Polarization
Magna Carta
In rethinking the Magna Carta, I’ve had to revise several
opinions. Ostensibly, the Magna Carta
was a core freedom document stating principles behind the American
Constitution: for example, the Second Amendment.
In truth, the Magna Carta was the resolution of a somewhat violent
disagreement, a major polarization, between King John of England and several
English barons. John had attempted,
unsuccessfully, to imitate the rule of Louis Ⅺ of France. What was the exact nature of that
polarization? Was it, in fact, a contest
between the wicked despot, John, and the causes of freedom, as some
suppose? No. Neither John nor Louis Ⅺ was any such a
supposed despot. The so-called causes of
freedom, were in fact the feudal liege lords.[i] So the struggle was not over monarchy versus
personal freedom; it was over who would control the money: king or feudal liege
lords? The king lost; evidently, so did
the serfs, who were thereby kept in a double state of slavery: bound by their feudal
liege lord, on the one hand; and by debt slavery, and poverty, on the other
hand. So, the Magna Carta had nothing to
do with personal freedom; unless, you were very powerful and wealthy. Ironically, the serfs were compelled to fight
in wars that denied their own freedom.
Nevertheless, the Magna Carta can be clearly seen in the
American Constitutional structure. The
polarization between strong central government, and States rights is the point
at hand. There always were individuals
who preferred strong central government; some even wanted to make George
Washington into the American king.
Washington himself, and several others, evidently preferred States
rights. Even so, the tension continued
throughout early Constitutional America.
The polarization was finally broken by Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln insured the
fact of national government, and effectively gutted any hope for Sates rights. Some folks see that as a blessing; while
others see it as a curse. In either
case, the American course after Lincoln was toward an increasingly stronger central
national government.
As far as a political experiment is concerned, this must have
resulted in the abolition of feudalism, mustn’t it? Wherein the States are seen as a continuation
of feudal societies, and central national government represents a king…. Well, the serfs were better off: for slavery
was abolished… weren’t they? Or was one
broken polarization, simply replaced with a new, more powerful, intensely more
wicked and devious polarization? Was the
feudal system gone for good? Or, had
strong central national government opened the door for a new feudalism?
The Civil War was funded by Chase’s machinations.[ii]
Previous wars were funded by scrip[iii];
all of which wars were paid in full with zero surviving debt. Chase’s debt system follows the course of
Civil War expenses; was never paid off; was quickly followed by other wars,
with attendant increasing debts in debt-war cycles that persist to the present
day. We claim that these forces, war and
debt, feed off of each other, so that one necessitates and perpetuates the
other.
Such national debt was made legal in the Fourteenth
Amendment, Section 4 (1868)[iv];
institutionalized in the FRB (1913)[v];
and perpetuated ever since. Not long afterward
the growing Industrial Revolution[vi]
overtook the American workforce; soon farm jobs reached a minimum, factory jobs
peaked. Under the old slavery system,
slaves and hands were usually still fed and clothed during a downturn economy. Under the new employment system, surplus
labor was simply fired or laid off.
Employment was simply a better, more efficient system for owners. Yet, a large portion of the population were
still independent landed owners… the small, simple family farmer or rancher.
The increasing use of petroleum from around 1890 onward, increasing
steadily at around 7% a year, ensured a growth economy, with surplus money to
spend as if there was no tomorrow; until tomorrow came in the Great Depression
(circa 1930)[vii]:
the problem was not with the supply side; but, with the demand side. We solved the Great Depression by WWⅡ
(1939-1945)[viii],
and have been blowing and going ever since… well, almost. There are several points that might be
pursued here; but, the particular point we are after is feudalism, and the
polarization it causes.
What emerged from this strange concoction was a set of
increasingly powerful companies, that soon eclipsed all national governments in
terms of wealth and power. For a time,
such a juggernaut was slowed by trust busting laws; these, however, were soon
removed. The Shadow Government of a
usury system, was now joined by a new set of feudal liege lords, the so-called
captains of industry.
Now we are surprised to discover the reemergence of serfdom
in America, and it’s growing. The modern
serf is once again caught in a double state of slavery: debt and bosses; with
the attendant increase in the service of wars, not of their own choosing. The serf is once again compelled to fight
wars that deny their own freedom.
We submit that Magna Carta was never about personal freedom;
that Magna Carta was always about who controlled the money. Whoever came out on top of that polarization,
made no real difference in the freedom of the serfs; whether the serfs would be
slaves of the nation or of the State: for the serfs would quickly be made the
slaves of their new feudal liege lords.
Seemingly there is nothing anybody can do about it; cheap land is no
longer available to the pioneer: it’s a dead-end street.
Incidentally, the slaves who were freed by Lincoln, were
shunted off into ghettos, where nobody much cared whether they lived or
died. They could not have known that the
flood of immigrants, were shunted off into other ghettos, where nobody much
cared whether they lived or died. To the
slaves, it seemed as if the immigrants had a better go of things: so, new
polarizations formed. That the immigrants
also suffered under the same oppression made little difference; the former slaves
were in fact, treated like crap: but so were many of the immigrants.
Meanwhile, migrant workers came north every year, and their
conditions made working former slaves, and immigrants look like kings and
queens: the oppressions foisted on Hispanics and Indians of the southwest is
truly horrific. Orientals, and others,
were also oppressed. Their strength was
exploited by polarization… divide and conquer works every time.
Magna Carta. it turns out, is only one of a long series of instruments of
human oppression. Maybe the teachers have
the will and power to finally overthrow the Magna Carta and its attendant
feudalism. Maybe not….
[i]
Still, we continue to idolize and worship the idea of nobility, that some men
are better than others, as popularized by Downton Abbey. What codswallop.
[ii]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_banking
[iii]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrip
[iv]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
[v]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Bank
[vi]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
[vii]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
[viii]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
