When a world system collapses it doesn’t always go with a bang, it can also whimper along for quite a while! At times it takes decades, if not more. In the case of the Roman Empire demise took centuries. Nonetheless, the tale-tell signs of impending collapse are/were always there, particularly in the last phase of the dying system. The establishment or acceptance of outright fraud as the modus operandi of the system is one such tale-tell sign. In our prevailing modern world system, fraud is clearly the operating principle cutting across nations, economies and institutions of all kinds. Without the regime of pervading fraud spanning the breadth and depth of late modernity, the system will collapse in no time! See Smith’s article next column.
As an appendage or as a microcosm of the interstate system, the nation state itself has become an embodiment of generalized fraud! To sustain the prevailing global fraud, the interstate system continuously employs, amongst other things, protracted lies all over. For instance, the underlying faulty conviction of the status quo, which assumes that nonstop growth is possible on a finite planet, is one. Once such monumental lies are well established, the little lies follow automatically. Force or coercion is also used to maintain the idiotic narratives. No significant body with a critical mass is allowed to interrogate the fraudulent foundations of the world order. Obviously, the sufficiently numbed sheeple (human mass) as expected, goes along with all the lies that are preached by the establishment. The whole orientation processes, starting from the early years all the way to tertiary education, are all geared to support and reinforce the lies that flow from the powerful and numerous institutions of entrenched interests! One can also mention the other private/semiprivate institutions of indoctrinations, particularly those of the entertainment genre; movies, music, spectator sports, etc. These are some of the staunch cohorts of the global fraud system!
The modern private sector, to a large extent, is a creation of the prevailing global fraud system. On top of the above foundational lie of infinite growth on a finite planet, we also have its associated fraudulent component in finance, which is by far, one of the well-established criminal entities of the systems! As we never tire of proclaiming; Fractional Reserve Banking (FRB) on which the world’s financial/economic system is erected, is the worst (supposedly) nonviolent crime of the millennium. What is FRB? In short, FRB is a financial/banking system whereby money is created out of thin air and is lent to existence. Besides favoring those connected to the money spigot, it widely/globally encourages mal-investments and the utter destruction of the planet’s ecosystem!
The definition or even the very notion of civil society in our modern world system has become problematic. We will not engage that problematic in full, instead, we will contain ourselves within the universe of the common narratives. When a component of civil society is created and supported by capital, in various forms, surely these entities cannot be regarded as civil societies. Since many of these so-called civil society institutions form a portion of the sanctioned entities under the thumb of capital and its states, their independence is bound to remain, at best superficial. Objectively that is what prevails in many of the current nation states. Suffice is to say these entities continue to take active role in the protracted fraud system, lest they lose their direct or indirect support, financial or otherwise. NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) are nothing more than institutional instruments in the support of the existing global order. In fact, we claim they are WSD, Weapons of State Destruction. This has always been our stand in regards to NGOs unending pronouncements. According to James Corbett; ‘NGOs are the deep state’s geopolitical ‘Trojan horses’! To think that NGOs will bring about positive change to the global system is preposterous! All in all, the major components of modern societies are engaged, directly or indirectly, in furthering the existing global fraud system. Where can one get some respite?
As it stands, the compromised elites and intellectuals of the world system are neither bold nor kosher enough to start widespread integrity systems in support of a resilient existence favoring the global sheeple. It seems the sheeple is on its own in its multifaceted struggle against the prevailing comprehensive fraud, which continues to undermine its welfare. The vacuous ‘good governance’ that is preached all over (by the status quo) doesn’t take into account the myriad consequences of the two fundamental frauds; i.e., that of unlimited growth and FRB doctrines. Therefore, besides lacking credibility, the so-called ‘good governance’ remains absolutely vacuous and frivolous. Luckily, the sheeple has started to take its own initiative to challenge this shortsighted and dangerous system built on lies and fraud. The on going movement of the ‘Yellow Vests’ in France, which just celebrated its sixth months on the streets, is one such sign! Other ascending movements that are dismantling the old guards include, the ‘populists’ (by the status quo). But what is the new populism?
The Princeton dictionary defines populism as ‘a political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite.’ All new movements are still awaiting their organic activist-intellectuals to emerge to the fore and in all likelihood these movements are not going to go anywhere soon. In fact, they might well be the beacons heralding the accelerated collapse of the existing order. “The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle).
Good Day!