We have finished with Lived History, but History never ends.
History is today, tomorrow too.
History is our current situation, the one in which we live.
We must be observant in order to face it,
We must analyze it in order to confront it.
We must understand it at its core before we act.
I intend to examine it, stare into its eyes, before suggesting what to do.
–
It is not easy to see clearly the situation in which we live. We are overwhelmed with so much news and information which, in the end, result in only more confusion. Facts and events are thrown at us, but making sense of it all is something altogether different. They want us to be confused, to be blind. Seeing clearly is a challenge, but it is what I am attempting to do here.
Events appear increasingly incomprehensible. Some such war undertaken by one of the great powers makes no sense to me, at least at first. It is then learned that a leading politician is now handing out contracts to rebuild the invaded and destroyed country. Money is playing an important role in this conflict.
An unexpected revolution breaks out in another country. I try to find the causes without success. Then I come across a study that shows the vast oil reserves of this country. It is not a stretch to see the giants of the oil industry playing a role in the tragic events. This is only the first step.
In yet another country I frequently travel to, I find I am no longer able to purchase traditional Indian and Chinese medicines, recipes that are thousands of years old. The pharmaceutical giants have worked to block their importation. Who is in control, the government or the businesses? Who is making these decision? We always see the politicians out in front, they are the ones who decide, or so the media tells us. But is it true?
Soon I am buried beneath similar examples. I suspect that State policy is dictated by what I call Big Money. In fact, it is quite clear to me. The inexplicable events, the absurd conflicts, and the unexpected instability and crises, they all begin to make sense. Big Money has a hand in all of it.
This troubles me, as I once lived in a time when politics dominated money. “L’intendance suit” as De Gaulle repeated, meaning money must follow and obey politics. Now the situation is subverted, reversed, it is politics that follows Big Money.
A series of events throughout the last century have caused all of this, yet is it difficult to nail down how exactly the reign of Big Money came about. I personally think it is a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. With the United States as the sole world power, there was less of a need for politics, because the geopolitical landscape was without a true political rivalry. The United States is an empire founded upon money, just like Rome was, to which it bears a striking resemblance. When I lived in the United States, I noted the existence of many parallel powers: politicians, lobbies, the CIA, and money. Which one, I wondered, held a position of primacy? History has spoken, and today we can say confidently that it is money that dominates American politics. And as American politics dominates global policy, Big Money rules the world.