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For the sake of brevity, and because this is not a scholarly article, but
only an examination of a theme that must be treated in as few words as
possible, it is necessary to make some sweeping generalizations.
From the dawn of History and up until relatively recent times, humanity
was governed by kings whose will was law; kings were supported by priesthoods
who affirmed that the royal power was divinely instituted. Thus, kings were
regularly regarded by their subjects as semi-gods.
One of the exclusive rights which kings have enjoyed throughout history
was the creation of money. Historians attribute to Croesus, king of Lydia (a
region of what is now Turkey) the minting of the first gold coins, which he
used as an incentive to get his soldiers to fight. This was sometime around
500 BC.
Gold, and not silver, was the first money used by humanity, because gold
was found abundantly in almost pure form in some river beds, whereas silver
had to be obtained by processing silver-bearing ores, an activity that came
later. Today, small amounts of gold can still be found in river beds.
In antiquity, the production of gold and silver money was considered a
sacred activity to be carried out by a priesthood. For instance, Julius
Caesar (100 - 44 BC) obtained his first political post, as Pontifex
Maximus i.e., "High Priest" in charge of the Roman mint.
The divine right of kings to rule was unquestioned up until the end of the
Middle Ages in Europe. The kings of France for centuries had become kings by
the ceremony of Anointment with a holy balm, applied to them in a solemn
ceremony at the Cathedral of Reims.
The introduction of the invention of printing in Europe, by Gutenberg in
1452 initiated the massive reading of books, which had previously been the
privilege of the priesthood and of the wealthy, who had been able to purchase
small numbers of very expensive, hand-written books.
One of the consequences of this reading of books was that the authority of
the Roman Catholic Church began to be questioned by some thinkers, notably by
Martin Luther. Eventually, Luther declared himself quite the enemy of the
Catholic Church, which led to the creation of Protestantism. The consequence
for Europe was a series of bloody wars of religion.
Since it was the Catholic Church which anointed the kings of Europe and
invested them with a Divine Right to rule, the schism in Christianity had the
effect of weakening the respect of the populations of Europe, for their
kings.
In all preceding ages, under "good" kings and "bad"
kings, Their Highnesses never considered it their mission, to rule so that
poverty and misery could be eliminated from human life. (An excellent
Englishman, Sir Thomas More, disagreed with his monarch Henry VIII, and wrote
a book, "Utopia", in which he spoke of an invented country, Utopia,
where gold was eliminated as money and was used to manufacture "chamber
pots"; in "Utopia" universal joy and prosperity reigned
supreme. Through this fashion of thinking, he became one of the first monetary
cranks of our civilization.)
A notable example of the effect of Protestantism upon the rule of kings,
was the Puritan Revolution in England: the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell,
beheaded their king, Charles I, in1649; among other reasons, he was despised
by the Puritans because he was too conservative regarding the "Royal
Prerogative" and the Puritans wanted something new in their Sovereign: a
"social conscience" and improved institutions for the advancement
of a better society.
In due course of time, there came about the "Age of Reason" of
the 18th Century. The leading thinkers of Europe - and of the American rebels
in the royal colonies of North America - examined the institution of royalty,
and came to the conclusion that Reason should be paramount in political
affairs, and that kings had no Divine Right at all, from a rational point of
view.
The consequence of this "Enlightenment" brought about by the Age
of Reason, was the French Revolution of 1789, during which the King of
France, Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette were neatly beheaded by
means of the recently invented guillotine.
In spite of the French Revolution, parts of Europe continued to be
nominally ruled by kings up until 1914. However, the new way of regarding
them progressively diminished the importance and power of the remaining
monarchs of Europe. No longer were they regarded with the unquestioned awe of
the populations they governed. The thinking of the intellectuals of the
French Revolution had changed things forever: kings were no longer
semi-divine creatures.
It is important to understand the nature of the political transformation
which had taken place, and which, perhaps, few thinkers have noted: the
French Revolution changed the perception of the Origin of Authority.
In all of History and up to the French Revolution of 1789, Authority was
acknowledged as "originating from Above", that is
to say, from the God-appointed Ruler, who ruled by Divine Right and whose
word was Law, on down to the People below him. One of the functions of the
Ruler, was to determine and to create the monetary system his people were to
use. In no way was it in his power to create a state of affairs where poverty
and misery were to be eliminated amongst his subjects, the People.
The thinkers of the French Revolution turned this ancient precedent
upside-down, declaring that Authority could not possibly come from a single
human considered as a king. They maintained - and it is a position that
continues quite unquestioned today - that "Authority originates
from Below": that is to say, from the People, who institute
governments in order to improve social conditions and progressively eliminate
suffering and want among them, the People.
It is the acceptance of Authority as originating from Below, which
validates all legislation in the world today, through the counting of votes.
Authority to legislate originates in a majority of votes on the part of
registered voters, favoring candidates in an election.
"Authority originates from Below" is the principle espoused by a
Democracy, and today, for any nation to be accepted in good-standing by other
nations of the world, it must be a Democracy. There are a few Kings left in
the world, but they are little more than beloved figure-heads, with no power
at all. There may also be a few Dictators, but they find themselves
ostracized, and they tend to have short lives.
All governments of any consequence today, are based on the principle of
"Authority originates from Below". This is the condition of the
world today, and it is the inheritance left to us by the thinkers of
the 18th Century.
One huge consequence of this inheritance has been little noted, if at all:
Kings used to rule absolutely, by Divine Right. and their rule only ceased
with their death. On the other hand, elected governments come and go, as they
respond to the whims of the voters. Presidents come into office, and leave
after their terms expire. The presence of the men and women in a Congress is
transitory: policies that are validated by one Congress, are regularly
rejected by a succeeding Congress.
By their very nature, Governments around the world today are composed of
elected individuals whose presence is transitory, and the political decisions
of the Congresses cannot possibly lead to consistent and permanent legislation.
"Nature abhors a vacuum" is a principle of physics that also
applies in politics, for the vacuum of Authority that characterizes Democracy
is filled by another Power, an unelected Power whose presence is worldwide
and whose interests are permanent. The eminently reasonable and well-meaning
thinkers of the "Age of Reason" who did away with kings, apparently
gave no thought to the existence and the permanent and pernicious interests
of this Power, the Power that in fact rules our world today.
What is this mysterious Power, that silently overrides all elected
Congresses of the world, and sees to it that no legislation can endanger its
own interests?
This Power is vested in the International Banks of the
world. Presidents come and go, and are forgotten; legislators come and go,
and are forgotten; ministers come and go, and are forgotten, but the
International Banks remain; their personnel changes over time, but not their
interests.
All institutions tend to change to accommodate themselves to changes in
the social institutions of the times. But not the International Banks.
Thanks to the elimination of Kings and their royal right to create money,
and their substitution with weak, vacillating Democracies around the world,
the International Banks wormed their way into actual Sovereignty in the
course of the 19th and 20th Centuries. It is the International Banks that
rule our world; Democratic governments are nothing more than decorative
institutions to mask the true Authority, which resides in the International
Banks.
True to their function as the factual sovereigns of our world, the
International Banks decide what is the money that the world shall use, and
they themselves issue it as they think fit, to retain and increase their
power. Of course, they do all this, for the ostensible purpose of improving
the economic conditions of the multitudes.
History records that, in the past, there have been bad kings, and good
kings - those who looked after the welfare of their subjects, so far as was
in their ability to do so.
But International Banks are impersonal monsters, in that they have no
regard at all for the interests of humanity: they care only for their own
interest, which is to retain as much power as possible.
Real money - of gold and/or silver - proved in the course of time to be
obstacles to the unlimited power which International Banks enjoy, and so they
have done away with real money, and have proceeded to indebt the whole world
with fake money, to such an extent that the world's debt threatens to
collapse - all the while, alleging that their inflationary programs are
essential to "progress and economic development".
The unrestricted greed of the International Banks will be their undoing,
and will leave our world totally prostrated. This is the situation which we
are facing, and the final consequence of having accepted the great
falsity and wickedness of the theory that Authority comes from Below,
which the world inherited from the French Revolution of 1789.
* * * * * *
The preceding thoughts lead on to further considerations.
At some time in the future, the political and social conditions that will
prevail in the US will be so terribly disorderly, as a consequence of the
financial collapse of the US monetary and credit systems, that a
Dictator will come to power. This prediction is based on the historic facts
regarding the inevitable demise of Democratic systems of government:
over the course of all recorded history, Dictatorship has regularly arisen
out of the ruins of Democracy - a fact noted by the Greek philosopher
Aristotle, in the 4th Century B.C.
A hint of the Dictatorship that will present itself in the US sooner or
later, is perceivable in the autocratic and demagogic behavior of Donald
Trump. He has recently expressed a desire to fire Jay Powell, head of the
Federal Reserve, and Powell has told Trump that he does not have the
Authority to fire him: the International Bankers are the true Authority in
this world.
Various thoughts regarding a hypothetical Dictatorship in the US:
1. The Dictator of the US may come to power in a managed election, where
he may be declared the legitimately elected President. However, he will soon
begin to behave in a most un-presidential fashion. The first thing he will
do, will be to remove the acting head, or heads, of the Armed Forces, and
install himself in their place. Those removed will be quietly shot. The
President will then name new military leaders, loyal to himself as supreme
leader.
2. At the same time, martial law will be declared for the US, as
in an "Emergency", and all institutions which derive their power
from the consent of the governed, through voting, will be abolished: all
legislative bodies at the State level will cease to exist, as well as the
Federal Senate and House of Representatives. The portrait of the President as
Leader of His Country will appear everywhere, featuring outstanding quotes
from the mouth of "Our Dear Leader".
3. Once martial law is imposed, a very bloody episode in US history will
commence: hundreds of leaders of various political movements in the territory
of the US, and their closest supporters, will be rounded up and shot. Other
supporters of disorderly leaders will be sent to concentration camps, their
ultimate fate in doubt. (These US "camps" are numerous and were
created a long time ago). The history of Stalin, Dictator of the USSR, is an
educational example of the work of a Dictator in imposing order upon the
nations he governed. The history of Chairman Mao, of China, is also
educational.
4. The President/Dictator will abolish the Federal Reserve, and imprison
and have executed, the leading bankers of the US.
5. The President/Dictator will then close and declare defunct, all banking
institutions in the US.
6. The President/Dictator will - sooner or later - issue a new metallic
currency for the US, using either gold or silver, and His
Treasury will at once proceed to mint new silver or gold coins, or both, in
unlimited quantities. Paper currency, redeemable at sight in gold or silver,
and backed 100% by metal in Treasury vaults, will be issued by His Treasury,
to facilitate commerce.
7. A new commercial banking system will be installed in the US,
along classic lines: their Assets to consist exclusively of Bills of Exchange
maturing in 90 days, and gold. Bankers who violate these rules will face
prison sentences. This banking system will relieve the nation from the need
to finance every single transaction with cash gold - an economically
impossible requirement.
8. A new investment banking system will be created to fund
productive enterprises: its assets will be gold bonds of the productive
enterprises which it sponsors, and its liabilities will be its gold bonds
issued to investors, who invest at their own risk. The investment banking
system will not be allowed to purchase government bonds.
9. The President/Dictator will declare a solemn guarantee of the lives,
property and legitimate business, large or small, of all peaceful citizens.
10. The President/Dictator will abolish elections and remain in power for
the rest of his life.
The character of a man who might do all these things in the course of his
lifetime would place him in the rank of great leaders who have appeared among
mankind about once every thousand years.
What will be more likely, will be a trend lasting for perhaps a century,
during which a succession of dictators will apply these measures when they
think fit to do so.
Slowly, out of the ruins left by Democracy, a new and peaceful US will
arise, and the American people will begin to re-build their nation.
*****
This is not a completely fanciful picture: Dictatorship has always
followed "Democracy", in the course of all recorded history.
(Xi, President of China - a position he holds for the rest of his life - is
actually a successful Dictator. But, what will happen when he is gone?
Furthermore, his power derives from the rather doubtful eventual success of a
Chinese economy based on inflationary fiat money.)
Through Dictatorship, Authority returns to its natural source, Above,
at the highest level of society.
The great fundamental problem of our world is the existence of an
entrenched lie, created by the French Revolution of 1789: the lie
that "Authority comes from Below, from the People". Until that lie
is overthrown by new Thinkers as yet unborn, rule by Dictatorship will be a
precarious condition.
The only solution which I can imagine, would be the eventual
transformation of Dictators into Kings, once again: Kings who shall determine
who their successor is to be, and who shall understand that their eternal
enemy and the enemy of mankind, is the socialist lie
that poverty and suffering can be eliminated from human life; a lie that is
an enormous falsification of Reality.
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