How naive I was. I didn't see that Mr. Chase was using a WUM tactic even then. He was pointing to protests against corporate behavior and saying this was an indication that World War III was beginning. In reality, though, he was aware that World War III was already over. Yes, the last great war for control of the entire world had come and gone. The war was over, we (the people) had lost, and I didn't even know it. Then again, most people didn't know it. Most people still don't know it. But Alston Chase knew.
Most of those who know the war is over, unlike myself, have the good sense not to talk about it, as such. In the first place, who'd believe it? Furthermore, who'd care? "Life goes on pretty much the same as always, doesn't it - no major changes, no major hassles? So, how could we have just lost a war?" That's what most people would say.
Besides, who could believe a war has come and gone when nary a shot was fired, nary a bomb was dropped? Who could conceive that a world war has been lost when the flags of all the world's countries still fly high and proud? Who could imagine that the Third World War would be done quietly, without fighting, without fanfare of any sort?
Yet, that is exactly how it happened. World War III was a silent, gradual power grab that left nations physically intact while consolidating authority to rule in the hands of a conglomerate of multi-national corporations. As the history of these things go, this takeover employed a rather novel approach, to say the least. No lands were captured, no invasions were necessary, no governments fell. At the same time though, all lands were usurped, every place was invaded, and all governments acquiesced. In this new world order, no single individual, figurehead or body emerges holding all the reins of power. In fact, no new leaders emerge at all. This lends stability to the order, not only in that there is no central target against which to direct dissent, but also because it facilitates the facade that all the world's governments are still in place and sovereign.
After all, there would have been little reason for the corporate masters to proclaim, all at once, that the takeover of the world was complete. This would have produced chaos. It was better to quietly enjoy the exercise of corporate control for a while, perfecting its techniques while fine-tuning its systems in an orderly milieu. Established governments still provided the useful function of serving as a buffer between the people and the decisions being made. Gradually, very slowly at first, would corporate control and the new world order be revealed.
No one knows for sure when World War III began and no one knows just when it ended. What we do know, now, is that we have lived under corporate control long enough that the first veils are being removed and we are being given our first glimpses of what life will be like under direct corporate control, without the facade of government to cloud the picture for us. At the same time, we are being programmed to like what we will see.
No wonder we are hearing so much talk about how there is too much government in our lives. A few years ago we learned about the Wise Use Movement agenda. Now we call it the Contract on America. Either way, it involves scaling back government, loosening regulations, allowing free-market forces to play a lead role in decision-making, weakening public trust doctrine, strengthening private property rights (including the rights of corporations to do as they like with their private property), lowering trade barriers and, in general, doing whatever business wants in order to "improve commerce". Most especially, the corporate masters seem intent on eliminating laws that protect the environment. This, perhaps more than any other single item, is the crux of the problem.
Oh sure, there are those who will mourn the loss of the sovereignty of their particular country: no more France, no more Brazil, no more India, no more America, and so on. And yes, there are those philosophical types who will grieve over things like "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" being replaced by things like "jobs first!" or "it's the economy, stupid!" By and large, though, most people are already fairly well adjusted to their role as wage slaves and there will probably not be any major resistance to the new world order.
As long as people have their jobs and a reasonable amount of personal freedom to spend their money, things won't really be much different for most folks. Americans, for example (an apathetic lot as a whole anyway, judging from voter turnouts and such), are already well versed in the new way of thinking. Nobody speaks of America as a "representative democracy" anymore; now it's an example of "free-market capitalism". For real power, one does not look to the United States, one looks to Corporate America. You no longer tell non-conformists to love it or leave it, you tell them to get a job. It is well known that those who go along, get along. A person's success is measured by how much they make and the strength of a country is gauged by its GNP. With the bottom line being the accepted standard by which to judge practically everything, the tracks are pretty well greased for people to slide smoothly into their places in the new world order. But the consequences of abandoning environmental protections may prove, over time, to be a hard sell for the corporate masters.
Right now, of course, there seems to be a sense of wide-spread excitement centered around the prospects for new sources of profits once environmental laws are relaxed or eliminated. Logging, ranching, mining, farming, Off-Road Vehicles and all kinds of development are some of the businesses hoping to benefit once they no longer have to worry about the effects their activities may have on endangered species of plants and animals. It is not possible to list all the polluters who hope to improve their bottom line once clean air and water laws are relaxed. Oil and chemical companies see a surge in sales once pesticide and food contamination requirements are lowered. Without protection for wetlands, countless money-making ventures can proceed where they are now prohibited. With protective land management schemes such as those presently applied to wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, and national parks also under attack, it won't be long before whole new territories are opened up to more profitable ventures.
There will come a time, though, when everyone will ask, "Was the money that good?" And they will already know the answer. Whether that time is near or far off is difficult to imagine. Whether it will then be too late cannot be said.
Right now, the corporate masters say that environmentalists are crazy alarmists; that environmentalists need to make people believe there is some sort of catastrophe in order to keep those contribution dollars rolling in. Not that it will really do any good, but the reader may wish to review the statement issued by the world's leading scientists in 1992 concerning the state of our fragile earth and what we must do to protect it. The statement is reprinted, for your convenience, on the back page of this newsletter.
If the scientists' "Warning to Humanity" is difficult for you to believe, especially when it is so soundly denounced by the corporate masters, then believing in World War III and corporate control is probably out of the question. Nonetheless, the focus of this newsletter is corporate control. There are a number of articles, from some of the finest writers and thinkers, which examine the subject from various perspectives. They are presented here for your perusal, edification or entertainment. We hope you enjoy them. Oh, and by the way, you may wish to keep this newsletter at home. It is advised that you don't take it to work. Unless, of course, you work someplace where you can go about chanting, "Death to the corporate robot, that preys on the life of the planet."
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1995