionary socialists, theoretical liberals and
monopoly capitalists has nothing to do with this. They want to dominate
the world and know they can only do so by destroying nationalities and
people; by forcing together as many incompatible factors as possible. We have a few suggestions for a real defence policy which must entail
at least two components. One is military defence, the other is to reassert
our economic and political sovereignty. Concerning the latter: € We
need to give notice we will not be dictated to by decisions made by
unelected international bodies. Where existing agreements interfere
with the nation¹s welfare and its people then give notice that at the
earliest opportunity we will withdraw from such agreements. Military defence should: € Acknowledge our traditional and natural
allies which, for geographical reasons would firstly be Australia and
the United States, and then Britain and Canada, but not excluding other
countries. This would not, and never has, implied that we must agree
with every policy of our allies. A truly sovereign nation must be free
to disagree with an ally's particular policy. We could, for example,
voice opposition to U.S. bombing of cities in Iraq or an invasion there,
while cooperating in joint defence exercises in the Pacific. What will it take for a genuine revival of hope and faith in New
Zealand? * * * The Inverell Forum At the town of Inverell, New South Wales, a "Forum"is held every year, attended by concerned Australians from across the political spectrum. But they all have something in common. They believe in representative government and appreciate that a genuinely grass roots movement is essential if Australia is to be saved. The Inverell Forum was first held in 1988 and has become the main meeting point for concerned individuals and groups from across Australia. It is an excellent initiative and something that could be emulated in New Zealand. Perhaps those of us interested in a similar initiative here could begin swapping ideas. There is definitely no room in such a forum for people only interested in starting power movements. The focus would generally be on such issues as binding referenda, independent MPs, opposition to the crippling array of government regulations, immigration and globalisation. This year's Inverell forum was held between March 8 and 11. Information can be obtained from www.northnet.com.au/~rnb. Or write to Inverell Forum, PO Box 987, Inverell, New South Wales 2360 * * * No concern For Mugabe's Black Victims Because the League of Rights opposed Mugabe coming to power in former Rhodesia and the ANC in South Africa we were on the receiving end of all sorts of mindless abuse. Accusations that we were Nazis and Fascists were among the claims made. We gain no pleasure from the present exposures showing what a butcher Mugabe is. He has been responsible for countless thousands of murders and cases of extreme torture. We always claimed that those who campaigned against the former white governments in Rhodesia and South Africa seldom showed any real interest in the welfare of black Africans. The present silence of those who campaigned against the whites in Rhodesia is deafening. Occasionally a former anti-apartheid campaigner will complain that the blacks are now worse off in South Africa, but these occurrences are rare. We recently had an interesting conversation with a former anti-apartheid protester, an honest man who, when given the opportunity, did investigate the matter in depth. He commented that he was always curious that when the protesters marched through our streets the collection containers held out to passers-by would generally end up with about $20 or $30 in each. But always there would be one with a much larger sum of $1500 or so. In hindsight he has wondered if this may have come from the then Soviet Embassy. That is his suspicion. He also said that none of the New Zealand anti-apartheid movements ever had a non-white in any position of authority. The Soviet Union was in those days helping to arm and train the ANC. These days South Africa's ANC government finds itself beholden to the international bankers and global monopolists (the same mob who ensured the survival of Soviet Russia for decades with massive loans to pay for western exports of goods and technology.) As a result they are implementing the same free trade policies as other counties and selling state assets to the global corporations. Suffering South Africans, black and white, are being forced to pay huge price increases for basic services. Typical of modern party politicians the remnants of the old South African Nationalist Party have now allied themselves with the ruling ANC. Anything to retain some of the power and privileges! There are rumours that more than a few of them have ensured their own personal survival by buying farms and property in countries like Uruguay. In a recent letter in the New Zealand Herald, Tom Newnham of anti-apartheid protest fame, suggests that as we now live in the era of the Chinese, this is the language which should be taught in schools. While Mugabe's thugs are murdering, torturing and terrorising blacks and whites in the Zimbabwe he helped to create his mind is only on how he can further undermine stability in New Zealand. Anti-E.U. A British organisation, Subjects Against the Nice Treaty, is
determined to use every possible constitutional and legal means to stop
ratification of the European Union¹s Nice Treaty by the Fabian Blair
government. In summary, through the Nice Treaty, the EU seeks powers
to: € Set up a military force which will place British service personnel
under its direct command. The presenters of a petition to Her Majesty seek to invoke the powers of Magna Carta 1215, and the Declaration of Rights 1688, in the battle for the sovereignty of their nation. "These are all issues of major constitutional importance,"warned Lord Ashbourne at an inaugural public meeting last year. "They directly threaten our rights and freedoms and destroy the oaths of loyalty to the Crown sworn by Privy Counsellors, British armed-forces and the police. Such fundamental matters cannot be considered merely the stuff of day-to-day politics. They concern every British subject and generations yet unborn." The group is seeking legal advice on weather or not members of the
Blair government have committed treason. This has not happened in over
300 years. In a review of a book, Vigilance, by Ashley Mote,
Anthony Cooney asks the question: "Why have we not specified the
penalties of EU treason which will be exacted from both politicians
and high-ranking officials when Great Britain is once more free? Those
penalties ought to be plainly specified and it ought to be understood
that they will be pursued against both the carcasses and estates of
deceased traitors. There is plenty of room where Cromwel'¹s skull stood
on Tower Hill!" To paraphase a letter from Lord Ashbourne in The Times (UK): "A government which has introduced a succession of Bills and Acts of Parliament which deal with various aspects of the Constitution needs to be reminded that they have no rights to exceed the powers vested in them. We the people own the right to our own property (in this case New Zealand). Every three years we might be said to lease' its care to tenants' (parliament) who have an obligation to look after our property and act in our best interests as the ultimate owners. Our tenants' do not own the title to our deeds, nor any right of ownership over the property itself. They merely own the right of abode, and duty of care, for a maximum of three years. They are caretakers - no more." Italian Leader Denounces E.U. Laws The Italian Minister of Devolution and leader of the Northern League,
Umberto Bossi, has used terms at which even a Tory Eurosceptic might
blanche, to lash out at the European Union and all its doings. In a
two-hour speech, he called for "civil resistance against the invasion
of EU laws"; he attacked "the domination of the technocracy"; he spoke
of "a rootless bureaucratic machine" and of "a questionable process
which is endangering our liberty. Whoever wants a Europe without states
wants a superstate. He wants a Soviet Union designed by Stalin. He wants
a supreme judicial power superior to the sovereignty of the people.
He wants a Jacobin Europe which purges sovereignty with the supremacy
of judicial power." Switzerland Joins the E.U. Billionaire industrialist Christoph Blocher - a nationalist politician who led the opposition this time - said he "deeply regretted" the outcome. "It will lead to the weakening of Switzerland," Blocher said. "Freedom and the rights of the people will be limited, and neutrality will at the very least be deeply damaged'. "So long as the Swiss keep their referenda system they can, of course, always vote later to leave the E.U. They are also far better equipped to reject various E.U. intrusions than any other nation in Europe. British Historian Announces Visit to Australia For about a decade David Irving, the outstanding British historian
has been denied entry to Australia, after pressure on the Australian
Government from Zionist organisations. Before Christmas he announced
he planned a visit during 2002. Some Australians have been writing to
their Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Phillip Ruddock, Parliament
House, Canberra, Australia, supporting Mr Irving¹s application. We encourage
our readers to drop Mr Ruddock, apparently a man of better quality than
some other politicians, a letter supporting any application to visit
Australia from Mr Irving. David Irving's 'crime' has been to dispute,
with massive first hand research, some of the generally taught 'facts'
of WWII history. The Internet is the Target Paul Fromm, director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression,
is not only an outstanding and knowledgeable authority on the question
of freedom of speech and association, but also its leading protagonist
in Canada today. In a recent issue of the Free Speech Monitor
newsletter, he wrote on the importance of a free Internet for the exchange
of information in this day of political correctness and numerous threats
to personal freedom from unrepresentative governments: ". . . it's
no surprise that [Canada¹s] Bill-36 will gag the Internet. "The government
proposes to let a judge, on the basis of a sworn information, order
the deletion of material from any Internet site in Canada that, 'on
the balance of probabilities,' constitutes 'hate propaganda' - that
is, wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group (colour,
race, religion or ethnic origin). A hearing would be held within a 'reasonable'
period of time where the person who posted the material could advance
arguments as to why the material was not 'hate propaganda.' "If the
judge ruled against the writer, the order would be permanent. If he
ruled the material was not hate propaganda, it could not be restored
'until the time for final appeal has expired.' "The censorship lobby, which has long had its sights fixed on the Internet, is ecstatic." Comment by CIS editor: It might be noted that this whole government attack on the Internet is nothing more than an attack on freedom of speech and communication of all except politically correct opinion. And in every respect, its provisions are the very denial and negation of English common law, which is the basis of Canadian [and New Zealand] law. € On this issue the following received (email Feb. 13, 2002) from
Mrs Barbara Faithful of New Zealand Credo Society (credo@surfer.co.nz.
PO Box 105105, Auckland) is significant: Critics of "hate" crimes overseas point to how such legislation is now moving towards "hate" speech. . . We have already seen the start of that here with the homosexual pressure to ban the two Christian videos on homosexuality, which, only after a lengthy and costly legal battle, have been freed for public showing. This will probably be one of Barnett's next pet projects. Watch this space! Anti-Globalisation Groups A number of organisations have formed in opposition to the globalisation
monster. Two whose flyers we have recently seen are World Development
Movement and The New Economics Foundation. Both support the wiping off
of third world debt, followed, we trust, with the wiping of first world
debt that is crippling hundreds of millions of people and families and
destroying societies everywhere. Their addresses are: WDM, 25 Beehive
Place, London SW9 7BR, UK; and NEF, Cinnamon House, 6-8 Cole St, London
SE1 4YZ, UK, email info@neweconomics.org. The Cross Versus the Crescent One grows weary of the mantra, "This is not a war between Christianity and Islam," which is true, since there are no Christian states to wage such a war, but one grows even more weary of the mantra "This is not a war against Islam," which is false, because it is. The "New World Order" having rendered Christianity powerless to pose its aims, has finally realised that 'Islam' is not only a foe but a formidable one which has a strong defence in its illiberality, and which like Christendom, must be neutered if the New World Order of a godless world is to be achieved. It was not always so. Time was, and not so long ago, when the Humanists regarded "Islam" as a splendid stick with which to beat Christianity. They saw the creation of a "Multi-cultural," "multi-Faith" society to be achieved by mass immigration and discriminatory legislation, as the final nail in the coffin of their foe. No effort was spared in the denunciation, persecution and criminalisation of any who opposed that objective. Now the monster they created has broken free, and self-aware and organised, is on the streets. The police dare not arrest those who trash churches nor the Government detain the instigators of terrorism. Indeed the Government must hasten to obey orders to legislate against "religious discrimination" and politicians to sign insolent "pledges." 0n the world stage however it is not Christianity which must tremble, it has, over thirteen centuries, become accustomed to Mohammedan persecution, but the New World Order itself and with it the humanists, the apologists of abortion, the corruptors of youth, the pornographers, the sodomites, the "hibbers," etc. The Thing Unbound knows its real enemy and labels it "The Enemy of God." It has struck, and is able to strike, at its power centres. The "New World Order" trembles and rightly so, but it will tremble more when Bin Laden and his confederates realise that narrower, more precise targets, will free them of the odium of killing "innocent people." Hence the contradictions of New World Order policies, the blitzing of Mohammedan Afghanistan on the one hand and of Christian Serbia on the other, are resolved. In both cases those countries were obstacles to the New World Secular Order. For this reason Milosovik is in custody as a "War criminal," and Bin Laden is threatened with the same, if he can be caught, but Butcher Blair, Bloody Bush and the rest of the Insiders are not. There is a further consideration. A few years ago "asylum seekers" numbered a few hundred a year. Suddenly they number untold thousands, and most of them have travelled half way round the world to get here. We have what is plainly an organised movement of people; who is financing it? It might of course be Bin Laden. Equally it might be the New World Order itself. Which leaves us with something to think about. If Great Britain, like Serbia or Afghanistan, declares its independence and, however humanely, deports the "asylum seekers" and requires that the planter population obeys British laws and respects British customs and traditions or leaves, will we be bombed back to the Stone Age whilst awaiting "liberation?" Israel, Bin Laden and Modernisation Joseph Sobran is an American columnist for conservative and Catholic papers. His articles are available from www.lewrockwell.com. The following can be reached on www.lewrockwell com/sobran/sobran-arch.html. We are indebted to New Zealand Examiner for the source: "When it comes to Israel, an American journalist speaks his mind at
his own risk. . . Zionists do indeed have a stranglehold on American
public discourse. . . Nobody has formally said that Jesus Christ would
be a Zionist, probably of the Likud faction, but this is implicit in
the conservative-Zionist fusion: and make no mistake: this is an alliance
rooted in fear: the conservative fear of the Zionists and not vice versa.
. . What does it matter? Because the country badly needs a real conservative
presence, and real conservatives have been marginalised. . . "The startling
thing about Bin Laden is that his proclaimed goals are not extreme.
. . The removal of US forces from Saudi Arabia; the end of sanctions
against Iraq; and Palestinian possession of the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem "As for the touchy business of "values". . . In case
you haven't noticed, this country no longer exports Puritanism; it exports
things that would have sickened its own ancestors - abortion, pornography,
total licence. . . " Douglas on Foot and Mouth In 1943 C.H. Douglas wrote a little book called The Land For the (Chosen) People Racket. The booklet¹s title had nothing to do with the Jewish and Palestinian questions then much in the news, but was a play on a rallying call being bandied about by the Marxists and Fabian Socialists. They spoke about 'The Land for the People', and Douglas argued that they certainly did not mean ordinary folk like you and I. The 'Chosen' referred to those (a number of whom were from Eastern Europe) who believed they were sufficiently superior to 'administer' the land on behalf of everyone else. Douglas' comments, in light of recent events, are germane to the catastrophe inflicted upon England, its People, its Landscape, its Economy and its Culture, not by Foot and Mouth disease, but by the Government. We are indebted to Liverpool Newsletter for reminding us of Douglas' comments: "The subject of industrial sabotage - the destruction of valuable material, goods, and products - has received much attention during the past twenty-five years and its place in current political economy is both well known and reasonably well understood by students of that alleged science. "But there are certain curious aspects of generalised sabotage which have an important bearing on the land question, and I am doubtful whether their nature is at all widely recognised. I refer to the mass slaughter of animals, not for food, but in accord with some prevalent, and quite probably evanescent, theory. To illustrate the peculiar characteristics of this organised life-sabotage,
which runs parallel to the human sabotage of mechanised war, it is instructive
to take, out of many, three instances which I have chosen consciously
as presenting at first sight a good case for the saboteurs, if we accept
the present civilisation as a basis of policy. These are (1) Rabbit
extermination; (2) Red (Highland) Deer destruction; (3) The slaughter
of immense numbers of valuable cattle on the appearance of a small number
of cases of foot-and-mouth disease. . . "A few weeks ago, one of
the most famous herds of Pedigree Shorthorn cattle in the world, domiciled
in the South of Scotland, developed some cases of Foot-and-Mouth disease.
It had been formed by an owner who was an acknowledged authority. His
whole life's work and interest was bound up with his cattle. Every possible
argument was brought to bear upon the Board of Agriculture, without
effect. Every animal, sick or well, was slaughtered. The owner died
of a broken heart a few days later. "Although comment was stifled,
it was not wholly prevented and several disinterested persons with cognate
experience obtained publicity for the expression of grave doubts as
to the justification of this rigid policy. Many persons who have taken up this matter do not hesitate to give their opinion on it. They say that there is some vested interest involved. In the sense in which this is usually meant, I can offer no special view, since I am not closely in touch with the problem. But I should a priori, be much more inclined to regard it as the policy of a philosophy. It does not require much imagination to see that the type of mind which regards mass slaughter of cattle as the least troublesome way in which to deal with a curable disease is the same type of mind which regards the mass liquidation of millions of Russian farmers as the easiest way to stamp out opposition to collective farming. . . "Perhaps at this point I may be permitted to emphasise once again the evident collapse of the episodic view of events. Our sense of realities has become so perverted that we only see with difficulty the direct connection between the murder of millions of Russians in 1919, and the mass killing of unknown millions of Russians, as well as other nationalities, in 1942. The pseudo-scientists of dialectical materialism appear to be determined to distract attention from the First Law of genuine science - Action and reaction are equal and opposite. Still less, therefore, do we see that, in allowing these mass, collective, 'remedies' to become familiarised, we are preparing a psychology which can only have appalling results. "To anyone who is not wilfully blind, it must be obvious that man's interference with nature, if it is not to be catastrophic, must be inspired by something very different from the rigid formalism of a Government Department. The modern Government Department has its roots in the departmentalised pseudo-science of the Encyclopaedist forerunners of the French Revolution and its lineal descendant, Russian Bolshevism. . ."Note: We are able to offer a photocopy of Douglas, The Land for the (Chosen) People Racket, for $5. The Idea of a Local Economy Wendell Berry explains that the one alternative that definitely will not work is the one being pursued at the moment namely globalised free trade. Mr Berry is a poet, ecologist and farmer. This article is an edited extract from his book In the Presence of Fear, $8, published by Orion, www.oriononline.org. There is a growing perception that the global free market economy is
inherently an enemy to the natural world; to human health and freedom,
to industrial workers, and to farmers and others in the land-use economies;
and furthermore, that it is inherently an enemy to good work and good
economic practice. I believe that this perception is correct and that
it can be shown to be correct merely by listing the assumptions implicit
in the idea that corporations should be 'free' to buy low and sell high
in the world at large. These assumptions, so far as I can make them
out, are as follows. The local alternative: So far as I can see, the idea of a local economy rests upon only two principles: neighbourhood and subsistence. In a viable neighbourhood, neighbours ask themselves what they can do or provide for one another, and they find answers that they and their place can afford. This, and nothing else, is the practice of neighbourhood. This practice must be, in part, charitable, but it must also be economic, and the economic part must be equitable; there is a significant charity in just prices Of course, everything needed locally cannot be produced locally. But a viable neighbourhood is a community; and a viable community is made up of neighbours who cherish and protect what they have in common. This is the principle of subsistence. A viable community, like a viable farm, protects its own production capacities. It does not import products that it can produce for itself. And it does not export local products until local needs have been met. The economic products of a viable community are understood either as belonging to the community's subsistence or as surplus, and only the surplus is considered to be marketable abroad. A community, if it is to be viable, cannot think of producing solely for export, and it cannot permit importers to use cheaper labour and goods from other places to destroy the local capacity to produce goods that are needed locally. In charity, moreover, it must refuse to import goods that are produced at the cost of human or ecological degradation elsewhere. This principle applies not just to localities, but to regions and nations as well. The principles of neighbourhood and subsistence will be disparaged by the globalists as 'protectionism' - and that is exactly what it is. It is a protectionism that is just and sound, because it protects local producers and is the best assurance of adequate supplies to local consumers. And the idea that local needs should be met first and only surpluses exported does not imply any prejudice against charity toward people in other places or trade with them. The principle of neighbourhood at home always implies the principle of charity abroad. And the principle of subsistence is in fact the best guarantee of giveable or marketable surpluses. This kind of protection is not 'isolationism'. A total economy for all practical purposes is a total government. The 'free trade', which from the standpoint of the corporate economy brings 'unprecedented economic growth', from the standpoint of the land and its local populations, and ultimately from the standpoint of the cities, is destruction and slavery. Without prosperous local economies, the people have no power and the land no voice. * * * "The crisis of socialism which abolished the Soviet Union was
actually a deeper crisis in industrial society itself. The noisy victory
celebrations of the West obscured, for a time, the deeper fault-line
in an industrialism of which socialism was only an heretical aberration.
This banished, the true creed of political economy could unfurl its
banners of laissez-faire across the world, and all societies, all cultures
would acknowledge its superiority "But setting free a system of
limitless economic expansion in a limited world - the underlying ideology
of the developed model - is no more realisable now than it was when
inhibited by the dour austerities and killjoy controls of socialism.
"Of course it is possible that market culture may reach all the
inhabitants of a world ransacked for its treasures. But if it does so,
the poor can expect consumerism instead of relief from poverty, economic
growth instead of a secure sufficiency, Coca Cola rather than safe drinking
water, instruction from commerce in lieu of education, the products
of entertainment conglomerates as a substitute for ancient, rooted cultures.
* * * The Soulless Economic Units of Capitalism and Communism "Following the logic of capitalism always leads to the transformation of human beings with family, racial, national and religious bonds, into single digit economic units without ties to any religious, family or racial group. Theoretically one can do what one wants in one's 'free' time, but how can one raise a family when denied the means to do so, or when one must spend one's entire waking existence fighting for the minimum material needs of one's family? " One of the biggest lies told by the free market conservatives is that they are pro-family. How can the advocates of a market society that makes no distinction between parent and child, illegal immigrant and native-born, male and female, be pro-family? Only the communists, those children of the capitalists, have been as consistently anti-family as the free market conservatives. ". . . C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers were the last people I've read who still talked about the soulless nature of work in the 20th century. If a man works at his computer for a company that makes replacement buttons for tuxedos, or if another man works in a factory putting one piece of machinery into a machine with thousands of parts, will either man really have a soul left at the end of his working life? Or if a women is forced to work outside the home and devote her energies to serving millions every day at MacDonald¹s will she still be able to claim a soul that is her own? ". . . We have lived with the modern notion that there are only two forms
of government (either communism or capitalism) for so long that we forget
that both 'isms' are relatively new. Cobbett's work on medieval England,
Hamish Fraser¹s work on medieval England, and related subjects, and
Frank Owsley¹s work on the pre-Civil War South, all give us a glimpse
of societies that at least attempted to arrange their economic lives
as if the Christian God once visited this earth." Milosovic, Afghanistan and the New World Order Whether he is a good or bad bloke ex-Serbian leader Milosovic is undergoing a mock trial that sends a warning to any national leader who might believe his country¹s sovereignty is more important than a globalised one-world. Kerry Bolton, in the February issues of his newsletter New Zealand Examiner (Renaissance Press, Box 1627, Paraparaumu Beach. Published sporadically for $1 an issue) provides the following insight: Ironically, whilst the US was backing the Taliban, Milosevic and the Serbs were standing as Europe's frontline against Islamic terrorism. Milosevic is condemned for doing exactly what Bush demands now of all countries in an ultimatum to the governments of the world which states, 'you're either for us or against us.' Of course the difference between the two fights against Islam was that the Serbian fight was for a European interest, whereas the US fight is for the interests of a global plutocracy, most of whose members - other than the Jewish - have no commitment to any culture, nation or people, but whose sole loyalty is to money. The Kosovo Liberation Army, now darlings of the globalists and their kept news media, were as recently as 1998 being described by US special envoy to Bosnia, Robert Gelbard, as 'terrorists'. The US State Department had previously prepared a report detailing the methods of intimidation used by the KLA to press Kosovo's Albanian ethnics into supporting them. Refusing to provide support meant death and the burning of homes. Indeed, prior to Milosevic's intervention to restore order in what is after all a province of his own homeland, the KLA had the population of both Serb and Albanian ethnics in a state of terror. US official sources were reporting that Albanian ethnics were fleeing from villages in their entirety from the KLA. Also well known to both US and European police agencies are the connections the KLA have with organised crime in Europe and Turkey and the funding they derive from heroin trafficking. . . Mineral Wealth - The Real War Aim One of the principal demands of NATO was that the Yugoslav Federation adopt a free market economy. Again there is a parallel with the plutocratic-communistic alliance against the Axis during World War II: one of the principal peace demands of the Allies was that Germany return to the gold standard, as reported in the diaries of German Intelligence chief Walter Schellenberg. Already Yugoslavia was being wrecked by the same kind of IMF imposed stringency economics that has brought to chaos many other nations. Kosovo is one of the most mineral rich regions in the world. This is centred at the Trepca mining complex that has provided shares of wealth for the entire Yugoslav population. The vast complex that is worked 24 hours a day, has the richest lead and zinc mines in Europe and is ranked third in the world. Lignite deposits are sufficient to last thirteen centuries. According to the mine director of the complex over a three year period the following was worked: 2,538,124 tons of lead and zinc crude ore and the production of 286,502 tons of lead and zinc, plus 139,789 tons of pure lead, zinc, cadmium and gold. Silver is also mined. The region is legendary for its mineral wealth and was mined first by the Greeks 2000 years ago, followed by the Romans. It was a prize fought for in World War II and taken by the Germans. Afghanistan The September hits on the US citadels of plutocracy and its military
arm provided the USA with the justification to try and totally pacify
Afghanistan, and perhaps continue on through any other state that stands
in the way of the New World Order whilst the world is whipped up into
a condition of mass war hysteria and the justice of all things 'American'.
Another player in the region is Iran, which is a major player in supplying
the oil of Central Asia to the world market, and is developing economic
co-operation with numerous states in the region. Radio Iran has reported
that it will pipe Turkmenistan oil through Iran. Is this a reason why
Bush has recently designated Iran one of the 'terrorist states' that
he wishes to annihilate?" Ariel Sharon Accused of War Crimes and Genocide Almost unreported in the monopoly press is a case being brought against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Late last year he was to be presented with summonses to a Belgian court to answer questions over his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres. Belgian press reports said two separate claims against Mr Sharon were being brought under a 1993 Belgian law, which allows war crimes and genocide to be tried in Belgian, even if the events took place elsewhere and none of the victims was Belgian. The first case charging Sharon with responsibility for the deaths, was lodged by a group of Palestinians, Lebanese, Moroccans and Belgians. The second, which alleges crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes was filed by 23 survivors of the massacres and five eyewitnesses. The massacres took place in two refugee camps in Lebanon which were home to thousands of Palestinians. Three months after Israeli troops invaded Lebanon in 1982, the camps were stormed by "Christian militiamen". They shot and killed an estimated 800-1500 of the refugees. Sharon was Israeli Defence Minister at the time. An Israeli investigation in 1983 found him indirectly but 'personally' responsible for the deaths, and he was forced to resign. The case was said to have the Belgian administration walking on eggshells. The Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, angrily attacked the Belgian Government over the affair, accusing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt of heading a "Government of bastards". € The NZ Herald of last December 13, reported: Foreign Minister Phil
Goff has sharply criticised Israel's retaliation against Palestine for
suicide bombings. He met Israeli Ambassador Ruth Kahanoff last Friday,
he told Parliament yesterday. He had told her that New Zealand condemned
Palestinian acts of terrorism that killed innocent people - 29 in suicide
bombings in two weeks - and that Palestinian leader Arafat had to act
against those responsible. 'However I also raised with her the concern
that the nature of the retaliation by Israel would simply perpetuate
the ongoing cycle of violence in the region. . .Israel was effectively
giving extremist organisations like Hamas a veto over peace negotiations
by demanding that all terrorist attacks cease before the peace negotiations
can take place'. . . He said it was counter-productive when Israel was
demanding a crackdown by the Palestinian Authority to bomb the very
Palestinian police stations and kill the very Palestinian police officers
who were required to take that action. In the past week, Israeli troops
have killed four Palestinian police officers, two children and bombed
a building used by Mr Arafat's bodyguards." No Sanctions Against Israel We have previously suggested that Israel's Mossad, one of the best equipped and funded intelligence services in the world, must surely, at the very least, have known that something was being planned inside the U.S. The Israelis did reportedly give US officials some warning before Sept. 11th. U.S. intelligence officials have suggested the information was insufficient to be of use and less than what the Israelis may have known. We hope that a skilled and honest investigative writer will delve into what are still so many unanswered questions concerning the horror of September 11. The bravery of so many to date, including over 200 Israeli soldiers at last count who have refused to engage in the one-sided war against the Palestinians, should be recorded. Questions, such as suggested CIA contact with Bin Laden as late as last July when he is said to have been undergoing kidney dialysis treatment, have been too carefully avoided. Fanaticism's Falling Towers Recent terrorist atrocities, although horrific, invite us to question
basic assumptions, argues Aidan Rankin, in The Ecologist, November,
2001: T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land In the poem above, Eliot does not include New York amongst his roll call of cities, ancient and modern. This is hardly surprising as his epic was written when New York was on the up-and-up, cultural pessimism reigned in Europe and US civilisation's confidence in itself was at a high. His verses, nonetheless, are called to mind by the recent atrocities in New York and Washington. The World Trade Centre's falling towers remind us, horribly, that city-based 'civilisation' is so vulnerable despite its strength. This is because the source of that strength, the concentration of wealth and power, is also the origin of its weakness. When economic and political bastions are in close proximity and controlled by a few individuals or interest groups, they become sitting targets for murderous fanatics. Such was the case with the act of evil that destroyed the World Trade Centre and took thousands of innocent lives, lives for the most part of functionaries, cogs in a machine: the office proletariat. From the carnage emerged scenes of great bravery and sacrifice - traditional, chivalrous courage that has survived free-market dogma and 'political correctness' to expose the worthlessness of both. The market chaos and the evidence of manipulation of the markets by
terrorism's supporters show us how artificial much of our economic system
has become. Economics, originally the science of household management,
is reduced to number crunching, more a modern superstition than a science.
Instead of treating it as the servant of humanity, we allow it to take
on a life of its own and become our master. We worship economic forces
and markets with a zeal uncomfortably close to religious mania. No wonder
that George Soros, who knows a lot about how capitalism works, speaks
of a 'market fundamentalism' that poses a threat to social stability
and humane values. In its evocation of falling towers, The Waste
Land reminds us that history is not a line of inevitable progress,
as the neo-liberal and Marxist thinkers would have us believe. If it
has a pattern at all, it is cyclical, a process of rise and fall. Civilisations
often decline when they over-reach themselves and underestimate their
opponents, or when they lose touch with their founding principles. The
value of the ecology movement lies in its critique of modern ideas of
progress, its awareness of the limits to growth (economic or political)
and its emphasis on the human scale. On these precepts, Greens of socialist
or conservative disposition can find common ground. This means, in these
troubled times, attempting to bring to political life a sense of humanity
and balance, the absence of which aids fundamentalists of all stripes. Globalisation is upward devolution writ large: from governments to big corporations, nation-states to multinational power blocs and cultural diversity to consumerist monoculture. As political and economic units grow larger, the moral basis of government is eroded. Its agencies become inaccessible and lose legitimacy. Enlargement does not produce enlightenment: it creates a culture of mistrust in which extremist movements readily take hold. Islamic fundamentalism is the most fearsome expression to date of a worldwide upsurge in militant identity politics. Identity-based movements place group loyalty before individual freedom, offer simplistic explanations for complex problems and demonise their opponents as enemies or traitors. Far from being 'reactionary' they show disdain for history, tradition and continuity. Rather than seeking to put the clock back, they seek to impose Utopia. Thus the ideology of radical Islamists has more in common with secular totalitarianisms of the 20th century than with traditional Islam. It distorts beliefs and customs of the Muslim world, as Nazis temporarily distorted German culture or racists distort the concept of nationhood. Other fundamentalisms do not practise terrorism, but distort ideals and favour force over compromise. The 'Religious Right' invokes Christ's teachings and American values, but shows little compassion and respect for the liberties of others. Feminist fundamentalists vilify women who oppose them, along with a male enemy that includes boys and men. Theirs is a travesty of genuine feminism, which is generous and humane in spirit. Liberal fundamentalists assume that they can set the world free with charters of 'rights' plus 'market reforms'. They are dismayed when their prescriptions are rejected, and angered when their West-knows-best arrogance is denounced as imperialism. Fundamentalist identity politics is the product of globalisation and the confused, fragmented world it creates, a world of intolerable levels of 'communication' but precious little talk. In The Waste Land, the reader is asked: 'What are those roots that clutch, what branches grow/Out of this stony rubbish?' I hope that when our minds are calmer we draw lessons from this curiously symbolic atrocity. We might learn, for example, that grandiose global schemes produce only fundamentalist hatred, not unity. We might also understand that human-scale economics and the diffusion of power can bring us political security, as well as ecological balance. It is by learning such lessons that we may successfully defeat evil. Electronz Electronz € (18 Feb., 2002) Christchurch Press reporter Anna Claridge produced
a story after interviewing Reserve Bank Governor Brash, which was re-run
in Waikato Times, and had some illuminating angles. Much is made of
Brash's ongoing interest in farming, particularly kiwifruit. He graduated
to the bank after being managing director of the Kiwifruit Authority,
and still farms at Pukekohe. When detailing what his major "achievements"
were in his 13 years as Reserve Bank Governor, the answers showed how
shallow they are; and negative. In essence, these were the four: The unpublished counterparts of those so-called "achievements",
number linked, are as follows. € (18 Feb., 2002) Gregory Palast of the heavyweight Observer in
a watershed type of exposé outlines how the (now 'ex') Chief Economist
(of the IMF) reached a point of exasperation with the knowledge, among
other things, of allegations from critics that IMF imposed conditions
were causing starvation and thousands of infant deaths. He asked Board
permission to ease back the harsher of the 'restructuring' conditions
to improve the Bank's public image. . . Instead of accepting the validity
of his mild dissent, Stiglitz was summarily fired, which confirmed his
fear that WB and IMF, which is 51% 'owned' by USA is a totally heartless
money-making machine. Consequently, instead of Stiglitz still chairing
IMF meetings in Washington, he is now on the outside of the police and
picket lines with the protesters. (gregory.palast@observer.co.uk). € (4 February, 2002) Via the US-based thinkers club 'Gang 8' we learn that another forward-thinking German is focusing his brain-power on the subject of money. Not from the viewpoint of acquiring enough for comfortable survival, but rather for a scientific analysis of what society wants it for. . . and to achieve with it. . . Helmut Creutz is sharing his picture of a dysfunctional and illogical financial system publicly, and making a lot of sense. Now its in book form "Das Geldsyndrom", it is expected to gain quite a following. We look forward to an English version of it. . . * * * "This is a season of patriotism, but also of something that is easily mistaken for patriotism; namely, nationalism. The difference is vital. G.K. Chesterton once observed that Rudyard Kipling, the great poet of British imperialism, suffered from a lack of patriotism. He explained: 'He admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reasons. He admires England because she is strong, not because she is English." "In the same way, many Americans admire America for being strong, not for being American. For them America has to be'the greatest country on earth' in order to be worthy of their devotion. . . Patriotism is like family love. You love your family just for being your family, not for being 'the greatest family on earth' (whatever that might mean) or for being 'better' than other families. You don't feel threatened when other people love their families the same way. On the contrary, you respect their love, and you take comfort in knowing they respect yours. You don't feel your family is enhanced by feuding with other families. . . nationalism, it has often been said, is grounded in resentment and rivalry. . . It is militant by nature, and its typical style is belligerent. "Patriotism, by contrast, is peaceful until forced to fight. The patriot differs from the nationalist in this respect too: he can laugh at his country, the way members of a family can laugh at each other's foibles. Affection takes for granted the imperfection of those it loves; the patriotic Irishman thinks Ireland is hilarious, whereas the Irish nationalist sees nothing to laugh about. The nationalist has to prove his country is always right. He reduces his country to an idea, a perfect abstraction, rather than a mere home. He may even find the patriot's irreverent humour annoying. Patriotism is relaxed. Nationalism is rigid. The patriot may loyally defend his country even when he knows it's wrong; the nationalist has to insist that he defends his country not because it's his, but because it's right. . . " - U.S. writer Joseph Sobran (www.sobran.com) * * * Eric de Maré Alistair McConnachie of Scotland, publisher of Prosperity, informs
us that Mr Eric de Maré, well known English author, professional photographer
and Social Crediter has died at the age of 91, on January 22. We stock
Mr de Maré's excellent book A Matter of Life and Debt. In a letter
sent just before Christmas to Prosperity Mr de Maré wrote: "As an ardent
advocate of Douglas Social Credit since the Hungry Thirties when they
were burning wheat to keep up the price of bread, when people's stomachs
were empty, I try to encourage all monetary reformers. . . Phoney taxes,
as well as phoney debts must be eliminated completely as soon as possible.
. . our ultimate philosophy, I believe, must lie in the elimination
of our deeply engrained but obsolete gospel of toil." He was obviously
as keen as ever to share his views. The following is taken from a lengthy
obituary in The Times: Huguenot by descent, Eric de Maré was born to Swedish parents. His father, though, tiring of small village life, had come to London with his wife and £70 in his pocket, and rose to be a prosperous timber broker in the City. The family lived in Wandsworth, and Eric was sent to Hazelwood, a prep school for which he developed a boiling hatred. . . After qualifying at the Architectural Association in 1933, he worked in various practices but was unhappy with a secondary role. He became a passionate member of the Social Credit Party, the 'Greenshirts' who challenged the banking system and called for a new age of leisure based on a wider distribution of the fruits of technology. His war appears to have been a Dad's Army affair, possibly because the Army thought he would be impossible to train (he talked of "a spell in Home Guard designing frondy camouflage" and in 1942 he took over as acting editor of the weekly Architects' Journal. His best work was for its sister, the monthly Architectural Review,
for which he wrote and illustrated in 1948 a major piece on the latest
Scandinavian architecture, highlighting a new informality and use of
natural materials in contrast to the white Modernism of the 1930s International
Style. The following year a special issue was devoted to canals, which
formed a springboard for the great canal restoration campaign. De Maré's
fine portraits of bridges, aqueducts and tunnel entrances made his name,
along with his pictures of what he described as "sculpture by accident":
details of balance beams, bollards and lock valves. . . He also had a great interest in Victorian woodcuts, and produced books on The London Doré Saw and Victorian Wood Block Illustrators. His Penguin Photography went through seven editions from 1957 to 1980, and his Photography and Architecture (1961) remains outstanding. He was to become steadily more disillusioned, however, with contemporary architecture, writing in 1973 of "its faceless joyless inhumanity, its boring mechanical repetitions, and its monotonous machine-made surfaces". To compensate, he became involved in recording and championing endangered landmarks such as the Euston Arch and the Coal Exchange. At 80 he gave his cameras to his grandson, though he was persuaded by Michael Hopkins to return and take photographs for an exhibition of Hopkins's work for the Venice Biennale. Finally settling - with his second wife, the painter and sculptor Enid Verity - in a pretty house in Painswick, Gloucestershire, de Maré lived into grand old age, talkative, constantly philosophising and firmly believing that a strong glass of brandy was the best way to prepare for lunch. He is survived by his second wife. Eric de Maré was born on September 10, 1910. He died on January 22, 2002, aged 91. * * * New Zealand writer and political campaigner Kerry Bolton has produced
a booklet covering several years of his own selected essays which is
available for $10 from Spectrum Press, PO Box 1627, Paraparaumu Beach.
* * * Briefly: "Whites and ethnic minorities in Britain have become deeply divided and are leading separate lives with no social or cultural contact and little sense of belonging to the same nation", according to a government report. The report, a study of race riots last summer, says that Britons tiptoe around the subject of discrimination and need to engage in an honest debate to forestall further unrest. "The authors of the study, which was commissioned by the home secretary, David Blunkett, said that they had been dismayed and shocked by their findings. Whilst the physical segregation of housing estates and inner-city areas came as no surprise, the team was particularly struck by the depth of polarisation of our towns and cities and the extent to which these physical divisions were compounded by so many other aspects of our daily lives." The rioters caused $15 million worth of damage and injured 300 police officers. Whilst admitting the outbreaks of violence emanated from deep distrust between white and non-white communities it was the "far-right" and "racist" groups who got the blame for "exploiting the differences" (International Herald Tribune, 13-12-01). Anyone who dares to challenge the "politically correct" policies of these Utopians are blamed for "exploiting the differences". Can't these Utopians see and admit there are differences, and if the differences are too great, there will be conflict! € Argentina is discovering belatedly that to sup with the devil needs
a long spoon. Among its many troubles, not least is the unwarranted
advice and pressure of the International Monetary Fund. It has irked
the ire of Mr. Jorge Todesca, vice economy minister. "We're working
on a very coherent plan," he said. "Frankly, we don't need the IMF to
be telling us every two minutes what course we should take when we've
only been at this for seven days (The Australian, 14-1-02). "They're
doing it from 10,000km away, without much knowledge of the situation.
. . " € Unbelievable as it seems the Accident Compensation Corporation, funded with government enforced levies on all employers and employees, is going to again pay out million of dollars to alleged victims of sex abuse. To qualify all that is required is the testimony of a 'councillor'. When this policy was earlier pursued the costs ran to tens of millions of dollars, and sex abuse claims increased by hundreds of percent. Our minds boggle at a rerun of this nonsense. * * * In the January-February, 2002 On Target we carried two articles, Imagination: Money and You, and Concepts. We attributed both to Mr Chas Pinwill of Queensland. However, only the first was written by Mr Pinwill. Concepts was authored by Victor Bridger, also of Queensland, and editor of The Australasian Social Crediter. * * * Our Pledge of Loyalty In Honour of Her Majecty's 50th Anniversiary We have enclosed with this On Target a Pledge of Loyalty form for supporters (and family and friends) to sign before posting to Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace. We encourage readers to make use of it. Further forms can be ordered from us, or they can be colour photocopied on to a quality paper. A similar initiative by the Australian Heritage Society has produced an excellent response, including a very kindly and thankful reply from The Palace. Anyone wishing to contribute to our printing costs is invited to do so. If asking for more forms a contribution to costs will also be appreciated. But if you can use more forms and can¹t afford a contribution, please order them anyway. |