Future of Europe: News Report from Somewhere in a Parallel Universe – Phil Butler

TND Guest Contributor: Phil Butler 

Brexit has the geo-political arena buzzing like the Roman Coliseum before Christians were fed to the lions. With no one and nothing to trust anymore, because mainstream media is “oh-so” sold out, the reverberations emanating from Britain are deafening. “What’s next?” The corporate media scrambles to fill in the void. Well here is a theory I’ll guarantee you’ll never hear on BBC. Here is the reality and the ghastly potential of our times.

“People are upset for a lot of reasons.” Donald Trump – On Brexit

News Report from Somewhere in a Parallel Universe

January 1st, 2017. Germany’s ZEIT has just broken the news; Belgium, Holland, France, and Germany have formed Neu Carolginia, a unified core state in north and central Europe. After the “domino-like” secession of European Union states since the Britain exit (Brexit), the leaders of these four nations seek to form a new country to promote a unified economic, social, and mutual defense front in the heart of what was once the Frankish Empire. Named for the Carolingian Empire (800–924), Neu Carolginia’s leadership will consist of a “Chancellor”, an upper and lower parliament, and four parliamentary secretaries from each of the former independent regions.

Concurrent with the announcement by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, France’s François Hollande, Belgium’s Charles Michel, and Holland’s Mark Rutte, was the news of Neu Carolginia’s establishing a common defense ministry, and immediate steps to form up a common defense establishment. Brexit scholars will recall, how Britain’s role in overall EU defense was so key to that former union’s security. And since a common “EU Army” could not be styled, and with NATO’s breakup as a result of the various “Exit” dominoes, a unified solution had to be found. Almost immediately, detractors raised the alarm against a new styled “Fourth Reich”, of course. Given right-wing elements being so engrained in the “exit” movements, the far left shuddered at the implications.

In other headlines, the United States, Canada, and the UK announced discussions in Washington D.C. addressing the new geo-political ramifications for the people’s of those nations. On the agenda are; the future of NATO, common trade agreements, and future cooperation toward the triumvirate’s unique security needs.

To the east of Berlin, former Soviet satellite nations are seen to be flocking to the new Eurasian Economic Union, joining Russia, China, India and Pakistan, Iran and a score of other nations. Latin American and African nations, caught in the various spheres of influence, continue a fragmented approach meanwhile. US President Hillary Clinton made the following statement on learning of the formation of Neu Carolginia:

“I want to assure our old allies in the United Kingdom, and appraise the new nation too, that I have made a full commitment to martial American power, resources and values in the global fight against not only terrorists, but any foe that presents itself. As always, this commitment begins with ensuring that America does have the world’s strongest and smartest military force.”

The leadership of other major powers took special note of the tone of the American president, as well as expressing concern over the “security” prospects of Neu Carolginia, and their preeminence in early discourse. Russian President Vladmir Putin recalled Soviet history before World War II, as did the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Snap! Back to the Real World Choreography

War is a cyclical thing. Throughout human kind’s history, this is as constant as the tides. Looking back now, at conflicts like the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, this circle of periodic conflict between peoples emerges. The description of these “Punic Wars” on Wikipedia tells us the “truth” of war is seldom revealed. Examine any historical reference to any war, and you may find:

“The main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflicts of interest between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic.”

Insert your empire or country of choice, and our systematic tendency for conflict materializes. In my fantasy “news story” above, “conflicts of interest” today create a typical framework for catastrophe. Upheaval follows the machinations of the rich and powerful, turmoil ensues out of geo-political strategies enacted not by the common people, but by all those institutions that foment leadership. Leaders start wars. The question arises: “Why?”

Thankfully, the answer, the truth, the missing puzzle peace, it is right in front of us always. Profit is the only motive, but just “who” profits, and from what? The “choreographers” of war are uniform, as it turns out. Monarchs and industrialists, bankers and businessmen, they always top the list, no matter what century we are in. Looking at the aforementioned Punic Wars, we see Roman entrepreneurs benefitting in much the same way Wall Street speculators have in modern times. War with Carthage drove mass migration to cities like Rome, and this caused a rise in capitalist farm behavior, where rich Romans bought up huge tracts of land. We see this motif today, in Ukraine and other places, where conflict fires are lighted.

The little farmer was wiped out back in Roman times, in much the same way American farmers have disappeared. I could draw 1000 parallels, but my point lies elsewhere. You can read yourself, how the Punic Wars changed Rome. This academic paper lays out the real winners of the Punic Wars, but a quote from Roman Senator Cato, that ended all of his speeches, bears reliving today; “Carthago delenda est!” (“Carthage must be destroyed!”). Once again, insert Russia, Britain, China, Syria, or any country or empire of your choosing. I know the Carthaginians are a far removed people for most people nowadays, so let me bolster my argument using a more modern war for reference.

The Tremors of Rome

Of all the war choreographers, the industrialists of the early 20th century require special attention. World War I, the “war to end all wars”, saw death and profit on a scale Alexander the Great never could have foreseen. As Americans, if we are fair, all our evil wars can be linked back to an American president named Woodrow Wilson. I won’t bore you with details, but the people behind Wilson’s vehemence to enter the “Great War” on the side of Britain need exposing now. The notorious Rockefellers top the list of “profiteers” from that war. It is estimated the family made more than $200 million (1917 dollars) off of WW I. Many others including; the Duponts, Fords, Schroders, the Eugene Meyer Family, the Guggenheims and many others milked the equivalent of tens of trillions in today’s money from the people, and the victims of World War I. Make no mistake, this is irrefutable. It is also an undeniable fact, that these same families are at play profiteering alongside the Rothschilds, some crown heads in Europe, and the same Rockefellers who use American politicians as puppets, even today. We can call these people “the ruling elite”, or a “new world order”, but it is their methodology that never changes.

Rather than regurgitate new of world order (NWO) dignitaries in the Rothschild or Rockefeller families, let me reveal for you the Guggenheims of the 21st century. While the family got out of the mining business long ago, Guggenheim Partners still feeds the family coffers via a wide swath of investments in everything from real estate to private and public debt. In the words of Global CIO, Scott Minerd, the macro view for the firm is “Forward into Broad, Sunlit Uplands”, where something coined as a “Putin Put” prevails. You read this correctly. The new “Neo Guggenheims” make no bones about discussing conflict as a variable, or even a strategy.

Disturbingly, linkages in between celebrities like Berkshire Hathaway billionaire Warren Buffett, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, policy people like Condoleeza Rice, and even Hollywood attest to an ultra-capitalistic subversion of sorts. Guggenheim Partners is neck deep in this cohort of profiteering as well. As it was before the “War to End All Wars” in 1914, the financial and ruling elite plot the return on investment of a new global conflict. Students of history and politics will readily see, the dangerous parallels in world détentes today. We are ripe for another paradigm shift, a “reset” of the order of things. But the great evil we face today is not an individual, or even a cadre of a few elites, but the system set in motion from the start of democratic ideals.

In his book, The Power Elite, author C. Wright Mills framed the situation the world faces today. His arguments trend toward the inextricable reality, that the elites are now ultra-coordinated through the various social, business, and bureaucratic structures and institutions in place. But it is Mills’ focus on a new militarism that is of interest here. Even though the elites now are not military men themselves, the rise of the military state serves the interests of the elite of industrial societies. For the politician the projection of military power serves as a cover for their lack of vision and innovative leadership. This can be seen in the Barack Obama administration, and in the rhetoric coming from the camps of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Mills died in 1962, but his notions on our elitist world society bear deep scrutiny today. The corporate takeover of what was an agrarian and craft economy, the military industrial complex, and the role of government have now seen their metamorphosis. There is also evidence to show Mills’ idea that these elites are not even aware of their ruling place in society. Mills says the Ivy League subculture, and the “country club” societal stamp on these people leaves little room for new ideas and strategies. In short, America and other western nations are beneath the boot of mediocrity bred into society. This is evident when one takes a look at the Bush family, the Clintons, and the limited political choices of democracy. According to Mills, we are powerless to control the six classes of elites he identified.

• The so-called “Metropolitan 400″, are members of historically notable local families in the principal American cities, or those listed in social registers.
• Celebrities and entertainers
• The “Chief Executives” of the most important companies within each industrial sector
• The “Corporate Rich” – major landowners and corporate shareholders
• “Warlords”, or those senior military officers we see in the news daily
• And the “Political Directorate”, including the chief executive and selected beurocratic institutions

Denial Is Futile: War an Economic Principle

For most people, knowing these groups control is a foregone conclusion. Every common person understands his or her place in society. The sad fact most westerners simply don’t care who rules is so readily apparent now. As long as Americans can have their cheap gasoline and weekend cookouts, even a Disney character could run things for all they care. And in this we see the decline into former imperialistic times. With resources thinning out, what will feed America’s greed for abundance?

So, for the mediocre leadership, bereft of any true ingenuity, the simple answer is war. We are looking at never ending warfare over territory and natural resources, and over the markets that feed rampant capitalism. The United States has not been in a true peacetime economy since 1776. This is a fact. Conquest, investment in taking, this has been the underlying moniker all along. We fought the British for independence, so that our industrialists could ravage North America independently. We eradicated the Native Americans, subjugated them, and robber barons gobbled up the best and most fruitful lands on North America. America became an empire that controlled everything in the western hemisphere, and that influenced the rest of the world for the purposes of feeding this capitalistic god. And now we have reached the end of another phase, maybe the last era of humankind.

“Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves.” —Thomas Malthus, 1798, from An Essay on the Principle of Population. —

Turning back to World War I for a moment, in between 1914 and 1917, America’s GNP rose by 20%, and manufacturing in the US went up by over 40%. The Allies purchases bullions in wartime orders from US companies. The US bankers loaned France and Great Britain millions. If Germany had won WW I, all of that investment would have gone down the drain. Woodrow Wilson’s backers would have lost the equivalent of trillions in today’s money, had American not entered the war to tip the balance. World War I created 21,000 new US millionaires. Without the people’s knowledge, the Federal Reserve Bank was created. Without the people’s understanding this private bank loaded $25 billion 1914 dollars to the Allies. Unbeknownst to the people, these loans were never repaid. The interest was paid, however, paid to the likes of the Rothschilds, the J. Henry Schroeder Banking Company, the Rockefellers, the Eugene Meyer family, J.P. Morgan, Alex Brown & Sons, Kuhn Loeb & Company, the Warburgs, the Baruch and Guggenheim families, and others. This too, is irrefutable.

Today the situation before World War I and World War II is almost identical. This National Bureau of Economic Research synopsis of a paper, “The Economics of World War I”, by Hugh Rockoff clues us as to where our current war economy cycle came from. The “economic boom from 1914 to 1918” created a template for profit from war and debt that we see repeated by western leadership ever since. To sum up this “transitional economics”:

“When the war began, the United States was a net debtor in international capital markets, but following the war the United States began investing large amounts internationally, particularly Latin America.”

While the author of this study surmises that American economic power simply took the place of UK models, I would propose that New York simply collaborated with London to create this war-peace banking system. This is a discussion for another time. What’s important here is to grasp how our leaders came to be, and how they continue on this path of mediocrity. Quoting Hugh Rockoff once again, concerning how peacetime economics adopted wartime strategies:

“Almost every government program undertaken in the 1930s reflected a World War I precedent.”

This brings us to World War II, which inextricably leads us to the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, and this new Cold War with Russia and China. The same lack of ingenuity and vision Mills talked about, it pervades everything in western strategy. The Rockefellers and Rothschilds of the world cannot see, into the abyss of failed economics. They cannot understand a world where profit is made by other means. It’s fair to assess, these are lazy, socially and psychologically hampered men. Their economics don’t work, at least not without slaves and victims to power of their archaic commerce. It is high time we reconsidered all our systems. It may be time for the world to exit the failed system no visionary has so far seen beyond. Before some Malthusian catastrophe decimates us, it’s time we really came together to think out our future.

Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.  This work was published at the New Eastern Outlook and is reprinted with permission.