The 11th Hour

The other day I watched a video of an interview with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He is an interesting man because he belongs to a group of people who are retired from politics formal, but who essentially continue to work twelve hour days in some geopolitical fashion or another. I don't refer to any group in particular; just look around the world and you'll find the Kissingers, the Brezinski's. They're simply there, working hard. The particular video in question was filmed in 2007, when Kissinger was eighty-four years old.

World elites such as Henry seem to be striving towards “the rule of law, as opposed to that of the jungle” as George Bush Senior once famously said in reference to global direction. The key word there seems to be ‘rule.’ On the other side of the ethical coin we have the localized religious/nationalist tendencies which Kissinger and Co. would paint as the ugly villain of our modern times. That is, the good and bad of sovereign nations and their people self-governing.

So are they right?

The idea of a worldwide revolution is a varied one, ranging from the depths of conspiracy to the heart of the public sphere. Tinfoil hats to Obama and Oprah -- there is a mutual recognition that things seem to be coming to a head. Some would say it is only inevitable. We are surrounded by technological potential caged and delayed by the politics of greed; this is a world where people starve to death, and modern countries somehow slide into recessions. Things should be getting better, but they’re getting more fearful, and less free.

What is going on here?

Is this a natural progression, or is it all part of the plan? Is shady fiat banking causing these problems, or does our jungle need more authority than we already see? The coincidence theorists are scolded by skeptics as delusional for their claims of clandestine planning and occult method, while the paranoid scold the skeptics for not looking far enough. Whatever the objective truth, in the 11th hour it truly doesn't matter and time stops for no species.

Right and wrong, good and bad, it all depends on how you define autonomy, for it can be defined in a great number of ways; the many derivations in which certain ignorance can mix with certain intelligence. As Henry points out, the engine of globalization will of course require the redistribution of geopolitical power and that will be a tough time economically for the West. Some will go broke, surprised and angry. Beyond that, should Kissinger and Co. get their way, will be a world devoid of many things, some of which would admittedly be some of the problems we now face. Absolute power is absolute peace. For some this is a peace of mind; for others, this is a piece of mind.

Some stand in opposition to people like Kissinger who play higher reasoning on those who cannot understand it for control, others welcome the Darwinian logic entirely. On one side is the accumulating worry that one version of freedom is about to be lost; on the other there is the growing attitude that maybe those questioning power should just shut up and let it do its thing.

Depending on where you place your values, you may be welcoming that which I fear most. Whatever the outcome, the clock is forever ticking. It is up to us to discern the hands from the face.