It must be recognized that the cause of all world unrest, of the world wars which have wrecked humanity and the widespread misery upon our planet can largely be attributed to a selfish group with materialistic purposes who have for centuries exploited the masses and used the labour of mankind for their selfish ends. From the feudal barons of Europe and Great Britain in the Middle Ages through the powerful business groups of the Victorian era to the handful of capitalists—national and international—who today control the world’s resources, the capitalistic system has emerged and has wrecked the world.
This group of capitalists has cornered and exploited the world’s resources and the staples required for civilized living; they have been able to do this because they have owned and controlled the world’s wealth through their interlocking directorates and have retained it in their own hands. They have made possible the vast differences existing between the very rich and the very poor; they love money and the power which money gives; they have stood behind governments and politicians; they have controlled the electorate; they have made possible the narrow nationalistic aims of selfish politics; they have financed the world businesses and controlled oil, coal, power, light and transportation; they control publicly or in secret the world’s banking accounts.
The responsibility for the widespread misery to be found today in every country in the world lies predominantly at the door of certain major interrelated groups of business-men, bankers, executives of international cartels, monopolies, trusts and organizations and directors of huge corporations who work for corporate or personal gain. They are not interested in benefiting the public except in so far that the public demand for better living conditions will enable them—under the Law of Supply and Demand—to provide the goods, the transportation, light and power which will in the long run bring in heavier financial returns. Exploitation of man-power, the manipulation of the major planetary resources and the promotion of war for private or business profit are characteristic of their methods.
In every nation, such men and organizations—responsible for the capitalistic system—are to be found. The ramifications of their businesses and their financial grasp upon humanity were, prior to the war, active in every land and though they went underground during the war, they still exist. They form an international group, closely interrelated, working in complete unity of idea and intention and knowing and understanding each other. These men belonged to both the Allied Nations and the Axis Powers; they have worked together before and through the entire period of the war through interlocking directorates, under false names and through deceptive organizations, aided by neutrals of their own way of thinking.
Today, in spite of the disaster which they have brought upon the world, they are again organized and have renewed their methods; their goals remain unchanged; their international relationships remain unbroken; they constitute the greatest menace mankind faces today; they control politics; they buy prominent men in every nation; they insure silence through threat, cash and fear; they amass wealth and buy a spurious popularity through philanthropic enterprise; their families live soft and easy lives and seldom know the meaning of God-ordained work; they surround themselves with beauty, luxury and possessions and shut their eyes to the poverty, stark unhappiness, lack of warmth and decent clothing, the starvation and the ugliness of the lives of the millions by whom they are surrounded; they contribute to charities and church agencies as a salve to their consciences or to avoid income taxes; they provide work for countless thousands but see to it that these thousands receive so small a wage that real comfort, leisure, culture and travel are impossible.
Yet, it is not only the powerful who maintain the present status quo; it is not only the selfish thinking and the separative motivation of the major interrelated groups of business-men, bankers, executives of international monopolies, etc., who work for corporate or personal gain, but also the many small and unimportant business men – in the corner shop, the plumber, the landlord and landowner, who exploit their employees and deceive their customers.
The above is a terrible indictment. It can, however, be substantiated a million times over; it is breeding present-day revolutions and a world-wide spirit of unrest as the masses of the people in every land become aroused and awakened to the dawning of a new age. A great cleavage has begun between the selfish monied interests and the mass of humanity who demand fair play and a right share of the world’s wealth, a decent life without constant fear of lack of the basic necessities.
There are many today within the failing systems of every nation, who are aware of the danger that the monied interests now face, and are realising that it is the spirit of selfishness and the love of power that humanity has to contend with; their natural tendency is to think along broader and more humanitarian lines; they seek the good of their fellowmen and have no desire to exploit the masses or to profit by the misery of others; they are fair and just, decent and kind, and realise that there is little that one individual can do of a potent nature within a global system that has become too big for the individual. The solution lies with the bulk of humanity. The inner eye of mankind is now open to the underlying cause of world economic distress, which is primarily based on the exploitation of the planet’s resources by a group of selfish and ambitious people. It begins to see rightly the opportunity for fundamental change, which lies, not in the direction of war, but through the collective insistence on GOODWILL towards all men, a will imposed upon those ‘small giants’ who cling to bad-will.
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