This fits very well with what I learned from Mullins, who picked it up from Pound.
----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 8:29 AM Subject: RE: [SOCIAL CREDIT] Anti-Semitism > This was Finlay's take on the matter: > > "But the nature of this anti-Jewish outlook must be probed, for it is doubtful whether it can be called anti-Semitism in the normal sense." > -- > > John L. Finlay, *Social Credit: The English Origins,* > 1972, pages 102-105. > > (notes omitted) > ...What made Douglas fear organization and what made > him insist upon the organic was his bold analysis of > human nature and especially of human motivation. > While holding that most people were good, socially > minded creatures, he allowed the existence of a > minority whose driving force was the pursuit of > power. It was here in the identification of the power > complex that Douglas showed his originality. In a > pretotalitarian age it was difficult to conceive of > anyone's being motivated by power for its own sake. > Yet it was this point which Douglas had stressed from > his earliest writings onwards, the second of his > articles in the *English Review" was entitled "The > Pyramid of Power." In that article he described the > "will to power" and noted that it was particularly > virulent in Germany. The war had encouraged the > development of this will, and not only in Germany, so > that a new danger faced the world. It was not merely > an intensification of previous conflict, for there > was a qualitative difference too. "Strong and > embittered differences of opinion resulting in some > sort of conflict are nothing new in the history of > civilization," Douglas noted, "they recur with dreary > monotony ...But there is definitely novel component > in the present upheaval ...the cleavage is in the > main horizontal and the issue is impersonal." In > Douglas's view, then, groups were of two kinds. There > were traditional natural groupings which predated the > emergence of the "novel component in the present > upheaval" and which were to be preserved as essential > protection against the coming storm. They would tend > to be small, and in fact Douglas once declared that > no organization should exceed three thousand. On the > other hand there were artificial organizations which > had no real purpose but to provide the means by which > the power seekers could arrange the people into a > perfect hierarchy of obedience. It was for this > reason that Douglas was so distrustful of democracy. > Not that he was prepared to give up the concept > itself. He declared his belief in the "Democracy of > the Common Will"; what he rejected was the "Democracy > either of the Intellect or of the emotions, which > lead directly to dictatorships." Thus he refused to > distinguish between the extreme right and the extreme > left. He sensed rather than understood that mass > mobilization through the ballot box would lead to "a > Mussolini and a Lenin or Trotsky who are identical in > their contempt for Liberty and passion for the rule > of centralizing force." The same intuition led him to > oppose the Work Study philosophy and its later > manifestation, Technocracy, two movements which > maintained that a planned approach to the routine of > work at all levels could lead to tremendous increases > in output. Such methods demanded a high level of > organization and therefore were to be feared. A > typical Douglas judgment upon these movements was > that they were "Syndicalist in essence and [did] not > differ very widely...from ... Fascism." > > It was inevitable that sooner or later Douglas should > seek to identify more precisely the power-seeking > conspiracy. In the beginning he was restrained in his > attitude towards it. But from an early belief that it > might, "Like Topsy, just have growed," he moved to > attack "a very deeply laid and well considered plot > of enslaving the industrial world to the German- > American-Jewish financiers." It was not long before > the German-American element faded into the > background, leaving the Jews as the real villains of > the piece ...But the nature of this anti-Jewish > outlook must be probed, for it is doubtful whether it > can be called anti-Semitism in the normal sense. > > In the early days Douglas always denied any animus > against individual Jews. Even in the 1930s he wrote: > "It must be emphasized that attacks upon the Jews as > a body are wholly indefensible, except in cases where > Jews act as a body while utilizing advantages which > proceed from their incorporation as individuals in > other nations. So far as this review is concerned, > only their financial relationships are in question." > On a latter occasion her asserted, "The very last > thing which I should desire ...would be the > association of the Social Credit movement with Jew- > baiting," and he acknowledged that the persecution of > Jews would mean "an irreparable loss to the rest of > the world." He could praise individual Jews and > thought highly of Sidney Hillman, the Jewish leader > of the American Clothing Workers, whom he met in > America and whom he described as "one of the ablest > labour leaders I have ever met." But later a harder > line began to emerge. Conveniently, Douglas > summarized his attitude towards the Jewish question > as follows: "If I have, for my own part, come to > believe that there is a fundamental relationship > between the troubles which afflict Europe and what is > known as the Jewish problem I have formed that > opinion with reluctance ...perhaps the first > necessity is to explain beyond any risk of > misunderstanding, the nature of the charge, and why > it is a racial and not a personal indictment. In > this connection, Disraeli's description of his people > as "a splendidly organized race' is significant. > Organization has much of the tragedy of life to its > debt; and organization is a Jewish speciality." The > most important point about the Jews was the extent of > their exclusiveness. This meant a great amount of > inbreeding and there was, too, a reliance upon a > narrow tradition, especially upon an education which > stressed a detailed knowledge of a restricted number > of sacred books. The result of this way of life, > thought Douglas, was the breeding of a race which was > far more homogenous than any other , a race which > tended to think in the same overall way. Because of > this it was the ideal vehicle for those seeking > power; it provided a ready disciplined army which > could be manipulated into doing the will of the real > rulers. In fact, to Douglas, the Jews were the > unwilling and unknowing dupes of a conspiracy, the > conspiracy itself; some, but not all, of the leaders > of this conspiracy would be Jewish. This aspect of > the argument was brought out clearly in the case of > the Freemasons, who were likewise a tool of a > conspiracy. "It must be remembered that the essence > of Freemasonry is that 99% of Freemasons don't know > what it is about, or what they are doing." > > Evidently to Douglas, Jewishness was not a racial > term at all, but a philosophical description. This > point was made very clearly when he once divided > systems into two, the characteristics of the first > being "Deductive, Totalitarian, Machiavellian, > Idealistic, Jewish, Love of Power, Planned Economy," > and of the second and balancing group, "inductive, > Democratic, Baconian, Realistic, Christian, Love of > Freedom, Organic Growth." Anti-Semitism of the > Douglas kind, if it can be called anti-Semitism at > all, may be fantastic, may be dangerous even, in that > it may be twisted into a dreadful form, but it is not > itself vicious nor evil. It is merely an extreme form > of religio-philosophic propaganda, to be classed with > Coulton's anti-Catholic tirades. And finally it must > not be forgotten that Douglas did not seek to > discriminate against Jews as people; it was never > suggested that the National Dividend be withheld from > them. > -- > > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Get advanced SPAM filtering on Webmail or POP Mail ... 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