New World Order: Out Of Many, One – And Trans-National
The mechanism that controls the flow of blood controls the entire organism.
Finance seems to be rising in influence and dictating the course of politics more than anything else. It could represent a subtle but fundamental change in how society is set up, signifying the greatest game changer since the French revolution – and in the exact opposite direction than most people are hoping for. Markets operate round the global clock, in plain view for us to see and marvel, becoming an institution that is proving to be increasingly more influential, important, and cared for than humans themselves. A double-edge sword which has helped society develop and advance, but which cuts the other way too, markets are one of the main reasons why people on the grand scale are feeling disillusioned, lost, helpless, marginalized, and not in control of their lives, of their countries, or of anything else.
Let me show you how this happens by taking a look at three groundbreaking developments we are familiar with, tracing out the grounds on which they were resolved. First stop, the United States of America.
US Debt Ceiling Crisis, Credit-Crunch Area 51:
The infamous debate that almost brought the entire US mechanism to a standstill was resolved in the very last minute on two grounds: firstly, on the fact that breaching the ceiling would have led in the Union defaulting on its obligations, such as salaries and payments; and secondly, on the unprecedented downgrade of US credit rating by the Standard and Poor’s credit rating agency, and the potential downgrade by Moody’s and Fitch. There was a lot of pressure applied by the US public – at one point Congress’s disapproval rate rose to 80% – as well as by international players worried about the destabilization the crisis would cause. But it was the markets and the pressure applied in their name that dictated the course of this issue at the end of the day.
It is a tragic and ironic course of events. America, land of the free and home of the brave, a nation forged out of resistance to absolute despotism and economic strongarming, who rebelled in order not to pay tax and stamp duties imposed on them by foreign rulers – who grew and flourished on the basis of private property and entrepreneurship, driven by resolute, industrious individuals in pursuit of liberty and self-determination – this nation was pushed out of the greatest deadlock its post-War society has ever faced by forces not independent and forward-thinking but convoluted and self-fulfilling. By the power of the markets.
Let all Americans pay attention. Their individual existence and well being seems to matter less and less in the wake of market domination. Some may call this the rise of imperialist capitalism, which, in a great twist of irony, is taking over the people who supposedly gave birth to it, its own champions. Others will deem this development a natural part of the process, something that was bound to happen in our growing, globally-interconnected super-society. The shedding of national barriers and the amalgamation of its elements into a new whole, a new sum of parts, has evidently begun.
Others will deem this piece a conspiracy theory, perhaps anti-capitalist, even anarchist. Speaking against the established way of doing things has a way of attracting accusations of sedition and madness. Ask the green movement, they have been donned with all sorts of unsavory epithets, mostly because they challenge the norm.
Others will embrace this piece, calling its perspective visionary and prophetic, recognizing the inevitable pain inherent in globalization’s restructuring process. There can’t be a paradigm shift without redesigning the paradigm. Since nation states are a major element of the status quo, it is only natural for them to give way to something different – something that makes humanity tick in sounder, more efficient, more sustainable ways. Whether it’s the markets or some other mechanism remains to be seen.
Summing up: to stay in touch with the situation and understand, if not augment, current developments, we need to see the situation for what it is and identify the key events and players. This particular piece has identified one key player, market forces, placing them under new light i.e. presenting them as a conscious agency (or collection of agencies) acting in a distinct, self-reinforcing manner. They are a sentient form of consciousness being driven by key individuals and specialists, whose interests have began to serve more than just their given personal aspirations: they serve the needs and demands of the markets per se. Like the cells that make up an organism, tending to the body’s greater needs, the flesh’s cravings and the mind’s reasoning, market agents have become subjects to the agency they serve. It puts new meaning to the US traditional motto, E Pluribus Unum. Out Of Many, One.
This is a strange new world we are entering, full of people bold enough to envision a change in the system, arcane and groundbreaking as it may be. So, in the wake of global transition, let the finance and economics agents pay attention too. The flesh’s cravings and the mind’s reasoning i.e. the body’s greater needs, are born out of the aggregate needs of the cells that make it up. The relationship is reciprocal and dynamic. Disregard the health of the constituent cells and the body begins to falter as a whole. Just something to think about and help put things in perspective.
Come to think of it, markets are not an entirely separate consciousness. They are an array of organs, powerful and instrumental in their own right, transporting human and material resources around a complex organism called the Globe. Let us hope their actions will serve the organism and not their bloody pipe dreams.
In the following case study, we will deal with Greece and its financial tragedy, looking at what really drives developments there and at whose needs are ultimately met when trying to resolve the crisis, as things stand.
Featured Image source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Nicolas Sampson is on Twitter and Facebook.
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