Reshaping the International Order

Reshaping Public Opinion and the White Coated Propagandists

Reshaping the International Order Part 1

Reshaping the International Order Part 2

Reshaping the International Order Part 3

Reshaping the International Order Part 4

"Atomic and political scientists from Harvard University and MIT meeting in November 1975 concluded that an atomic war will certainly occur before the year 2000. This, they believed, could only be prevented by the decision of all nation-states to surrender their sovereignty to an authoritarian world government, a possibility they viewed as unlikely." - RIO: Reshaping the International Order, 1976 (p46)

Public opinion is not generated by the public it is driven into them by marketing and propaganda. One of the main aspects of generating public opinion is the use of experts or specialists to tell the public what to think and give them a false sense of security derived from the belief that there are armies of experts making all of the difficult decisions for them. What if the legions of experts are just white coated propagandists?

The Club of Rome is a premiere think tank composed of approximately 100 members including leading scientists, philosophers, political advisors, former politicians and many other influential bureaucrats and technocrats. This series of articles describes the major conclusions of the 1976 book Rio: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome [1] coordinated by Nobel Laureate Jan Tinbergen. The RIO report "addresses the following question: what new international order should be recommended to the world's statesmen and social groups so as to meet, to the extent practically and realistically possible, the urgent needs of today's population and the probable needs of future generations?"

Part 1 of this series gives an overview of the proposed new international order described by the RIO report as "humanistic socialism". This includes: collective neighbourhood armies, a fully planned world economy, global free trade, public international enterprises, proposed changes in consumption patterns among other topics. Changes to the financial system including international taxation and the creation of a World Treasury, World Central Bank and World Currency are examined in part 2. Part 3 addresses the redefinition of sovereignty from "territorial sovereignty" to "functional sovereignty" as well as the use of the concept of the "common heritage of mankind" to gain international control of not just the oceans, atmosphere and outer space but also all material and non-material resources.

Importance of Public Opinion

Any attempt at creating a new international order requires the reshaping of public opinion from their current modes of thought into newer more appropriate forms. This important detail was not overlooked by The Club of Rome.

From RIO: Reshaping the International Order:

[Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

"The possibility of implementing ideas of a new power structure would, in democratic societies, necessitate the acceptance of such ideas by wide sections of public opinion. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that new ways and means be found to establish, within industrialized countries, contacts between formal and informal groups of concerned citizens, scientists and politicians..." - 109

"Political feasibility. Crucially important especially during the early phases of the transformation of the existing order..." - 101

"Development implies a constant destruction of sociological and psychological structures. The real problem of development is cleverly to balance positive and real improvements with severe destructions... It is the responsibility of every nation to make its own choice between economic progress and socio-psych structure destructions, and to define its own fundamental objectives for real development, which is the development of man as a totality and of the totality of men." - (Part of RIO member Maurice Guernier's position statement) - 321

"The satisfaction of needs implies that each person available for and willing to work should have an adequately remunerated job... Education is the most important non-material component for fulfilling individual ambitions... At a higher level, education not only contributes directly to individual satisfaction by developing that individual's spiritual endowment, but also indirectly by preparing the individual, mentally as well as morally, for a future role in a changing world..." - 64

Reshaping Public Opinion

Public opinion is not generated from the public, but rather given to them from politicians, experts, fiction, news media, etc.

"Public opinion is no phenomenon sui generic. It is in part the result of government policies and by definition politicians cannot hide behind their own creation. If some sectors of public opinion in the industrialized countries are immersed in the rhetoric and slogans associated with misunderstanding, then much of this may be inherited from their political leaders. And if these leaders are in part responsible for a situation which impedes acceptance of the need for change, then they themselves must be held responsible for changing this situation." - 110

No Technocracy, Just White Coated Propagandists

"One of our main weapons in this search is the vast arsenal of scientists we are potentially able to deploy. To fully utilize this resource, we must deliberately choose to focus investigation in directions we believe to be really relevant." - 107

"In political process too, the search for 'new combinations' can be expected to produce valuable results. Such a search is likely to demonstrate the responsibilities which scientists and other specialists have, not only to their nations, but also to the constituency of mankind. In the past, specialists have often been reluctant to engage in political debate or to share their knowledge and fears with the general public. Given social dilemmas, they have often preferred to adopt neutral rather than value positions, to tacitly advise rather than openly advocate. This generalization no longer holds true. In many branches of science there are radical movements. Increasingly, both in the rich and poor worlds, scientists are involved in active advocacy which they see as an intellectual and ethical duty.

These observations suggest that specialists be provided with greater opportunities to participate in the making of decisions in areas of vital importance to the future of mankind This is not to suggest the creation of a technocracy nor that political will can ever be substituted by scientific expertise... Specialists must serve as 'advocates of the unborn' and the expansion of their role can be viewed as an example of functional representation in international decision-making.

Not only must specialists advocate courses of action in international fora, they must also more fully commit themselves to development efforts at the local level. Their commitment must be total, their allegiance to a problem or community unstinting. Experts operating through bilateral and multilateral channels have not always meet these requirements. The 'new expert', in actively promoting local self-reliant development, may need to subordinate his own values even his knowledge, to those of the community he is attempting to serve. We have seen the rise of 'barefoot doctors'; we must encourage the rise of 'barefoot experts'." - 108

The above quote clearly states that the "new experts" should form a league of white coated propagandists willing to subordinate their knowledge (the only thing they have to offer) to a desired political agenda. It should also be noted the use of the term "functional representation". This is significant because the Club of Rome redefines sovereignty from what they call "territorial sovereignty" to "functional sovereignty" completely changing the meaning of sovereignty. More on the redefinition of sovereignty here.

Using Other Groups

"The most important options for organizing institutions lie in three main areas. The first relates to the way in which the means of operating society are grouped into bunches which can appropriately be handled by one institution. From the viewpoint of efficiency, the most suitable approach would be to group together those means requiring similar techniques of control. The second option concerns the various levels of decision-making and the hierarchy corresponding to it. This important structural consideration applies to single institutions as well as to the relationship between persons and between institutions. ... Third... Membership should not be limited to national governments; it should also embrace non-governmental organizations of many kinds operating at different levels." - 101

"Whereas national public opinion may exist in the singular, internationally it exists in the plural... Groups of many different kinds, both in and outside the production process - students, trade unions, scientists - from both the Third World and the industrialized countries should join forces in their attempts to shape public and political opinion. The aim here must be the internationalization of attempts at 'conscience-raising'. There would appear to be tremendous scope for a range of non-governmental organizations in this field and for cooperation among them." - 111

"... a conscious attempt must be made to organize intellectual and political lobbies to re-educate international public and political opinion." - 177

"Convincing Public and Political Opinion: Coordinated and intensified effort should be made, particularly in industrialized countries, to publicize the need to create an international social and economic order which is perceived as more equitable by all peoples. ... The primary task of many non-governmental organizations must be to undertake the effort suggested." - 122

The Ministry of Third World Truth

The Club of Rome proposes the creation of a Ministry of Third World Truth to help shape international public opinion.

"Such reform [of news media] should include the creation of a Third World information centre to specifically serve Third World needs and to facilitate the dissemination of information on the Third World, both in industrialized and Third World countries." - 111

Conclusion

The creation of a World Food Authority and its use for population control is examined in part 5. The final article in this series deals with a variety of issues including global solidarity, regional unions, legal changes and a standing United Nations Peace Force.

[1] Quotes from Jan Tinbergen, RIO: Reshaping the International Order: A Report to the Club of Rome (1976). ISBN 0-525-04340-3

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