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POPULISM IS THE POLITICAL PARADIGM OF OUR TIME
CONFUSION REIGNS
by Pridger
Confusion has been made to reign throughout the land. The language itself has been debased and Orwellized. Newspeak rules, and we increasingly wander about babbling in tongues. Labels such as liberal and conservative are becoming increasingly ambiguous. Liberalism has long ago become confused with socialism, and conservatism confused with intolerance and fundamentalism. Likewise, free enterprise has become confused with greed capitalism, and freedom itself with license. Confusion also surrounds the "populist" label because it encompasses an array of rather strange bedfellows who approach common ground from opposite poles. Both Democrats and Republicans lay claim to it, as do the left and right. The common concern is whether or not our American government should primarily serve the interests of the people, or the interests of corporate capital, Wall Street, and alien nations. The "Patriot movement," also defies easy definition, as it runs the gauntlet from the most benign proponents of "Truth, Justice, and the American Way," through an array of saber-rattling extremists groups. Fortunately, there are not nearly as many of the latter as we would be given to believe, but there is a very scary element out there. However, as scary as it is, it is necessary. For without the scary element, too few would take notice and heed the serious warning signals.
The course of the so-called New World Order, and global village internationalism, is a common issue of concern to populists and patriots of every stripe. Pridger's Index links to divergent schools of thought in the arenas of the populist and patriot movements, as well as areas wherein international issues are debated and determined. The subject of economics is of vital importance in every political debate. Too few appreciate this fundamental fact. Perhaps the over-riding economic question of our time concerns the free trade issue. Does free trade really mean what its proponents say, or is it really a euphemism for license to international capital to exploit the earth's natural and human resources in quest for corporate profits without regard to local, regional, national, interests?
But this is only part of the economic question. Trade and capitalist exploitation of the globe are actually secondary to the more fundamental economic issues. Our real problem is that economic fundamentals are being bypassed and overwhelmed in the name of corporate greed and political expediency. Economic confusion is certain to reign where debt has essentially replaced wealth as a the measure of economic well-being and wealth creation. All new wealth comes from the earth's biosphere, complements of earth and sun. Value is then added to nature's bounty through the labor of man. A viable economy is built from the soil up. This makes agriculture, and other natural resource extraction industries, the ground floor of any viable economic system. They are the foundation upon which all else is built. Next to the earth itself, human labor is the most important factor in the creation of wealth and a viable economy.
For a literal economic education not available in mainstream institutions of economic learning, I highly recommend that you visit the web-site of the National Organization for Raw Materials, (NORM). Save and study all the material at that site. The subject of raw materials economics may be rather dull sounding, but I cannot over-stress the importance of the information you will find at this web-site.
Related to all of this, of course, are the debates on protectionism, isolationism, and immigration -- each a hot-button topic upon which the public is kept in a state of perpetual confusion by proponents of free-trade and the "new internationalism." The paramount questions relating to all three are: Should we mind our own national store and protect the jobs, markets, and economic interests of the American people? Should we as a nation preserve our national sovereignty, and our many natural advantages as a nation-state? Should we be the masters of our own national destiny? Should we protect our own borders against all nature of invasion? Do we have an impending over-population problem? Do we have increasing racial, ethnic, and cultural divisions which threaten to boil up into ever-more serious conflict? Should we endeavor to get our own house in order before presuming to remake the world in our image? Should our representatives in Washington represent "We the People," or international capital?
Most people would answer yes to all of the above questions, yet federal policies seem to go counter to the public interest on every count in favor of a "global village" concept.
Conspiracy Theories
Pridger takes pride in calling himself a "conspiracy buff" rather than a conspiracy nut. (Although he is undoubtedly considered a nut by some.) There are, of course, many conspiracies in this world. There always have been and there always will be. Some are good, some indifferent, and some downright ugly. The complex tangle of "group efforts" bringing about the new international order perhaps qualifies as one grand conspiracy only because New World Order building, like empire building of the past, simply cannot be a democratic process. Nor can it be accomplished by one individual. It requires the combined efforts, over long periods of time, of many like-minded individuals, groups, and organizations. (Yet all of their plans have been abundantly documented, officially published, and are available to the discerning public. This provides "plausible deniability" that any conspiracy requires to succeed.) The electorate is bypassed "for the greater good of mankind." What is conspiracy to passengers kept in the dark through ignorance comprises a wonderful plan for the salvation of mankind to those in the cockpit. But the man in the cockpit has a vested interest in keeping the crew and passengers both ignorant and on a lower economic level than he.
There is perhaps less evil at work here than a somewhat self-serving elite altruism tempered with only a somewhat generous smattering of actual avarice. By far, the overwhelming majority of people working toward one world government, (though that goal is seldom acknowledged) and all its preliminary nuances, are well meaning people. Many are the intellectual elite of our time. Most sincerely believe in the worthiness of their cause and its ultimate benefit to mankind. After all, the goal of global peace, harmony, and universal prosperity, can hardly be considered an evil motive. Even Pridger is for that. But the fact is, at least in Pridger's view, there is sufficient avarice and error embedded in the machinery of the current one world movement to render it as unworkable as the Tower of Babel project ultimately proved.
Two major reasons. (1) Because democracy is now the global watchword, the new order must be made to appear to be the result of popular, democratic processes. Thus a great deal of deception and many diversionary tactics must be employed, justified by "the end justifies the means" philosophy. Many otherwise honest and honorable people must compromise their principles, and ultimately their integrity, in order to cover these deceptions to accomplish what they consider worthy goals. This earns for it its "conspiracy" label and naturally gives it an aura of evil to outsiders. (2) Since the failure of international communism to fulfill its promise, the primary vehicle for bringing about world government invokes international capitalism through what is deceptively termed "free trade." More specifically, greed capitalism of the most predatory kind.
Now Pridger believes in free enterprise, which, of course, is the natural companion of individual liberty. Capitalism is the collective version of free enterprise, and, like most things, can be either good or evil. It is big business, and when it is good it can be very good on a large scale, but when it is bad, it can be very bad on a large scale. It can be good when its effect is to enrich the many, including labor, but evil when its primary goal is the enrichment of the few at the expense of the multitudes. The point Pridger would like to make is that lasting good cannot be accomplished through evil means, no matter how allegedly noble the motive. Where deception and greed are the tools, and Mammon the only god, the resulting product is certainly destined to be fatally flawed.
If a face could be imagined for a Mammon-driven, multi-faceted conspiracy, it might look like Pridger's cuddly little "Madusan Mammonese Mariadopus".
Computers and the Internet
The explosive growth of information and communications technologies is both a boon and a bane to mankind and to our collective thought processes. There's no doubt as to the real and potential value of these amazing technologies. The World Wide Web makes it possible for me to publish this page, and for you to read it. But it also brings the Orwellian world of Nineteen Eighty-Four much closer to reality. Many are proclaiming a new birth of freedom through the Web and cyber-space. They say the Web is too big to be policed. I hope they are right, but I'm not betting on it! Cyber-warfare capabilities are an admitted new part of the Department of Defense's arsenal. The Web is a literal dream come true for intelligence and law enforcement agencies. (Abundant rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding.) The time will arrive when government will not only be able to very effectively monitor the Web, but manipulate it in many subtle ways — certainly use it as a means of zeroing in on dissident voices.
For whatever reason, the government is obviously enthusiastic about getting as many people as possible on-line. You'd think the Clintons, (certainly Hillary) and Congress, own considerable stock in Intel, Microsoft, and Netscape. "The greater public good" is the alleged rational for our leaders' enthusiasm, of course, but that is also always the rational for more regulation and restrictions on individual freedom. For better or worse, good or evil, we are in the process of getting "hooked." (And so far, it's a lot of fun!) And it's relatively cheap too! But do you think it will remain that way when we're all firmly hooked? Could the time be far off when all "households" will be required to be "on-line" in order to be legal—or in order to qualify for certain government services and "benefits"? Do you think you will not someday be taxed substantially for the time you spend on line?
Another over-riding question is whether these technologies are leading to real social progress or a progressive paralysis? They can certainly command a lot of a person's time. Will clarity and quality be overwhelmed by quantity and frivolity? If the history of other media is any indication, the new media will travel somewhat familiar paths. For many it may be liberating. For many more it may become a new bondage. A new opiate. Can information over-load ultimately become deadly? Only time will answer these questions.
Today the term patriot has fallen into media disrepute. Many people have been conditioned to view Patriots as Bible-thumping, gun-crazed, bigots draped in the flag. Too often, they are correct, but Pridger does not encourage the stereotype. His is not a "fire-power and brimstone" message. He advocates, "a tenacious dedication to the patriot cause, tempered with forbearance, never relinquishing the true and essential Christian principles of tolerance, forgiveness, and understanding. (Too often, the word Christian is associated with narrowness, bigotry, and intolerance, but true Christianity can be none of these.) Patriotism, among other things, is loyalty to an American ideal, and defense of that ideal (and the nation in which it was given birth) against those who, no matter their motives, would undermine American republican institutions on behalf of an alleged "larger global vision" or a deceptive domestic concept of "comfort and security". This is not to say that we should not have a world-view and work toward international peace and cooperation, nor that comfort and security are bad. Only that our primary focus, as a nation, should be national self-preservation and improvement. This begins, of course, with the individual. The individual, in the uniquely American concept, is the fundamental political sovereign. Every American should re-learn and fully appreciate the implications of this powerful responsibility. Unfortunately, too few are up to the task. Most people have become comfortable with the role of being "subjects" of a fundamentally socialist federal state that insures their comfort and security while by degrees taking away their fundamental liberties in small increments. Fortunately, only a sizable minority of "right-minded" individuals is required to lead a nation. We must work at educating ourselves and our public officials to this end. This is our cause —a cause which, after all, is the cause of freedom, justice, and American ideals few can openly oppose. Work within the system, to get true representation at the local, state, and Federal levels. Failing in this, the cookies may crumble. If they do, and worst case scenarios ensue, then patriots must be prepared to sweep up the pieces.
Founding Documents of the United States of America
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