Hvad New York City kan lære af Afrika.
LPAC kortvideo

New York City er nu officielt gået ind i »Helvedessommeren«, skabt af reparationsarbejde, der for længst burde have været udført, omkring Penn Station. Dette arbejde vil reducere pendlernes adgang til dette afgørende omdrejningspunkt med 20 % af den halve million, daglige pendlere.  For et par uger siden efterlod en togafsporing af et A-tog i New York dusinvis af sårede og forstyrrede hundrede tusinder af togrejser. Om to år vil den planlagte nedlægning af L-toget forstyrre 200.000 daglige togrejser i halvandet år.  I dag er der 2,5 gange så mange forsinkelser i New Yorks undergrundsbane som for blot 5 år siden. Det er tydeligt, at transport i Amerikas førende by er på randen af sammenbrud. Og dette bør ikke komme som nogen overraskelse for dem, der har fulgt manglen på infrastrukturinvestering i løbet af de seneste årtier. Og slet ikke for Lyndon LaRouche, der kæmpede imod 1970’ernes ødelæggelse og under-investering i New York City, og Big Mac Kommunale Bistandsselskabs finansielle diktatur, der overtog det.

Mange af de umiddelbart nødvendige udbedringer er fuldstændigt åbenlyse for enhver, der kender til situationen. Erstat de 100 år gamle tunneller, der krydser Hudson- og East-floderne; opgrader koblingssystemet, som stammer tilbage fra Franklin Roosevelts præsidentskab, og forøg vedligeholdelse og reparationer, eftersyn af spor og udstyr; men det, der virkelig kræves, er et langsigtet perspektiv for det næste niveau af infrastruktur, det langsigtede perspektiv, hvis fravær forårsagede den krise, vi nu befinder os i. En krise, hvor New York City blot er et førende eksempel i USA. Uden at kæmpe for at vinde en forpligtelse over for et sådant langsigtet perspektiv for en ny platform, vil alle kortsigtede udbedringer, selv om de er nødvendige, blot være at ’sparke dåsen hen ad gaden’.

For at gøre dette langsigtede perspektiv klart, lad os se på, hvad vi kan lære af Afrika og Kina.

Med et par af de lidt mere udviklede nationer, såsom Egypten og Sydafrika, som undtagelse, befinder afrikansk infrastruktur sig på et ynkeligt underudviklet niveau. Overvej engang disse tal:

Den totale transport af fragt via jernbane er i Afrika mindre end 10 % af det, den er i USA, Kina eller Europa.

Energiforbrug pr. person i Afrika: Kun 10 % af USA’s, kun en tredjedel af Kinas. Det bliver tydeligere, når vi fokuserer på den højere form for energi, repræsenteret af elektricitet: Forbruget pr. person i Afrika er kun 6 % af det, det er i USA, og kun en fjerdedel af Kinas forbrug. Ja, faktisk har under halvdelen af afrikanere adgang til elektricitet overhovedet. Et typisk, amerikansk køleskab bruger mere end det dobbelte af det gennemsnitlige elektricitetsforbrug hos borgere i Nigeria eller Kenya.

Med en sådan utilstrækkelig infrastrukturplatform er udbredt økonomisk fremskridt simpelt hen umuligt. Og alligevel siger visse mennesker – og med ’visse mennesker’ mener jeg Afrikas tidligere koloniherrer, med briterne i spidsen – at udvikling i Afrika bør ske ved hjælp af ’tilpassede teknologier’; at man bør have en trinvis fremgangsmåde over for forbedringer; at vandpumper, betjent med fødderne, eller solpaneller på en hytte, ville være nyttige opgraderinger. Det er nonsens. For eksempel den ynkelige ’Power Africa’-plan, som præsident Obama foreslog; det ville knap nok efterlade et mærke i de uhyrligt lave udviklingsniveauer.

(Obama): ’Det bliver jeres generation, der kommer til at lide mest. Hvis man sluttelig tænker på alle de unge mennesker, som alle her i Afrika talte om; hvis alle får en forhøjet levestandard i en grad, hvor alle har en bil, og alle har aircondition, og alle har et stort hus, ja, så vil planeten koge over’.

Afrika må gå frem i store spring, ikke kravle fremad, og dette kan ske. Alene Congofloden vil kunne skabe skønsmæssigt 100.000 MW elektricitet; tilstrækkeligt til 100 millioner mennesker, eller flere. Med 40.000 MW alene fra den planlagte Grand Inga-dæmning. Transaqua for Vand-programmet, der ville bruge vand fra Congofloden og dens bifloder til at genopfylde, og sikre sejlads på, Tchadsøen, der nu er ved at tørre ud; dette ville være i en størrelsesorden, der ikke har sin lige nogetsteds i verden. Udvidelse af jernbanelinjer i Afrika indtager i dag en førende plads i verden. Det vokser; nye transportruter i hele Afrika vil forbinde oplandet omkring moderne udvikling, og dette vil ændre situationen for nogle af indlandsområdernes nuværende isolation. For at give et eksempel: de nuværende fragtomkostninger ved at bringe en container gødning fra Singapore til Rwanda eller Burundi, er mere end 2,5 gange omkostningerne, forbundet med at bringe det til havnebyen Alexandria i Egypten pga. den forfærdelige, utilstrækkelige kvalitet af transportinfrastrukturen over land på hele kontinentet. Så, ved at skabe adgang til effektiv transport, har regioner fordel af mulighederne for at bringe udstyr og forsyninger ind, for at eksportere deres produkter og ideer, og for indbyggerne til at rejse. Med elektricitet til rådighed, frigøres en højere evne til produktivitet, og værdien af landet, og befolkningen, stiger. Det er der nogle mennesker, der indser. Ulig synspunktet i den transatlantiske verden, ser Kina Afrika som, ikke simpelt hen en kilde til råmaterialer; som et kontinent, det er bedst at holde nede i en tilstand af underudvikling; men derimod som en mulighed for massiv, hurtig, intens, generel, økonomisk udvikling; som potentielle partnere og fælles fremgang; som nye markeder, nye samarbejdspartnere.

Så, alt imens amerikanske og europæiske investeringer i Afrika er tungt orienteret mod udvinding af mineraler og resurser, så går kinesiske investeringer primært til infrastruktur og små og mellemstore foretagender. I 2010 overhalede Kinas handel med Afrika USA’s handel med Afrika og er i øjeblikket mere end dobbelt så stor som USA’s handel med Afrika. Og Kina finansierer store projekter; den næsten 500 km (300 miles) lange jernbane med standardspor i Kenya, bygget på 3 år; den 750 km (500 miles) lange jernbane mellem Djibouti og Addis Abeba, som vil blive forlænget; den reducerer rejsetiden fra dage til timer, mens den farer forbi med 100 miles/timen. Sådanne store investeringer, sammen med den fremtidige færdiggørelse af Grand Inga-dæmningen, af Transaqua-vandsystemet; de vil fuldstændigt transformere Afrikas økonomi, og alle lokaliteterne i den, og bringe adgang til vand, energi og transport og gøre et højere niveau af industri, udvinding, landbrug, videnskabelige og kulturelle satsninger muligt; produktiviteten vil vokse.

Lad os nu vende tilbage til New York City. Hvad er det, der har manglet i New York City? Vedligeholdelse? Nej. Det, der har manglet, er en forpligtelse til at opdage og bygge den næste platform for infrastruktur for området. I sammenhæng med et statsligt kreditsystem, med højhastighedsjernbaner, udført af en statslig jernbanemyndighed, med opgraderede og pålidelige vandveje, med højteknologiske, nye designs af kernekraftværker, og alt dette bygget med et potentielt internationalt samarbejde. Og i denne sammenhæng, hvordan passer så New York City ind i dette større område, som det eksisterer i? Hvor vil den næste generation af transport- og udviklingsknudepunkter komme til at ligge? På hvilke teknologier vil de være baseret? Hvordan kan magnetisk svævetogs-teknologi ændre vores syn på transport? Hvordan vil kommerciel fusionskraft, der virkeliggøres inden for et årti gennem et gennemfinansieret forskningsprogram; hvordan kan dette ændre vores forhold til energi, til materialer, til produktion, til transport? Hvordan vil den udvidede adgang til vand, energi og transport åbne nye områder i landet for udvikling, og for højere former for udvikling? Hvordan vil Beringstræde-forbindelsen ændre verdens handelsruter? Vil New York City stadig være nationens førende metropol om hundrede år?

Så, jo, reparér L-toget; ja, byg de nye tunneller under Hudsonfloden; udbedr absolut katastrofen, kendt som Penn Station. Men gør det alt sammen i en national og international sammenhæng; en sammenhæng, der har et fremtidsorienteret, økonomisk standpunkt om at foretage spring til en højere infrastrukturplatform. I takt med, at vores fremtidige, nationale jernbanemyndighed bygger et togsystem, der kører 300 miles/timen, med start i hele det nordøstlige område; i takt med, at transit og byer opgraderes til at gøre det muligt for pendlertiden at være en halv time snarere end halvanden time; i takt med, at Verdenslandbroen bliver forbundet med Nordamerika og gør det muligt at rejse over land fra New York til Beijing, fra Nordamerika til Asien; i takt med, at alt dette sker, hvilke totalt nye projekter vil så ske i New York City? Hvad vil byens fremtid være, og hvad vil byens mission være? Fortidens fejltagelse var den, ikke at have en fremtid, og denne fejltagelse må slutte.

Offentliggjort den 14. jul. 2017




Vi har brug for et nationalt infrastrukturprogram, NU!
LaRouche PAC Internationale Webcast,
14. juli, 2017

Det er den 14. juli, 2017; og, som de ville sige i Frankrig, »Bonne Fête Nationale!«. Vi ved, at præsident Trump netop er kommet tilbage fra at deltage i fejringen af Bastille-dagen i Paris, Frankrig, hvor han havde et succesrigt møde med præsident Macron, iflg. rapporter. De fejrede mere end 200 års fransk-amerikansk partnerskab, der går helt tilbage til vores alliance for at besejre briterne i den Amerikanske Revolution.

Men, der er gået nøjagtig én uge siden det historiske møde mellem præsident Trump og præsident Putin fra Rusland, på sidelinjen af G20-topmødet i Hamborg, Tyskland.

(Her følger det engelske udskrift af webcastet.)

WE NEED A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM NOW!

LaRouche PAC International Webcast

MATTHEW OGDEN:  Good evening; it’s July 14, 2017.  My name
is Matthew Ogden, and you’re joining us here for our weekly
webcast on larouchepac.com.  I’m joined in the studio by Paul
Gallagher, {EIR} Economics Editor.
It’s July 14, 2017; and as they would say in France, “Bonne
Fête Nationale!”  We know that President Trump has just returned
from attending the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, France,
where he had a successful visit with President Macron according
to reports.  They celebrated over 200 years of French-American
partnership going all the way back to our alliance to defeat the
British in the American Revolution.
But it’s been exactly one week since the historic meeting
between President Trump and President Putin of Russia, on the
sidelines of the G-20 in Hamburg, Germany.  We have a picture
[Fig. 1] here I can put on the screen of President Putin’s and
President Trump’s meeting, as you can see here.  As was correctly
cited by Stephen Cohen in an article in The Nation yesterday,
this was a very successful summit.  The achievements included: 1)
formalizing a new direct partnership between the United States
and Russian Presidents — personal relationship; 2. negotiating a
very successful ceasefire in southern Syria, which continues to
hold to this day.  This is part of a more general policy of
coordinating anti-terrorism campaigns; 3. — according to reports
— creating a bilateral US-Russia channel to try to resolve the
ongoing civil war in Ukraine.  But, over the past week, we’ve
also seen an escalation to a real fever pitch of the so-called
“Russia-gate” campaign.  We’ve seen this very rapid escalation of
attacks against the Trump Presidency.  But as Paul Gallagher
pointed out correctly in a lead that was published yesterday on
the LaRouche PAC website, this latest series of frenzied
outbursts against President Trump over the so-called
“Russia-gate” is not due to some sort of 20-minute meeting that
one of Trump’s children had with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower
during the campaign.  But rather, it’s over the fact that
President Trump himself had a very successful 2.5-hour meeting
with President Putin of Russia last week.  This is a meeting that
Trump’s opponents never intended to allow to occur, let alone
turn out as positively and successfully as it did.  This has
been, emphatically, the issue all along in this so-called
“Russia-gate” collusion scandal; going all the way back to before
Trump’s inauguration.
I’d like to put on the screen here a tweet [Fig. 2] that
President Trump tweeted out on January 7th of this year, where he
correctly identifies exactly what the issue here is.  This is two
weeks before the inauguration.  He says, “Having a good
relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.  Only
‘stupid’ people or fools would think that it is bad.  We have
enough problems around the world without yet another one.  When I
am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now,
and both countries will perhaps work together to solve some of
the many great and pressing problems and issues of the world.”
So, indeed, that’s what Trump has been able to succeed in
accomplishing; and he’s stuck to this, despite the environment of
Russophobia which far rivals anything that we’ve seen at least
since the Cold War, maybe going all the way back to the infamous
McCarthyism of the 1950s.  You’ve reached a point now where even
Senator Tim Kaine, the former running mate of Hillary Clinton
during the campaign, has openly accused the sitting President of
the United States of treason over the fact that Trump’s son
allegedly met with a foreign national to receive so-called
damaging information against his opponent Hillary Clinton in the
Presidential campaign.  While at the same time, Hillary Clinton
herself had actively solicited damaging, salacious misinformation
against her opponent Donald Trump from a known former agent of
British Intelligence, Christopher Steele.  So, that’s quite the
double standard, if you ask me.
But to make the point, in the face of this entire apparatus,
President Trump’s policy of cooperating with Putin and
establishing a good relationship with President Xi of China is,
indeed, a courageous one.  But as Paul Gallagher made the point
in this same lead which I cited earlier, which he titled “Trump’s
Policy of Peace with Putin and Xi Is Courageous; But His Policy
of Peace with Wall Street is not”.  Very correctly, Paul, you
said “What is not courageous is this President’s inability to
take any steps against Wall Street towards carrying out the
economic recovery policies on which he ran his campaign.  Rather,
Wall Street, led by the likes of Treasury Secretary Steve
Mnuchin, is running all over him.  President Trump is fighting
the British imperial policy and it is British Intelligence which
launched ‘Russia-gate’ against him a year ago, and has driven the
Congressional leadership into McCarthyite madness.  But neither
he, nor either party in Congress, is fighting Wall Street; that
is up to the rest of us, and it cannot be delayed or the next
looming crash will wipe us out entirely.”
So, Paul, that’s what you said in the lead of the LaRouche
PAC website yesterday, very correctly; and I think we’ll get into
that.  But this was echoed by Helga Zepp-LaRouche during
discussions we had with her just a little bit earlier today.  She
said what is clearly urgently necessary and seriously lacking in
the current Trump administration is a commitment to following
through on what she called “an industrial program for the United
States.”  She said we need to get people to focus on this.  The
Trump agenda internationally is fine, clearly; especially Trump’s
stance on Russia, China, US cooperation, which is obviously
positive she said.  And which is the source of the unprecedented
attacks against his administration by those who wish to sabotage
such a relationship.  But domestically, we need a real economic
program.  She said, “As the famous saying goes, ‘it’s the
economy, stupid!’|”  She said that we do expect that sometime
this month, the US-China economic cooperation report is expected
to be published, which was commissioned during President Trump’s
and President Xi Jinping’s summit at Mar-a-Lago a few months ago.
But, as far as can be seen up to this point, there is really
nothing yet happening in terms of Trump’s promised $1 trillion
infrastructure investment plan for the United States.  She said
this is a big weakness, along with Trump’s indefensible cowardice
in the face of Wall Street.  So, it’s our responsibility to
escalate this campaign to get this infrastructure campaign going
in the context of LaRouche’s Four Economic Laws; starting with
Glass-Steagall, which we’re going to discuss more in a minute.
We can use the reconstruction of the New York City region as a
necessary catalyst and a keystone to energize this entire
national infrastructure vision.
So, just to begin with, I’d like to play a short video which
was just posted on the LaRouche PAC website, narrated by Jason
Ross, on this subject.  The title of the video is “What New York
City Can Learn from Africa”.

JASON ROSS:  So, New York City has now officially
entered the “Summer of Hell” created by long overdue maintenance
work around Penn Station.  This work is going to reduce commuter
access to this vital hub by 20% for the half million commutes
daily.  A couple of weeks ago in New York, the derailment of an A
train left dozens injured and disrupted hundreds of thousands of
trips.  In two years, the planned shutdown of the L train will
disrupt 200,000 daily trips for a year and a half.  Today, New
York City’s subway delays are 2.5 times what they were just five
years ago.  It’s clear that transportation in America’s leading
city is at the breaking point.  This should be no surprise to
anyone who has followed the lack of infrastructure investment
over the past decades; particularly to Lyndon LaRouche, who
fought against the 1970s destruction and under investment in New
York City and the Big MAC (Municipal Assistance Corporation)
financial dictatorship that took it over.
Many of the immediately needed fixes are totally obvious to
anyone familiar with the situation.  Replace the 100-year-old
tunnels crossing the Hudson and East Rivers; upgrade the
switching equipment that dates back to Franklin Roosevelt’s
Presidency; and increase maintenance and repair, overhaul of
track and equipment.  But what’s really required is a longer-term
perspective of the next level of infrastructure; the long-term
perspective whose absence caused the crisis that we now find
ourselves in; a crisis in which New York City is merely a leading
example in the United States.  Without fighting to win a
commitment to such a long-term perspective for a new platform,
any short-term fixes — even needed ones — will just be kicking
the can down the road.
To make that long-term perspective clear, let’s look at what
we can learn from Africa and China.  With some exceptions of the
more developed nations such as Egypt and South Africa, African
infrastructure is at a pitifully under-developed level.  Consider
these figures:  The total shipment of freight by rail.  In
Africa, it’s less than 10 % of what it is in the United States,
China, or Europe.  Consider per capita energy consumption in
Africa; only 10% that of the US, only 1/3 that of China.  It’s
more clear, when we focus on the higher form of energy represented
by electrical energy.  Per capita use in Africa is only 6 % what
it is in the United States, and only 1/4 that of China.  In fact,
less than half of Africans have reliable access to electricity at
all.  A typical US refrigerator uses more than double the average
electricity use of citizens of Nigeria or Kenya.  With such an
insufficient infrastructure platform, extensive economic progress
is simply impossible.  Yet, some people — and by some people, I
mean Africa’s colonial masters, led by the British — say that
African development should be through “appropriate” technologies.
That an incremental approach to improvement should be taken; that
foot-powered pumps for water, or solar panels on a hut would be a
useful upgrade.  That is nonsense!
For example, the pathetic Power Africa plan proposed by
President Obama would hardly make a dent in the outrageously low
levels of development.

OBAMA:  It’s going to be your generation that suffers the
most.  Ultimately, if you think about all the youth that
everybody’s mentioned here in Africa, if everybody’s raising
living standards to the point where everybody’s got a car, and
everybody’s got air conditioning, and everybody’s got a big
house, the planet will boil over.”

ROSS:  Africa must leap ahead, not crawl forward; and this
can happen.  The Congo River itself could support an estimated
100,000 MW of electricity; enough for 100 million people or more,
with 40,000 MW from the planned Grand Inga Dam alone.  The
Trans-Aqua water program which would use water from the Congo and
its tributaries to refill and to provide navigation to Lake Chad
which is currently drying up; this would be larger by an order of
magnitude than any other project in the world.  The expansion of
rail lines in Africa is currently at a world-leading level today;
it’s growing.  New transportation routes across Africa will
connect the hinterlands, allowing modern development.  This will
change the situation from the current land-locked regions of the
continent.
To give one example, the freight costs for bringing in a
container of fertilizer from Singapore, to bring that into Rwanda
or Burundi, it’s more than 2.5 times the cost of bringing it to
the port city of Alexandria in Egypt; due to the terrible,
insufficient quality of overland transportation infrastructure
across the continent.  So, by creating access to efficient
transportation, regions benefit from the opportunity to bring in
equipment and supplies; to export their products and ideas; for
residents to travel. With the availability of electricity, higher
productive capabilities are unlocked.  The value of the land and
of the people increases.
Some people recognize this.  Unlike the outlook of the
trans-Atlantic world, China views Africa not simply as a source
of raw materials, as a continent that’s best kept in a state of
under-development; but as an opportunity for massive, rapid,
intense, overall economic development.  As potential partners for
economic prosperity, as new markets, new collaborators.  So,
while US or European stock in Africa is heavily oriented towards
mining and resource extraction, Chinese investment goes primarily
to infrastructure and small- and medium-sized businesses.  Back
in 2010, Chinese trade in Africa overtook that of US trade with
Africa; and it is currently more than double the US-Africa trade
level.  China is financing big projects.  The nearly
500-kilometer, 300-mile standard gauge railway in Kenya; built in
only three years.  The 750-kilometer, 500-mile Djibouti-Addis
Ababa rail line, which will be extended.  It reduces travel time
from days to hours, as it whizzes by at 100mph.
Such major investments, along with the future completion of
the Grand Inga Dam, of the Trans-Aqua water system, they’re going
to completely transform the economy of Africa and each locality
within it.  Bringing water, power, transportation access;
allowing a higher level of industry, mining, agriculture,
scientific and cultural pursuits.  Productivity will grow.
So now, return to New York City.  What has been missing in
New York City?  Maintenance?  No.  What’s been missing is a
commitment to discovering and building the next platform of
infrastructure for the region.  In the context of a national
credit system of Federal high-speed rail authority work, of
upgraded and reliable waterways, of high-tech new designs of
nuclear plants; all of these potentially built with international
cooperation.  In this context, how does New York City fit in this
broader area that it exists in?  Where will the next generation
of transportation and development hubs lie?  And upon what
technologies will they be based?  How can magnetic levitation
technology change our view of transportation?  How will
commercial fusion power, realized within a decade by a fully
funded research program, how could this change our relationship
to power, to materials, to production, to transportation?  How
will the expanded availability of water, power, and transport
open new areas of the country to development; and higher types of
development?  How will the Bering Strait connection change world
freight flows?  Will New York City even still be the nation’s
leading metropolis in a century?

So, sure.  Fix the L train; rebuild the Hudson River
tunnels.  Absolutely.  Redo the disaster known as Penn Station.
But do it all in a national and international context; a context
of a future orientation, of an economic outlook to the value of
leap-frogging to a higher infrastructure platform.  So as in the
future, our national high-speed rail authority builds a 300mph
train system, starting across the Northeast.  As transit in
cities are upgraded to allow for commutes of half an hour rather
than an hour and a half; as the World Land-Bridge connects to
North America, allowing land travel from New York to Beijing;
from North America to Asia.  As all this takes place, what
totally new projects will take place in New York City?  What will
be its future; and what will be its mission?
The mistake of the past was failing to have a future; and
that error must end.

OGDEN:  So, this is clearly the kind of national economic
vision that we need for the United States, and which needs to be
adopted by this administration.  So, I just wanted to ask Paul to
give us a sense of where the fight around this stands, and then
some of the updates in terms of Glass-Steagall, which is the
urgent first step.

PAUL GALLAGHER:  Well, first of all, you’ve already pointed
it out, but I want to point out that some political leaders here,
and most of the media, who are going crazy against since the
meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Russia.
Most of them are directly opposing peace and the potential
economic benefits that follow from the end of the last 15 years
Bush-Obama regime change wars.  As the President pointed out
yesterday, there has been what is already a long ceasefire in
southern Syria, and two other ceasefires being worked on
imminently directly coming out of that meeting that he had with
President Putin of Russia.  That means lives are being saved
there; American lives, Syrian lives, lives of others are being
saved there.  There is also an agreement that came out of similar
negotiations whereby the supply of water for the Palestinian
Authority is being tripled.  This agreement was just announced
yesterday by Jason Greenblatt, the special envoy of President
Trump to the embryonic Mideast peace or Palestinian/Israeli peace
negotiations that are going on.  More importantly, Syria and the
Middle East have become a clear location for the New Silk Road,
the increasingly vast array of infrastructure developments and
projects which include what Jason was just discussing there in
Africa.  The massive investment that China is making with some
other countries as partners in the development of new
infrastructure across Eurasia, now in Africa and into the Middle
East.  There was just a large meeting in Beijing earlier this
week of experts planning the reconstruction of Syria as soon as
the wipe-out of ISIS and the ceasefires now being put into effect
are actually in effect, the reconstruction with large-scale
investment as part of the Belt and Road, as the Chinese call it.
This New Silk Road.
So, there is tremendous potential coming out of these summit
meetings, and the readiness of the President to work with Putin,
with Xi, and the readiness on the other side of the Chinese
leadership to continually expand this tremendous investment that
they have been making in new infrastructure projects across
Eurasia into Africa through the Middle East.  Obviously that
stands ready as well to work in the United States; but that is
where we come to the roadblock that we were referencing earlier,
Matt.  That the Trump administration has been completely unable
up to now, to follow through on the economic promises that it
made to the American people in the course of winning the
Presidency.  Those promises included reinstating the
Glass-Steagall law; putting — for starters — $1 trillion in new
investments.  And everyone thought that meant public investments
into new infrastructure in the United States; including such
things as new ports, new airports, national high-speed rail
networks, connectivity for broken-down transportation systems
like that of New York.  This has not moved at all, because of
tremendous deference to Wall Street and the White House looking
to Wall Street — the worst possible place to look — Wall Street
and environs.  Private equity funds which claim to be setting up
infrastructure funds, all this sort of thing.  Looking entirely
in the wrong place for a large-scale investment in fundamentally
new infrastructure platforms in the United States.
We had a glaring example of this in regard to New York City
and the New York metropolitan area crisis just this week.  It was
announced that what I believe is the very first investment of the
Trump White House under the Transportation Infrastructure
Financing and Innovation Act — it’s called TIFIA.  For the
little bit of public funds from the Federal government that have
been going into transportation projects in the recent years,
TIFIA is a big deal in a very little pond.  The very first TIFIA
investment in transportation infrastructure under the Trump
administration was in Penn Station; and specifically the creation
of a second station across 8th Avenue from Penn Station in New
York.  To make a long story short, this development of a second
station, which is not trains, is not tunnels, is not bridges, is
not new routes, not new connectivity into high-speed rail going
into New England and going into the Northeast corridor south and
going West through New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  It’s not any of
those things; it’s a train station.  It’s only for some of these
lines, and it is merely one small part of what is really the
development of a huge shopping and office mall in this former
Post Office location directly across 8th Avenue from Penn
Station.  This is almost $600 million in this Federal investment
grant being combined with investments more or less ordered by the
various transportation agencies in the New York area, and a
significant investment by the state of New York, essentially in
order to create 850,000 square feet of new office and retail mall
space.
Now what’s going on with malls across the United States?
They’re going bankrupt.  So, what we’re creating here is an
immediate, new potential large-scale bankruptcy like the one that
just occurred with the public/private partnership for the Indiana
Toll Road; like the one that just occurred with the
public/private partnership for Route 130 in Texas, which just —
God bless it — emerged from bankruptcy for the second time under
a new private/public partnership which will soon go bankrupt for
the third time.  These projects which can’t even take tolls; not
even high tolls.  Even with those high tolls can still not meet
the rapacious demands of the private investment banks, private
equity funds, and the other Wall Street which want 10% return on
their investment annually; want all of their capital back in ten
years.  They simply cannot meet these demands, even with tolls
that drivers cannot pay.  This kind of failure is going on all
over the country of exactly this kind of large-scale investment
that we unfortunately just saw go into New York.
What is needed, clearly, is in the trillions; the $1
trillion is a low estimate of what is needed if the United States
were to stop the decline in per capita provision and use of
electricity and instead increase it again.  If it were to stop
the decline in all of the most productive forms of the use of
water, and instead increase it again by new water management,
water transfer, and even at the frontiers of technology, water
creation; that is, storm creation technologies, especially in the
West of the country.  If the United States were to stop the
decline in passenger rail and freight rail travel annually, and
instead build out an entirely new national high-speed rail
network.  If it were really to attack the problems of storm
management, or storm protection; the kind of thing which would
have prevented the ruination of the tunnels in the New York
subway and rail systems in the first place.  If they had been
able to have sea gates to stop the destruction wrought by
Hurricane Sandy, the replacement of water infrastructure
nationally with new infrastructure.  This clearly requires
trillions, and it requires trillions in a short period of time.
There is only one way that this can be attempted, and that is to
create a national credit institution which both attracts new
Federal credit and also attracts the investment of holders of
existing US Treasury debt, the investment of holders of municipal
debts, of state debts who want to put that in the way that
citizens did in the period of World War II into new war bonds;
who want to put that into a new bank created by Congress and make
a bank capable of issuing trillions of dollars in infrastructure
credit; and have it coming from sources already existing within
the Federal government at the same time, as well as the
participation of infrastructure bonding by state and municipal
agencies.  It is only through that kind of Hamiltonian national
credit issuance that, putting aside all the nonsense about
public/private partnerships or the idea that some in the Trump
administration had of an infrastructure bank which was really
more like a private/private partnership, a kind of giveaway to
organized capital in the United States in order to put it into a
bank which would reward them with tax credits equal to what they
were putting in, and then borrow and borrow and borrow on the
debt markets.  This kind of Wall Street scheme absolutely is
destructive, and results not simply in these repeated
bankruptcies, but actual destruction of infrastructure in the
country.
Clearly, that requires that Glass-Steagall be reinstated.
Why?  Take a look at the issuance of credit of China over the
last ten years.  It clearly has been driving the majority, and at
all times over that decade, a third or more of the growth in the
world.  It’s been doing that perhaps on the order of $10 trillion
or more in credit issued by the major public commercial banks in
China; what are sometimes called the policy banks, but they are
public, commercial banks.  Although the Chinese system is clearly
Helsomewhat different than ours, nonetheless commercial banking
is commercial banking; whether it’s being done by
government-backed banks or being done by commercial banks which
are entirely private.  Their publicly-backed commercial banks
have put $10 trillion or more in new credit into the development
of the Chinese economy.  Increasingly in the last two years, into
the projects that I was referencing in the beginning in other
countries along what they call the Belt and Road, the economic
Belt and the maritime Silk Road; which have now crossed into
Africa and are now crossing into the Middle East war zones to
reconstruct them.  Perhaps $400-500 billion is already invested
and committed outside China in the last two years by these major
banks.
Now, how have they done it?  Obviously during this period of
time, there have been some bubbles created in the Chinese economy
in real estate and so forth, bad debt of the same kind which
brought down the banking systems of the United States and Europe.
How have they avoided that?  First of all, the vast majority of
that new credit has gone into the most productive and most
productivity-generating investments; in particular, the platforms
of new infrastructure from nuclear power to fusion power research
to the dynamic space program and to the national high-speed rail
networks, the North-South water transfer, projects which have
changed the availability of water in the Chinese economy.  That’s
first of all.  Second of all, they have operated under a fairly
strict enforced Glass-Steagall regimen since January 1, 1995.
That has also enabled those banks to overcome the formation of
bad debt, the existence of bankruptcies, and to keep on issuing
this productive credit.  They have, despite this huge credit
issuance, stayed below 3% of the world’s banking systems’
exposure to derivatives.  Less than 3% of that exposure is in the
Chinese commercial banking system.  Their income, their revenue
has been overwhelmingly from loans, including 70% to 80% and more
of the annual revenue of all of these banks in comparison to half
or less than half of the income of the megabanks in the United
States coming from interest on loans.  That has indicated the
Glass-Steagall ordering of their banking system, and has enabled
them to keep doing this.
We have to reinstate Glass-Steagall here immediately in
order to put the commercial banking system of the United States
in a condition where it will make productive loans of that kind,
and in order to head off what is clearly now an approaching crash
on the order of, or greater than, 2008.  You have all sorts of
bankruptcies, not just public/private partnerships; all sorts of
bankruptcies rising fairly dramatically in the United States
after a tremendous issuance of credit to the banks, and by those
banks to the largest corporations and on the high interest debt
markets of other corporations, which have set them up for another
crash which is now approaching.  Just to give one example, it was
reported the day before yesterday that in Texas, which of course
brings together the central area of the shale oil and gas boom of
the last ten years and all of the companies associated with that,
along with retail chains and malls.  The rate of corporate
bankruptcies in the first six months of this year in Texas has
been an all-time record; much higher than even in 2009, the real
of the real, total collapse.  It has been about 50% higher than
the same period of time last year.  When you look at the auto
loan delinquencies rising rapidly, the credit card delinquencies
rising rapidly, the fact that the Federal government has just had
to restate its exposure to student debt in such a way that it
suddenly produced a deficit in June of nearly $100 billion in the
Federal budget in a month in which there is usually a surplus,
simply because of the losses coming from the write-off of
defaulted student debt.  This kind of a crash would not only
devastate our economy, it would also cause tremendous for the
international collaboration in development; which is really the
leading and positive feature of these summit meetings which have
occurred.
As the American people have been demanding, we have to
reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act.  Janet Yellen was asked about
this just yesterday again in her Senate testimony; and gave the
usual nonsense explanation that we should value highly the
Lehmann Brothers of the world, because because of Glass-Steagall,
she said, Lehmann Brothers failed.  Because of Glass-Steagall,
other investment banks failed.  Whereas, if we had not repealed
Glass-Steagall, they could be rescued by big commercial banks and
therefore, these Wall Street speculators could keep on doing what
they were doing.  But the question alone indicated that — the
question was from a Senator who asked her “Did we make a mistake
in repealing Glass-Steagall?” — indicates that that question is
still reverberating through Congress.  We have to get that
reinstated in order for the rest of this program which is our
objective, to work.  So, that’s what I would say about it, Matt.

OGDEN:  As you stated correctly yesterday, this is the major
weakness of the Trump administration at this point.  Even the
ability to follow through on these kinds of productive
relationships with China in terms of great projects and
infrastructure development is in jeopardy.  Not only because
you’re missing the entire mechanism to make that work in the form
of a national bank, but also because we’re flirting with disaster
as another financial crisis — potentially worse than 2008 — is
looming over the entire trans-Atlantic.

GALLAGHER: And all of the collaboration of the sort that we
just saw in Africa, if people can actually put themselves in that
situation; all of the collaboration that we saw there could be
replicated in terms of collaboration and development of, for
example, high-speed rail networks in the United States with the
Asian powers which are financing that in Africa and in other
areas of Asia.  But not if our policy is going to be one of no
national public funding, no national public credit institution.
There will be no way for those investments and that engineering
assistance to take place.

OGDEN:  It’s only now that China has actually even been able
to take off in terms of this global infrastructure program in the
way that it has wanted to.  As Bill Jones went through on this
program on Monday, despite the fact that it was all the way back
in 1991, 1994 that the Eurasian Land-Bridge idea was being
discussed in high-level circles in China with Helga Zepp-LaRouche
attending forums on this subject in Beijing in 1994.  We had two
major economic crises in the intervening period:  1997, but then
in a major way, 2008.  It’s only been since 2013 that Xi Jinping
has been able to get this program off the ground.  So, if you
look at this in the long term, you really are at a crucial
decision point for the entire globe on which this decision by the
Trump administration — are you going to follow through on this
promise you made in the campaign?  The future of a lot hinges on
that.  Frankly, with the kind of courage Trump has shown in the
face of the severity of the propaganda and attacks against him on
the Russia question, there is no excuse why he should not have
the same kind of courage in the face of Wall Street.  One
question is, as Mr. LaRouche identified it all the way back in
the transition period, what is the nefarious role that is being
played by Steve Mnuchin, for example, in undermining and
sabotaging what was clearly one of the issues on which the
American people voted in the Trump campaign; which was
Glass-Steagall and finally getting tough on Wall Street.

GALLAGHER:  You’ll remember as recently as a month or so
ago, in an interview, the President said some people want to go
back to the old Glass-Steagall system; we’re looking at that
right now.  That’s what he said.  Clearly, there is also strong
opposition from certain people in Congress who are in Wall
Street’s pocket in the Republican Party, and also from Mnuchin
and others in the administration who want to give Wall Street a
complete deregulation instead.  The President has been letting
those people have their way; and so of course, have the
Republican leadership in both Houses of Congress been kowtowing
in the extreme to the demands of Wall Street to take off
regulations, to let them again leverage up in the way that they
did right before the last crash where they got up to 30:1 and
35:1 debt leverage.  They want to have the capital requirements
lowered so they can leverage up again.  These kinds of demands
are being granted by the leadership in Congress and by the
President, when they have clearly said to the American people, we
want productivity; we want development to return; we want new
infrastructure development to return; we want to rebuild the
country.  They’re not doing it.  I would just emphasize that
those members of the House and the Senate in the order of 50 or
60 total who have put their names on Glass-Steagall legislation,
they have done so with large-scale petition drives being done by
constituency groups with which we’ve been working, which have put
them in a position to say “My constituents are demanding this;
and constituents across the country are demanding reinstating
Glass-Steagall.”  They moved from that, so it’s really up to us
to get this done and break through this combination of money and
fear and cowardice which is really letting Wall Street continue
to run this infrastructure issue.  They will absolutely destroy
what little remains of the infrastructure in the country; they
will make these breakdown crises as in New York and dam that
collapsed in California and the locks that are threatening to
collapse on our major waterways.  They will make them far worse
by their toll-looting schemes and their public/private
partnership schemes.  That’s got to be completely replaced by a
policy of Hamiltonian national credit; that’s the only thing that
will work.

OGDEN:  Exactly.  As Helga was saying when we spoke with her
earlier today, this is the strategic priority in terms of a
breakthrough on the domestic front in the United States; is
securing the kind of momentum necessary to force the
Glass-Steagall measure through, and to create the kind of
political environment in which it’s impossible to oppose
Glass-Steagall.  The kind of situation that is now hitting in New
York, we’ve now come into the official “Summer of Hell” as Jason
said in the beginning of that video; this creates the kind of
political conditions on the ground where you can really catalyze
at least a discussion of the type of infrastructure vision that
you need for the United States.  But this comes in the context of
what could potentially come out of a US-China cooperation on Silk
Road development, or the Belt and Road Initiative development.
As Jason said, you do have to really think in terms of at least
50 years into the future.  What is the kind of economic geometry
in which these current crises, these current projects fit?  And
the only form of economics which is based on that kind of
thinking, is what Hamilton came up with at the origination of the
United States:  This credit system which is fundamentally
different from the kind of monetarism which this public/private
partnership approach is based on. That’s the only kind of
philosophy which thinks in terms of 50-100-year returns in terms
of real physical wealth and real increases of productivity rather
than just accounting.

GALLAGHER:  There are people such as our friend Hal Cooper,
a very experienced and expert railroad engineer and planner, who
have exactly that kind of vision of how the now-collapsing
transit system around New York City could be transformed into
something in which the lines would not all be converging on Penn
Station and stopping there, and then going into tunnels and
gradually going back the other way — all of it at 10mph or less.
But rather, those transportation lines within the city would be
opening up and connecting directly into high-speed lines coming
out of that area, going to New York State and New England, going
west across the belt between New York and Chicago and the whole
high-speed planning area there; going down all the way to Florida
in the Northeast corridor.  That these kinds of directly flowing
connections which would make the transit system around New York
merely the major node, the biggest node in the country in a
continually connected national high-speed transportation network.
These kinds of plans do exist; they require — as I was saying
before — naturally they require a great deal of investment.
They don’t require a few hundred million dollars from here and
there and everywhere else into an office and shopping mall to
make a new train station.  They require serious, long-term, high
productivity building of the kind of transportation
infrastructure that we have nowhere in this country at this time.
That’s where Hamiltonian banking and credit comes in; and it’s
really the only thing that can make that possible.

OGDEN:  Well, thank you very much, Paul.  I know that your
last appearance on this program generated a lot of views on the
internet, and also a lot of questions.  I think a lot of the
viewers appreciated the opportunity to write in via the comments
on YouTube.

GALLAGHER:  I tried to answer some of them.

OGDEN:  You had the opportunity to answer them.  So, we
would invite people again; if you have questions for Paul, go
ahead and write them in the comments section on this YouTube
video.  Maybe we can do another follow-up video where it’s a
question and answer kind of session like that.  This is an
ongoing discussion, obviously; and we’ve got a lot of
responsibility on our shoulders to follow through on this policy
and to make this work.
So, thanks a lot, Paul, for joining us.

GALLAGHER:  Thank you.

OGDEN:  Thank you for watching; and please stay tuned to larouchepac.com.




POLITISK ORIENTERING den 13. juli 2017:
Trump-Putin succesmøde midt i tysk G20-fiasko.
Se også 2. del her.

Med formand Tom Gillesberg

»Velkommen til det fortsatte drama, hvor vi forhåbentlig er i gang med at skrive nye, meget mere spændende kapitler i menneskehedens historie; specielt på baggrund af det meget succesrige møde, der fandt sted i fredags mellem Donald Trump og Vladimir Putin, [i] kulissen af et ellers rimelig forfærdeligt G20-topmøde, der fandt sted i Hamborg. At rammerne for G20-topmødet var frygteligt, når det blev holdt i Tyskland, var ikke særlig overraskende. Der var ligesom blevet lagt op til – lang tid forinden, det sidste år, har man i Tyskland ikke snakket om andet, end at, nu skulle man få klimapolitikken tilbage på dagsordenen; det her skulle være mødet, hvor vi ligesom skulle re-fokusere, komme væk fra det her med diskussion om økonomi og udvikling og alt det her pjat, som Kina snakker om, og så komme tilbage til det, der virkelig betyder noget, nemlig, hvorledes vi kan få lagt skatter og afgifter på og reduceret menneskets aktiviteter her på jorden, således, at vi kan mindske mængden af CO₂ i atmosfæren; ja, ikke menneskemængden af CO₂ i atmosfæren, for det har vi mennesker jo ikke rigtig magt til at gøre måske; men i hvert fald måske reducere den menneskelige udledning af CO₂ med en eller anden brøkdel, og på den måde, håber vi, måske påvirke Jordens klima om hundrede år. Som jo er hele denne klimadagsorden, som har fyldt ufattelig meget, og som det jo var meningen skulle overtage alt her ved COP15-mødet her i København i 2009, og det skete heldigvis ikke. Og vi her på kontoret er meget stolte af, at vi var meget aktive desangående; at vi stod ude i bitter kulde foran Bellacentret og uddelte flyveblade i hobetal om, at det, klimadagsordenen drejede sig om, det var ikke at forbedre Jordens klima; det var at reducere antallet af mennesker her på Jorden. At det her var god, gammeldags malthusiansk politik; at man brugte CO₂ som en undskyldning for at sige, at vi skulle begrænse den menneskelige aktivitet her på Jorden; at vi skulle forhindre udvikling … «

Hør mere:

Video 2. del:

Lyd:




USA-RUSLAND-KINA SAMARBEJDE
OM ET NYT PARADIGME.
Nyhedsorientering juli 2017

Som mange deltagere i og iagttagere af verdensbegivenhederne for længst har opdaget, så er størstedelen af de gængse nyheder »fake news«, der primært har til formål at aflede opmærksomheden fra de store problemer, som verden står overfor, og frem for alt de løsninger, der findes til dem: Det nye paradigme, som LaRouche-bevægelsen og Schiller Instituttet har kæmpet for i næsten et halvt århundrede, og som Kina med russisk og international opbakning har præsenteret som Bælte & Vej Initiativet. Med Trumps succesrige møde med Putin ved G20-topmødet i Hamborg er muligheden for en aktiv amerikansk deltagelse i dette russisk-kinesiske samarbejde for fred ved at blive en reel mulighed. Den manglende dækning af disse revolutionerende begivenheder kan dette nyhedsbrev forhåbentlig være med til at råde bod på – inklusiv nyheden om den danske støtte til Bælte & Vej Initiativet, som Karen Ellemann udtrykte på statsministerens vegne (se bagsiden) ved den historiske konference i Beijing den 14.- 15. maj, og som de danske medier har forbigået i tavshed.

Download (PDF, Unknown)




International konference i New York:
Mad for Fred, 7. juli, 2017

(Denne introduktionstekst forekommer på invitationen til konferencen):

Efter sin tale som deltager i Topmødet for Globale Tænketanke under Bælte & Vej Forum i Beijing, 14.-15. maj, sagde Helga Zepp-LaRouche, stifter og formand for Schiller Instituttet, i et interview til Shanghai Daily:

»Jeg mener, at Bælte & Vej Initiativet betyder et revolutionerende skridt hen imod en ny epoke i civilisationen. Ideen om at have win-win-samarbejde mellem nationer er første gang, et konkret koncept for at overvinde geopolitik er blevet fremsat.

Eftersom geopolitik var årsagen til de to verdenskrige, mener jeg, det er et fuldstændig nyt paradigme for tankegang, hvor en idé, der fremsættes af ét land, samtidig vil have den nationale interesse i overensstemmelse med hele menneskehedens interesse. Dette er aldrig tidligere sket.

Dette har indgydt et enormt håb blandt udviklingslandene om, at de har en mulighed for at overvinde fattigdom og underudvikling. Og jeg mener, dette er et initiativ, der vil vokse, indtil alle kontinenterne er forbundne gennem infrastruktur og udvikling.«

I samarbejde med Kinas Energifondskomite og Fonden for Genoplivelse af Klassisk Kultur, afholder Schiller Instituttet en konference i New York City fredag, den 7. juli, 2017. Vi vil bringe sammen, landbrugsledere, forskere og ingeniører inden for landbrug og politiske og diplomatiske, officielle personer fra hele USA, ledere fra Kina og fra andre nationer. Opgaven bliver at formulere en politik for fødevareproduktion og handel – i kølvandet på gennembruddet med Bælte & Vej Forum i Beijing i maj, 2017 – for omgående og radikalt at UDVIDE den globale fødevareproduktion og brødføde verden, katalyseret gennem den mest avancerede, 21. århundredes nuklear- og satellitteknologi.

Den amerikanske økonom og videnskabsmand, Lyndon LaRouche, der for 29 år siden var den oprindelige ophavsmand til konceptet og politikken med den »økonomiske udviklingskorridor« – i dag kendt som Verdenslandbroen – erklærede i sin rapport fra 1983, ’Der er ingen grænser for vækst’, at nationer nu, med de eksisterende teknologier, har evnen til at producere tilstrækkelig med fødevarer af høj kvalitet til at brødføde 25 mia. mennesker, med en sund kost!

Han påpegede desuden, at Afrikas udvikling er af strategisk betydning – dvs., af strategisk betydning for Asien og for hele verdens befolkning. Hr LaRouche forklarede dernæst de detaljerede politikker for at virkeliggøre Afrikas potentiale for at blive både hele verdens »brødkurv« og et center for videnskab og rumforskning.

I dag, hvor 100 nationer aktivt deltager i Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ, er Vejen åben for at gøre netop dette!

Billede: »Fields of Gold«, af kunstneren Jane Small.




»Det nye navn for fred er økonomisk udvikling«.
LaRouche PAC Internationale Webcast,
7. juli, 2017

Vært Matthew Ogden: Jeg vil gerne indlede med at fortælle vore seere, at, i dag er en meget historisk dag. Vi har endnu ikke fået de fulde rapporter om alt, der er sket; men vi har i dag set to meget vigtige konferencer, der finder sted, mens vi taler. Én af dem er naturligvis G20-topmødet i Hamborg, Tyskland, og den anden er konferencen (Schiller Instituttet, Kinesisk Energifond, Fonden for Genoplivelse af Klassisk Kultur), der finder sted i New York her i USA. Sidstnævnte er selvfølgelig konferencen med den meget passende titel, »Mad for Fred; Mad for Mennesker; Mad for Tankerne. Det nye navn for fred er økonomisk udvikling«; der, som jeg sagde, er sponsoreret i fællesskab af Schiller Instituttet, Kinesisk Energifond og Fonden for Genoplivelse af Klassisk Kultur. Vi vil i aftenens show vise videoen med Helga Zepp-LaRouches hovedtale på denne konference.

Men før vi kommer til det, så finder dagens anden, potentielt verdenshistoriske begivenhed sted på sidelinjerne af G20-topmødet i Hamborg, Tyskland. Selve G20-topmødet er relativt betydningsløst, sammenlignet med det langt vigtigere og større møde mht. potentiel signifikans, der fandt sted lidt tidligere i dag, mellem præsident Trump fra USA og præsident Putin fra Rusland. Og dette er, som jeg sagde, langt større mht. dets potentielle signifikans. Dette var muligheden for, at præsident Putin og præsident Trump kunne have deres første, regulære møde ansigt til ansigt. Ifølge nyhedsrapporteringer varede dette topmøde – der, som jeg sagde, var den første mulighed for disse to præsidenter at mødes ansigt til ansigt – over to en halv time. Det var kun meningen, mødet skulle vare 30minutter; men det faktum, at det fortsatte så lang tid – 2,5 time – er allerede og i sig selv et meget potentielt godt tegn. Det er tydeligvis en lovende udvikling; og uanset indholdet af denne drøftelse – som bestemt vil være meget signifikant; men, uanset dette, så varsler muligheden for USA’s og Ruslands præsidenter at mødes ansigt til ansigt, og at skabe en direkte, personlig relation, godt for fred og stabilitet for hele verden, men også for relationerne mellem disse to lande og for skabelsen af en sund relation uden andres mellemkomst mellem disse to verdensledere. Og på trods af alle forsøg i de seneste uger på at sabotere potentialet for dette møde, så holdt det, og det fandt sted. Vi har endnu ikke modtaget de fulde rapporter om drøftelserne.

Vi ved, at der kun var seks personer, der deltog; så dette var en meget personlig mulighed for Trump og Putin til at udvikle denne form for arbejdsrelation. Mødet bestod af USA’s udenrigsminister Rex Tillerson, Ruslands udenrigsminister Sergei Lavrov, de to tolke – den russiske og den engelske – og så selvfølgelig, de to præsidenter. Dette blev tilsyneladende gjort for at gøre det muligt for diskussionen at være meget åben, meget fri, og meget fokuseret på at maksimere det positive potentiale, som denne historiske mulighed bød på. Selve mødet indledtes med korte bemærkninger fra begge præsidenter til pressen, der fik lov at komme ind i lokalet lige i begyndelsen. Der var fotomuligheder, mens de trykkede hinanden i hånden, og de sagde, at de begge så frem til en meget grundig og positiv diskussion. Trump sagde det følgende:

»Præsident Putin og jeg har diskuteret forskellige ting, og jeg synes, det går meget godt. Vi ser frem til, at der vil ske en masse positive ting for Rusland og for USA, og for alle andre berørte.«

Dernæst fulgte præsident Putin op på disse bemærkninger:

»Vi har talt sammen over telefon, men telefonsamtaler er afgjort aldrig nok. Jeg håber, at, som De sagde«, med henvisning til præsident Trumps bemærkninger, »vore møder vil give positive resultater.«

Dette møde mellem de to præsidenter fulgte efter et timelangt møde tidligere på dagen mellem udenrigsministrene Tillerson og Lavrov, hvor de, iflg. rapporter, diskuterede potentialet for en antiterror-koalition mellem Rusland og USA; med nogle detaljer mht. situationen i Syrien og præsident Assad. Nogle af detaljerne i denne foreslåede plan blev afsløret i pressen i går og i dag. Planen inkluderede såkaldte »sikre zoner« og tilsyneladende også en aftale om at gøre det muligt for præsident Assad at forblive ved magten; men dernæst at gå frem med en diplomatisk løsning på situationen dér. Men der er heller ikke blevet rapporteret eller afsløret nogen detaljer om dette møde mellem udenrigsministrene Lavrov og Tillerson. Men det anses selvfølgelig generelt som forberedelse til drøftelserne mellem Trump og Putin.

Bortset fra det, så har G20-topmødet været temmelig domineret af meget voldsomme protester og aktivitet fra uropolitiet uden for topmødet i Hamborg; og, på selve topmødet, af diskussioner om frihandel og klimaforandring. Men betydningen af de bilaterale møder, der finder sted på sidelinjerne, er naturligvis langt vigtigere end nogen diskussion, der finder sted på selve G20-møderne. En positiv indikation er imidlertid, at der tydeligvis er gang i noget mht. relationen mellem Tyskland og Kina. Helga Zepp-LaRouche sagde, da vi talte med hende for ca. 30 min. siden, at hun ser noget meget positivt, der finder sted i retning af kinesisk-tysk samarbejde om Afrikas udvikling. Kinas præsident Xi Jinping benyttede lejligheden af sit besøg i Tyskland for at deltage i dette G20-topmøde, til at få et regulært møde med Tysklands kansler Angela Merkel, og hvor de underskrev en aftale om i fællesskab at bygge et vandkraftværk i Angola. Under den fælles pressekonference efter mødet sagde Xi Jinping:

»Vi fejrer i år 45-året for relationen mellem Tyskland og Kina. Det er en succeshistorie. Vi står nu over for en ny begyndelse, hvor vi har brug for nye gennembrud.«

Helga Zepp-LaRouche sagde:

»Dette er tydeligvis begyndelsen til noget, der potentielt er meget positivt mht. de bilaterale relationer mellem Tyskland og Kina, men også mht. den idé, at Tyskland spiller en meget positiv rolle med at deltage i de udviklingsprojekter, som Kina allerede bygger i Afrika.«

Xi sagde, at Kina er parat til at gå sammen med Tyskland for at konsolidere den gensidige tillid mellem de to lande; opbygge mere konsensus og fremme samarbejde og forbundethed (konnektivitet).

Helga Zepp-LaRouches analyse af dette var, at der tydeligvis var åbnet op for noget; og dette kommer i hælene på Bælte & Vej Forum, der fandt sted i Beijing i midten af maj. Selv om Tyskland ikke spillede noget særlig positiv eller aktiv rolle på dette forum, så sagde Helga, at,

»De er tydeligvis ikke så dumme, at de ikke kan se, hvad vej vinden blæser. Hvis de ikke springer med på vognen nu, vil de blive efterladt i mørket. Udviklingen af Afrika er tydeligvis en mulighed for Tyskland og andre lande i hele verden til at deltage i disse fordelagtige tredjeverdensrelationer med Kina og de afrikanske nationer.«

Én meget interessant udvikling på denne front er et andet topmøde, der finder sted samtidig med G20-topmødet i Tyskland, og det er Schiller Institut/Kinesisk Energifond-konferencen, der finder sted i New York City. Dette er et topmøde under den Afrikanske Union; og hovedtalen på dette topmøde blev holdt af FN’s vicegeneralsekretær, en kvinde ved navn Amina Mohammed, der er tidligere nigeriansk regeringsminister. I sine bemærkninger til denne konference under den Afrikanske Union kom hun med en meget vigtig henvisning til den rolle, som Kina spiller gennem Bælte & Vej Initiativet for at bringe udvikling til det afrikanske kontinent. Hun opmuntrede alle nationerne i den Afrikanske Union til at »benytte sig« af denne massive, kinesiske regeringsinvestering og infrastrukturprojekter, der har gjort det muligt for disse lande at begynde at bevæge sig, med spring fremad, forbi den tvungne tilbageståenhed, der var blevet dem påtvunget gennem århundreders kolonialisme og imperiepolitik. I sin tale roste Amina Mohammed »Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ, der tilsigter at bygge en Ny Silkevej, bestående af havne, jernbaner og veje for at udvide handels-konnektivitet i hele Asien, Afrika og Europa«, iflg. nyhedsrapporteringer. Hun sagde, »Dette er en mulighed for ikke alene at give alternativer for at gøre skydevåbnene tavse for vort folk, men en mulighed, der vil bevare vore aktiver – både menneskelige og naturlige – på kontinentet og bygge vort i morgen, i dag.« Dette er en meget vigtig bemærkning fra FN’s vicegeneralsekretær, og vi ved, at Antonio Guterres, FN’s generalsekretær, havde meget positive bemærkninger, som han udtalte om Bælte & Vej Initiativet på tærsklen til Bælte & Vej Forum i Beijing.

Dette fører os direkte til den konference, der finder sted, mens vi taler, i New York City. Denne konference, der fandt sted parallelt med et møde i FN om sikkerhed for fødevareforsyning og bæredygtighed i landbruget, blev adresseret i fællesskab af Helga Zepp-LaRouche – og vi vil afspille hendes bemærkninger om et øjeblik – men også af Patrick Ho, der er viceformand for Kinesisk Energifondskomiteen. Han havde netop talt i FN sammen med en meget stor kinesisk delegation af kinesiske landbrugseksperter, den foregående dag, i går. Han holdt en tale, der stemte meget godt overens med den tale, han holdt tidligere på dagen på denne begivenhed i New York, sponsoreret af Schiller Instituttet. Den tale, han holdt, var – iflg. rapporter – en meget anti-Malthus-tale om potentialet for en hurtig udvikling af bæredygtigt landbrug, for at brødføde den konstant voksende befolkning på denne planet. Noget, der naturligvis direkte tilbageviser argumentet i Malthus-traditionen, og som er kommet fra Det britiske Imperium så længe. Men med de rapporter fra denne konference, der stadig finder sted, mens vi taler, så er der 175 deltagere; diplomatiske delegationer fra diverse lande i hele verden via deres konsulater i New York City; aktivister, der deltager; folk fra diverse colleges i omegnen af New York City; og den officielle repræsentation fra den kinesiske delegation og fra en landbrugsdelegation, der er kommet tilrejsende fra USA’s Midtvesten. Denne konference åbnedes med bemærkninger fra den tidligere borgmester af Muscatine, Iowa, som personligt overbragte hilsner til konferencen; men dernæst gav han deltagerne på konferencen en slags lektion i baggrundshistorien om, hvorfor Iowa-Kina-porten er så afgørende for amerikansk-kinesiske relationer. Meget af dette drejer sig om præsident Xi Jinpings personlige relation til staten Iowa og byen Muscatine pga. hans interesse for landbrugsmetoder i USA i den tid, hvor Xi Jinping var provinsguvernør i Kina. Han havde således et personligt bånd til staten Iowa, men også til den tidligere guvernør Terry Branstad, der nu er USA’s ambassadør til Kina. Efter borgmesteren af Muscatines bemærkninger holdt Patrick Ho sin tale; og dette efterfulgtes så direkte af Helga Zepp-LaRouches hovedtale.

Jeg vil nu gerne give jer lejlighed til selv at høre de bemærkninger, som Helga Zepp-LaRouche kom med til denne konference, og som fik en meget varm modtagelse og bragte hele diskussionsniveauet op på et meget højt niveau mht. de muligheder, der ligger forude, for at konsolidere dette Nye Paradigme i internationale relationer; især med muligheden for fuldt og helt at bringe USA ind i en deltagelse i den Nye Silkevej.

Her følger Helga Zepp-LaRouches bemærkninger:

(Her følger resten af webcastet på engelsk).          

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE

: Dear conference participants, I feel
very honored to address you, even if it is by video, because I
think we are all aware that we are involved in the historically,
extremely important process of trying to improve the relationship
between the United States and China, in the context of the Belt
and Road Initiative. This is especially important in the area of
agriculture and food production, because this is an extremely
urgent question. Because, while at the G20 meeting in Hangzhou
last year, China and all the other participating nations devoted
themselves to eradicate poverty by the year 2020, we have not yet
reached that goal. Just a couple of days ago, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization put out a report that world hunger is on
the rise, and that the situation, especially in Yemen, is
terrible: Half or more of the population is in acute danger of
starvation; but also in Nigeria and South Sudan and many other
areas, the situation is worsening.
Well, today, there is also the G20 summit in Hamburg, and
the outcome will be a surprise, either way, because until last
year’s G20 in Hangzhou, which was very harmonious and
characterized by a great optimism for the future of mankind, this
time the tensions are very high. In the last couple of days
however, there was a sort of prelude in the form of a summit
between President Putin and President Xi Jinping in Moscow, which
was really extremely important, and both characterized it as the
most important event of the year for their nation. They deepened
the strategic partnership, they established an even deeper level
of their personal friendship, and they declared that the time of
the unipolar world is over, because of the strategic partnership,
especially.
This is certainly true, that the time of the unipolar world
is over, but multi-polarity is still not the solution, because it
implies still geopolitics, which was the cause of two world wars
in the 20th century, and this geopolitics is still in operation,
in North Korea, in Syria, in Ukraine.
We must therefore find a higher level. We must get the world
to what President Xi Jinping always calls “the community for a
shared future of humanity.” One big step in that direction could
be the meeting President Trump and President Putin, who are
meeting today for the first time as Presidents. Obviously, this
is a very important step because, between President Trump and
President Xi Jinping, a very positive relationship has been
established already, so whatever comes out of this Trump-Putin
meeting is very, very crucial. Because the questions we have to
solve are urgent and dramatic.
The food crisis, the hunger crisis which I mentioned is only
a symptom of the fact that the old economic model is not
functioning any more. We are sitting on a powder-keg crisis which
erupted in 2008, which could come back with a vengeance, only
much, much worse. Because even a slight increase in the interest
rate, moving away from quantitative easing could lead to a
blowout of the corporate debt. Now, the firms which got the zero
interest rate liquidity from the central banks, the quantitative
easing, used this money, not to invest in productive investment,
but for so-called financial engineering by buying up their own
stocks to make it look better on the books, having more nominal
value but also increasing the corporate debt which could now
could blow out if there is an increase in the interest rate.
And that is only one aspect of the systemic crisis which we
still have. The other one is the so-called level 3 derivatives
which many European and other banks are sitting on. Level 3
derivatives are those, which no market … because you can’t sell
them, and the banks still keep them as assets, which really is a
sort of mega-fall [ph 5.03].
So the problem is that just yesterday, the fourth largest
bank in Italy was taken over by the government, and combined with
a bail-in, whereby the customers could only sell their bonds and
stocks at 18 cents to the euro, and that is a threat which is
hanging over the entire banking system.
Now, what could be done to solve that? Well, let’s look at
one other aspect of the crisis: Just a couple of days ago, in one
single day, 80,000 refugees arrived from Libya in little boats,
being picked up by NGOs in Italy. Eighty thousand people in one
day overstretches the capacity of any country, and Italy has
already taken in so many million people. So when they requested
that other countries located on the Mediterranean like Spain and
France should also take some of these refugees, these countries
rejected that.
Now that obviously shows there is no unity in the European
Union on this question.
Now how could you address this whole series of problems?
What should actually be on the agenda of the G20 in Hamburg?
Well, if you would put a global Glass-Steagall separation on the
agenda, doing exactly what Franklin D. Roosevelt did in 1933, by
separating the commercial banks and the investment banks, putting
the commercial banks under state protection, writing off the
non-performing the derivatives of the investment banks, and then
going to a Hamiltonian credit system by setting up national banks
in every country and issuing large-scale, low-interest rate
credits, then we could solve the problem.
Mr. LaRouche has defined Four Laws to remedy the financial
crisis and the Fourth Law is the crash program for the
realization of thermonuclear fusion power. And there, the good
news is that China just accomplished a major breakthrough in this
respect, with its [EAST] tokomak in Hefei where they reached a
so-called “steady-state H-mode operation” for 101.2 seconds. This
is a major step towards the realization of thermonuclear fusion.
If such a reorganization according to these Four Laws,
Glass-Steagall, national bank, credit system, crash program for
fusion and space technology would be implemented, then the
trans-Atlantic countries could cooperate with such banks as the
AIIB, the New Development Bank, and others, together with China,
and build up, for example, Africa. China is so far the only
country which has done something to fight the root causes of the
refugee crisis, by investing large-scale in rail lines in Africa,
in dams, in power plants, in industrial parks, and in
agriculture. And this is actually, the only way to solve the
refugee crisis in a human way.
One promising step in this right direction is that between
President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Merkel, yesterday they agreed
that they will build together the hydropower complex in Angola,
and stated that that could be a model for the cooperation between
China and Germany in Africa in general.
Now, the Africans, because of what China has been doing, in
building up huge industrial complexes for the first time in
Africa, they have a new sense of self-confidence and they’re
telling the Europeans, “we don’t want to have your sermons on how
we should have good governance, we want to have investments in
infrastructure, in manufacture, in agriculture, as equal business
partners.”
Can we expect the G20 to do this, to go in this direction of
a global reorganization of the financial system and then go for a
real intervention in the development of Africa? Well, I’m afraid
they will not.
But this will remain the issue which has to be accomplished.
The Four Laws of Lyndon LaRouche, and to get the United States
and European countries to cooperate with China in the Belt and
Road Initiative, in the New Silk Road, is, indeed, the approach
how you can tackle all problems in the world. But this
conference, the Food for Peace conference is a very important
step in this direction. As a matter of fact, to get the United
States and China to work together on the New Silk Road
perspective, in the New Silk Road spirit, is in my view the most
important aspect in this process: Because if the two largest
economies can work together, I think we are on the right way to
win for all of civilization.
Therefore, let’s work together to join the Chinese dream,
and to revive the American dream, because the American dream
needs to be revived, because it has almost been forgotten. But
together, we can accomplish the dream for all of humanity.

OGDEN:  So, we will have much more coverage of the conference in
New York after it concludes.  That was Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s
keynote to that conference; “Development Is the New Name for
Peace”.  As I said, there is a very significant delegation from
China which attended that conference in New York City.  This just
testifies all the more to the role that the LaRouche movement is
playing here in the United States to being the leading mediator
in terms of the relationship which is being forged between these
two great countries.  The idea originally came out of Lyndon and
Helga LaRouche’s initiative for the Eurasian Land-Bridge; and the
role that the LaRouche movement played could not be any more
critical in terms of making that happen, and making that into a
reality.  We are definitely making steps along that road, but as
you heard Helga LaRouche say, it is crucial that we make some
very important breakthroughs here in the United States in order
to allow that to occur; including a full-scale adoption of the
Hamiltonian economic program that was spelled out by Lyndon
LaRouche in that Four Economic Laws.  This is the prerequisite to
the United States being able to accomplish the kinds of
developmental miracles that China has demonstrated over the last
15-20 years.
Emphatically, that begins with the restoration of
Glass-Steagall.  The news out of Italy with the nationalization
of Monte dei Paschi Bank just emphasizes evermore crucially how
fragile the entire trans-Atlantic system is right now.  We are by
no means in the clear, despite the fraudulent claims that have
been coming out of the Federal Reserve over the last few days.
We are definitely still on the cusp of what could be a far
greater crash than what we experienced in 2008.  As Helga
mentioned in those remarks, a lot of this is coming from the
build-up in the corporate debt bubble and in other means.  You
still have the life expectancy crisis across the United States;
you’ve got the opiate addiction crisis across the United States.
We have some new developments in terms of the statistics in that
regard that have just come in today.  But this is appalling, and
it could not be more urgent that this initiative be taken.
We do know that there was a press availability at 1pm this
afternoon in the break between the two panels at this conference
in New York City.  Diane Sare was representing the LaRouche
movement; and as we have been told, there were some pretty
significant press involvement.  So, we will look forward to
seeing some coverage of this conference that happened up in New
York; and we’ll have a much fuller report for you after that
concludes.
Let me just finish the broadcast here today by paraphrasing
for you some remarks that Helga LaRouche had just about 30
minutes ago when we spoke with her, after she had the chance to
view the proceedings of that conference and also to review some
of the outcomes of the G-20 that have been occurring over the
course of the daytime hours today.  She said look, there are very
clearly positive developments that are occurring.  We could list
them, but as we’ve seen just today, some of these developments
are very positive for the future stability [among] these three
great countries — China, Russia, and India; but also in terms of
the relationship for building the future.  But, she said, people
should be no means become complacent or satisfied.  Things are
very clearly moving in our direction, the direction of the ideas
of a New Paradigm; but we need much bigger breakthroughs in every
respect on the road towards that New Paradigm.  Nothing has been
consolidated.  Clearly the world is inclined in that direction,
and you could read into the relationship between Germany and
China, saying these countries are now beginning to realize what
is the dominant dynamic on this planet.  But, we are by no means
there yet; we have not reached the goal.  There is still a long
ways to go until that new reality is safely and securely
consolidated.  In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do;
especially as we begin to realize the magnitude of the impact
that the ideas of the LaRouche movement have had on world
history.  We also have to become very sober and clear-eyed about
what this means our responsibilities are at this moment.  They
are on a far greater scale than we have ever had, as we reflect
on the magnitude of the opportunities that these recent
developments pose to us as a movement, and to humanity.  She said
this — again — is no time for complacency; everything can fall
into place.  Or, everything could fall apart.
So, I think that’s a very active picture of a very rapidly
changing world situation, as we have it right now.  These
simultaneous summits — the G-20 in Germany and the conference
that’s happening in New York — I think are very important
crossroads; a very important conjunctural turning point in terms
of the opportunity for consolidating this vision of a new
relation between the great powers on this planet.  We have yet
to, I think, have the full report of what has come out of both of
these two summits.  So, on that note, I would like to encourage
you to please stay tuned to the LaRouche PAC website, because we
will definitely have an analysis and a full reading on what has
come out of the events as they’ve proceeded today.  I can let you
know that as we look forward to next week, the Monday update on
this website, our regular Monday afternoon Policy Committee show,
will feature an interview with Bill Jones, who is the EIR
Washington bureau chief and has accompanied Helga Zepp-LaRouche
on many of her trips to China over the recent few months and
years.  So, we’ve invited Bill Jones to come into the studio to
give his exclusive view and perspective on what the outcome of
these events over this weekend will have been as we reach the
beginning of next week.  So, we encourage you to tune in again
for our show here next Monday, and in the meantime, stay tuned to
larouchepac.com and we’ll be sending out updates as we get them.
Thank you for watching here today, and please stay tuned.




Xi-Putin topmøde udvikler spændende perspektiver
for kinesisk-russisk økonomisk samarbejde

5. juli, 2017 – Gid andre møder mellem internationale ledere var lige så lovende for deres nationers befolkninger, som det netop afsluttede topmøde mellem Xi Jinping og Putin!

De 40 bilaterale aftaler, der blev underskrevet, drejede sig om alt fra landbrug til samarbejde inden for Bælte & Vejs globale udviklingsinitiativ, med et par private kontrakter, der også blev underskrevet på sidelinjerne af topmødet. For at støtte disse økonomiske udviklingsinitiativer, gav præsidenterne deres støtte til aftalen mellem den Russiske Direkte Investeringsfond og Kinas Udviklingsbank, for at skabe en fælles investeringsfond på næsten $10 mia. (65 mia. yuan). Præsident Putin rapporterede, at de også havde aftalt »at fortsætte med konsultationer om den udvidede anvendelse af vore nationale valutaer i gensidige transaktioner og i investering«, og at de havde »sat sig den opgave mere aktivt at udvikle kreditsfæren og den finansielle sfære, samt samarbejdet i dette felt«.

Højteknologi og videnskabeligt samarbejde stod højt på deres dagsorden. Under deres pressekonference bagefter, nævnte Putin den succesfulde konstruktion af den første enhed af Tianwan-kernekraftværket (den største i drift i Kina, bygget med russisk teknologi) og sagde, at endnu to enheder ville komme i drift i 2018. De to præsidenter instruerede ligeledes det russiske atomenergiagentur Rosatom »om at underskrive en pakke af dokumenter om fire projekter for kernekraftværker i Kina før udgangen af 2017«, rapporterer Sputnik.

»I dag har vi særligt fokuseret på højteknologiske industrier – primært fælles rumforskning. Vi arbejder på det næste rumprogram for 2018-2022«, rapporterede Putin ligeledes.

Idet han nævnte Moskva-Kazan-højhastighedsjernbaneprojektet som blandt de fælles hovedprojekter, sagde Putin ligeledes, at de to havde drøftet »lokaliteten for rullende materielfremstilling i Rusland«.

Han rejse også spørgsmål om voksende videnskabelige og uddannelsesmæssige bånd mellem Rusland og Kina, og der er 17.000 russiske studenter i Kina, som præsidenten ser vokse til 100.000 studenterudvekslinger frem til 2020. For eksempel vil det første russisk-kinesiske universitet begynde at optage sine første studerende i september måned.

Under deres fælles pressebriefing understregede Putin atter engang, at deres fælles, økonomiske projekter udgør en del af deres bestræbelser for at »forbinde aktiviteterne i den Eurasiske Økonomiske Union med det kinesiske initiativ for det Økonomiske Silkevejsbælte«, som de diskuterede »i dybden … i overensstemmelse med vores idé om at danne et bredt, eurasisk partnerskab«.

Putin forklarede:

»Vi se et stort potentiale i den fælles anvendelse af den Nordlige Søfartsrute og den Transsibiriske Jernbane og Baikal-Amur-jernbanen. Dette er i vid udstrækning i overensstemmelse med vore kinesiske partneres initiativer, der blev drøftet under det nylige Bælte & Vej Internationale Forum i Kina. Den kinesiske leders initiativ fortjener omhyggelig opmærksomhed og vil blive støttet af Rusland på enhver måde.

Jeg er overbevist om, at disse storstilede projekter vil resultere i intensiv handel, moderne produktion og jobs og den hastige udvikling af russiske og kinesiske områder.«




Vi venter spændt – Vær forberedt på store ting forude

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 5. juli, 2017 – Der er en fornemmelse af, at verden ’venter i spænding’ lige nu, i forventning om de begivenheder, der vil finde sted under Gruppen af 20’s møde i Hamborg, Tyskland, den 7.-8. juli. Det er bestemt ikke, fordi der er grund til at antage, at et mirakel vil falde ned fra himlen og redde dagen. Sandsynligheden taler for en formel overtapetsering af rådne splinter og politikker. Men personer og kræfter er i gang for at fremtvinge en forandring til det gode.

Der er ingen tid at spilde; farerne er store. Som den russiske præsident Vladimir Putin for nylig sagde under Skt. Petersborg Internationale Økonomiske Forum, »vi må ikke – har ikke ret til at – spilde vores tid og indsats på skænderier, fejder og geopolitiske lege«. Dette blev citeret sidste fredag af den russiske udenrigsminister Sergei Lavrov ved et arrangement i Moskva (Primakov-forum), hvor han sagde: »Det, vi har brug for, er vise og afbalancerede fremgangsmåder …«

Netop nu haster dette med hensyn til situation med Nordkorea, hvor FN’s Sikkerhedsråd skal mødes i dag under Kinas formandskab. Den kinesiske præsident Xi Jinping og Putin påbød i går deres udenrigsministre at udstede en politisk erklæring om, hvad man skulle gøre med henblik på en god løsning.

Præsident Xi gør sin del i nedtællingen til Gruppen af 20. I Tyskland udgav han den 4. juli en artikel, der kom i mainstreammedierne, med titlen, »At gøre verden til et bedre sted«. Dette skete forud for hans møde med kansler Angela Merkel og andre tyske ledere. Xi erklærede, at »Bælt & Vej Forum for Internationalt Samarbejde, der for nylig fandt sted i Beijing, har til formål at fremskynde samspillet mellem udviklingsstrategier og forbundethed« nationerne imellem, og at »det kimer med temaet for dette års Hamborg-topmøde, ’At forme den indbyrdes forbundne verden’. Bælte & Vej Initiativet og G20-samarbejde kunne komplementere og forstærke hinanden …« Xi sagde, at Kina håber at arbejde sammen med alle parter ved Hamborg-topmødet, for global vækst.

I Xinhuas kinesisk-sprogede dækning af den efterfølgende debat i Tyskland over Xis bemærkninger, citeredes Helga Zepp-LaRouche, der blev beskrevet som »formand og stifter af Tysklands kendte tænketank, Schiller Instituttet«. Hun støttede kraftigt Xis bestræbelser for at bygge et »fællesskab for en fælles skæbne«, og hun understregede også betydningen af Bælte & Vej Internationale Samarbejdstopmøde. Desuden sagde Helga Zepp-LaRouche: »Udviklingen af Afrika er et af de vigtige spørgsmål ved G20-topmødet. Kina har i realiteten løst flygtningeproblemet ved kilden, gennem investeringer og byggeri af jernbaner, dæmninger, kraftværker, industriparker og uddannelse af den afrikanske arbejdsstyrke. Hvis Europa vil løse flygtningekrisen på en human måde, bør det blive involveret i ’at bygge hele vejen’«. (Groft oversat fra Xinhua-nyhedstelegrammet, der også optræder i Sina, på CGTN og på det kinesiske Forsvarsministeriums site.)

Manglen på handling i ånden fra Bælte & Vej dukker på dramatisk vis op i mange situationer. Se på New York City. Mandag, den 10. juli, starter »Smertens-sommeren«, hvor linjer vil blive taget ud ved Penn Station for at udføre reparationer, der er gået over tiden, men der er ingen overordnet plan for hele området, og heller ingen nødforholdsregler for befolkningen. Samme tid, næste uge, kunne være fuld af kaos, hysteri og lidelse.

Og alligevel har Transportministeriet netop trukket sin repræsentant ud af bestyrelsen for »Gateway-projektet«, et fortjenstfuldt program om byggeri af nye overgange over Hudsonfloden mellem New Jersey og Manhattan. Det foreslåede statsbudget for 2018 har ligeledes ikke afsat nogen midler til arbejder på Portal Bridge, den eneste overgang over Hackensack-floden, der tager hele den nord-sydgående jernbane fra New Jersey og ind i Manhattan.

Lad os på den internationale scene se på fødevaresituationen. Den 3. juli udgav FN’s Fødevare- og Landbrugsorganisation (FAO) en erklæring om, at den globale hungersnød vokser. Behovet for nødhjælp i Yemen, Nigeria og Sydsudan, samt andre steder, er de alvorligste, siden Anden Verdenskrig.

Den 7. juli, hvor G20 åbner, vil der samtidig være en international konference, med Schiller Instituttet som medsponsor, i New York City, om »Mad for Fred: Det nye navn for fred er økonomisk udvikling«, hvor deltagere, inklusive diplomater, landbrugseksperter og repræsentanter for USA’s landbrug, vil konferere om løsning af nødsituationer og om at gå frem mod en verden med rigelig mad, og en »fælles udviklingsskæbne«. En erklæring fra en landbrugsorganisations konference lyder: »Vi har ingen idé om de vidunderlige fremskridt, der venter forude, hvis vi kommer ind på sporet med bevidste udviklingspolitikker og kommer væk fra sporet med løgnene om, at vi skal ’have tillid til markedskræfterne …’«

Midlerne herfor er for hånden: LaRouches »Fire Love«.

Foto: (photo: Die Bundesregierung/Tybussek)




Kinas »Ét Bælte, én Vej« forbereder at åbne den arktiske korridor

3. juli, 2017 – I kølvandet på et møde mellem Kinas premierminister Li Keqiang og den finske premierminister Juha Sipila den 27. juni i Dalian, Kina, under »Sommer Davos« Økonomiske Verdensforum, lovede begge ledere at styrke bilateralt samarbejde om arktiske anliggender.

Asia Times rapporterede, at Finland kom med et af de mest interessante forslag om en arktisk jernbanekorridor til €3 mia. ($3.4 mia.), og som ville forbinde Nordeuropa med Kina og dybvandshavne i Ishavet. Ideen fremsættes af en gruppe finske akademikere og ledere af foretagender. Det ville forbinde byen Rovaniemi i det nordlige Finland med den norske havn i Kirkenes ved Barentshavet.

Ifølge den Arktiske Korridors webside, er den Arktiske Korridor et globalt, økonomisk område, såvel som en transport- og udviklingskorridor. Den forbinder Finland og Europa med Ishavets dybvandshavne, store områder for olie og gas, samt den vestlige ende af den Nordlige Søfartsrute. Projektet for den Arktiske Korridor befinder sig i begyndelsen af udviklingsstadiet.

De Nordiske Lande (Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge og Sverige) har hidtil ikke været en del af Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ (BVI), selv om alle fem lande er stiftende medlemmer af den BVI-relaterede Asiatiske Infrastruktur-Investeringsbank (AIIB). Den 31. marts i år, rapporterede The Diplomat, besøgte Finlands udenrigsminister Kina og fremlagde konceptet med et projekt for en arktisk jernbanekorridor. Finland har formandsskabet for Arktisk Råd mellem 2017 og 2019.

Asia Times påpegede ligeledes, at Finland ikke er den eneste fremtidigt mulige placering for en hovedjernbane inden for Bælte & Vej. En anden kandidat er Letland. Med grænse til Rusland har Letland en veludviklet infrastruktur for godsforsendelse og jernbanegods, der daterer sig tilbage til Sovjettiden. Dette var en faktor, da Kina åbnede en 11.000 km lang godstransportrute mellem endestationen i Yiwu, Zhejiang-provinsen, og Riga, Letland, sidste november.

(Video fra 2014:)

 




Xi Jinping: Kinesisk-russiske relationer på ’deres historisk højeste punkt’

3. juli, 2017 – Forud for sin ankomst til Moskva til sit statsbesøg med Vladimir Putin, gav den kinesiske præsident Xi Jinping interviews til flere russiske medier, hvor han forklarede sit synspunkt om de aktuelle kinesisk-russiske relationer, som han beskrev som værende »på deres historisk højeste punkt«, samt perspektiverne for at intensivere en allerede stærk, bilateral relation og udvide samarbejdet inden for en række områder, både i den internationale arena og bilateralt.

Mest sigende var Xis erklæring, rapporteret af TASS, Rossiyskya Gazeta og Xinhua, blandt andre, om, at »de to nationer var hinandens mest pålidelige, strategiske partner«, og at de har opbygget en politisk og strategisk tillid på meget højt niveau.

»Præsident [Vladimir] Putin og jeg har opbygget en god arbejdsrelation og et nært, personligt venskab«, understregede Xi og forudsagde, at hans besøg i Moskva vil »indsprøjte nye impulser i udviklingen af de kinesisk-russiske relationer … det hastigt voksende, pragmatiske samarbejde er blevet lokomotivet i den fortløbende udvikling af russisk-kinesiske relationer«, tilføjede han.

I sine diskussioner af områder for økonomisk samarbejde – handel, energi, højteknologi og kinesisk involvering i udviklingen af det Russiske Fjernøsten – understregede Xi, at bestræbelser er i gang for at »tilpasse« Kinas Bælte & Vej med den russiskledede Eurasiske Økonomiske Union. Han nævnte specifikt infrastrukturprojekter over grænserne, såsom den nordlige, polare søfartsrute, som, sagde han, ville fremme gensidig forbundethed og »indsprøjte ny kraft i det bilaterale samarbejde«.

Samarbejde omkring bekæmpelse af international terrorisme er af den største vigtighed, sagde Xi, da det sætter et eksempel for resten af verden. Det er i begge landes fundamentale interesse og befordrende for verdensfred og stabilitet, understregede han. Han understregede desuden behovet for at intensivere samarbejde og koordinering med sådanne multilaterale organisationer som De forenede Nationer og Shanghai Samarbejdsorganisationen (SCO), i betragtning af, at internationale terrorgrupper opfordrer til, og planlægger, flere angreb globalt. Med klar reference til USA’s og visse vestlige allieredes strategier, advarede Xi om, at nogle lande bruger kampen mod terrorisme til at fremme deres egne interesser og anvender således »dobbelte standarder« – dvs., de lande, der ønsker at bruge antiterror-kampagnen til geopolitiske formål. Dette har haft en negativ virkning på den globale antiterror-kamp, sagde Xi.

I denne forbindelse opfordrede Xi indtrængende til, at regionale »brændpunkter« skulle håndteres korrekt. Der bør ydes hjælp til nationerne i Mellemøsten, inklusive Syrien, for at genoprette stabilitet så snart som muligt, sagde han, og der må vedtages »langsigtede, omfattende politikker« for at »udrydde ynglepladsen for terrorisme«.

Xi var ubøjelig med hensyn til spørgsmålet om deployeringen af THAAD ballistisk missilforsvarssystem i Sydkorea og advarede om, at det »har voldt alle områdets nationers strategiske sikkerhedsinteresser alvorlig skade«, inkl. Kina og Rusland. Denne deployering ville ikke være med til at gøre Koreahalvøen atomvåbenfri, tilføjede Xi, men vil derimod fremprovokere yderligere spændinger. »Moskva og Beijing har overensstemmende synspunkter mht., hvad THAAD-deployeringen repræsenterer«, sagde han, og »vil træffe passende forholdsregler for at sikre deres nationale sikkerhed og den strategiske balance i området, både i samarbejde med hinanden, og på egen hånd«. Krisen på Koreahalvøen, understregede Xi, kan kun løses gennem dialog, som vil tage alle de involverede parters »rimelige interesser« i betragtning. Han krævede en fremgangsmåde med to spor, der både involverer en »gradvis atomafrustning af Nordkorea og et ophør af fælles amerikansk-sydkoreanske militærøvelser i området«.

Foto: Vue over den nyligt byggede bro over Gyldne Horn-bugten i den russiske, fjernøstlige havn i Vladivostok, ikke langt fra grænsen til Kina.




Topmøde mellem Xi og Putin er »Årets Begivenhed« for de to lande

3. juli. 2017 – Den kinesiske præsident Xi Jinping ankom til Moskva i dag til to dages møder med sin russiske modpart, Vladimir Putin, med hvem han er mødtes i alt 21 gange. Talsmand for Kreml, Dmitry Peskov, meddelte, at besøget vil begynde med et uformelt møde over en middag i aften i Kreml, efterfulgt af det officielle besøg den 4. juli, som vil omfatte »fuldgyldige forhandlinger« mellem de to ledere. Flere aftaler til en værdi af henved $10 mia., såvel som også flere end et dusin interguvernementale aftaler om samarbejde, skal efter planen underskrives.

Efter forhandlingerne vil der blive afholdt en særlig ceremoni, hvor Putin vil tildele Xi den russiske Sankt Andreas-orden for hans fornemme tjeneste for Kinas og Ruslands befolkninger.

En artikel i Xinhua den 2. juli af Liao Bingqing rapporterede, at topmødet er »årets begivenhed« for de to lande, og at »man ser enorme muligheder i parringen mellem Kinas forslag om Bælte & Vej Initiativet og Eurasisk Økonomisk Union (EAEU), der ledes af Rusland, og som også er på dagsordenen for de to statsoverhoveders forestående forhandlinger«. Artiklen understreger den »høje, gensidige tillid, der ikke har fortilfælde« mellem de to lande. En anden artikel i Xinhua citerer CIIS-seniorforsker Chen Yurong: »Den tætte arbejdsrelation mellem de to statsoverhoveder og deres personlige venskab er blevet et ’lokomotiv’ i udviklingen af bilaterale relationer … De kan udveksle synspunkter om næsten alt, hvilket reflekterer det høje niveau af politisk tillid mellem de to lande.«

Ruslands minister for økonomisk udvikling, Maxim Oreshkin, gav et interview til Xinhua, som ligeledes understregede de store fremskridt, man forventer af dette topmøde. »Kina er ikke kun vores nære nabo, men også vores hovedpartner inden for handel og økonomi.« Samarbejde mellem Rusland og Kina dækker næsten alle områder, sagde han, inklusive energi, industri, infrastruktur, landbrug, videnskab og teknologi.

»Der er gode betingelser for samarbejde omkring skabelse af transportkorridorer – jernbaner, hovedveje og havne – gennem det russiske territorium, og som forbinder markederne i Kina og Europa«, sagde Oreshkin. Kina og Rusland udvikler nu i fællesskab det arktiske område og arbejder på at skabe et wide-body (dvs. med to midtergange) langdistancefly. »Samarbejde med kinesiske foretagender betyder etablering af nye initiativer, jobskabelse og investering i infrastruktur«, sagde den russiske minister. For at tiltrække nye investorer, sagde han, har Rusland lanceret flere infrastrukturprojekter i landets fjernøstlige del, tæt ved Kinas nordøstlige område.

Oreshkin understregede ligeledes betydningen af en yderligere integration af Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ og den russiskledede Eurasisk Økonomisk Union.

»Vi taler om at forbedre transport- og logistikinfrastrukturen og skabe nye transportruter og logistiske omdrejningspunkter ved at bruge kinesiske investeringer eller etablere konsortier med kinesiske selskaber«, sagde han.

Foto: Kinas præsident Xi ankom til Moskva den 3. juli for 2 dages møder med den russiske præsident, Vladimir Putin, forud for G20-topmødet den 7.-8. juli i Hamborg, Tyskland.




Kina bygger et nyt kontinent i Afrika

29. juni, 2017Die Zeit har en artikel i dag, der afviser den vestlige propaganda, der beskylder Kina for neo-kolonialisme i Afrika. Faktisk er kineserne i færd med at bygge et nyt kontinent dér og investerer milliarder og atter milliarder af dollars. Afrikanere er ved at blive mere oprørske over for de tidligere kolonimagter og afviser udviklingsbistand, der er knyttet til uacceptabel betingelsespolitik.

Den angolanske økonom Jose Careiro kritiserer, at, »for den vestlige udviklingsbistand skal vi kun have ører, ikke munde« og understreger, at, alt imens forhandlinger med kineserne er hårde, så finder de sted ansigt til ansigt. Det paradoks eksisterer, at Etiopien for tiden er den største modtager af kinesiske lån, på trods af den kendsgerning, at det ikke har meget i form af råmaterialer, og at de kinesiske investeringer dér udgør tre gange så meget, som de udgør i lande, der er rige på resurser, såsom Sudan eller D.R. Congo.

En undersøgelse fra John Hopkins Universitet, som citeres af Die Zeit, viser, at USA investerer langt mere i afrikanske råmaterialer end kineserne – 68 % af de totale amerikanske investeringer dér, imod kun 28 % for Kinas vedkommende. Henved 70 % af afrikanerne hilser den kinesiske rolle velkommen, hvorimod de fortsat er skeptiske over for Vesten. Tyskland ønsker imidlertid at ændre sin politik, og udviklingsminister Gerd Müller har underskrevet en »Traktat for Bæredygtig Udvikling« med Kina, bemærker Die Zeit.




Europæisk Investeringsbank forpligter sig til samarbejde
med Asiatisk Infrastruktur Investeringsbank om projekter

Lørdag, 1. juli, 2017 – Werner Hoyer, præsident for Europæisk Investeringsbank (EIB), den Europæiske Unions bank, har annonceret et tæt samarbejde med Asiatisk Infrastruktur-Investeringsbank (AIIB) om projekter i forbindelse med den Nye Silkevej. Hoyer talte i Beijing, hvortil han ankom den 27. juni for forhandlinger med AIIB og kinesiske regeringsfolk. Under en pressekonference sagde Hoyer: »Jeg mener, at den Nye Silkevej, præsenteret af Kina, fremmer forbundethed i diverse former. For EU og resten af verden er dette en løsning på globalisering. Dette initiativ vil ændre den måde, verden samarbejder på. Det er grunden til, at vi vil deltage lidenskabeligt i det.«

Foto: Werner Hoyer, præsident for EIB. Foto fra 2015. 




Et hundrede år med ’vise og skønne’
Sylvia Olden Lee –
’Thi skønhed lever sammen med venlighed’.
LaRouche PAC Internationale Webcast,
30. juni, 2017

Vært Matthew Ogden: Vi har et meget dramatisk billede, der venter os forude, og vi står nu ved åbningen at det, der vil vise sig at blive en meget dramatisk juli måned. Vi er nu præcis syv dage fra G20-topmødet, der finder sted i Hamborg, Tyskland. Selv om indholdet af topmødet sandsynligvis ikke bliver bemærkelsesværdigt i sig selv, så er dette en ekstraordinær mulighed. Det bliver første gang, at præsident Donald Trump fra USA vi få mulighed for at have et bilateralt, regulært, ansigt-til-ansigt møde med præsident Vladimir Putin fra Rusland. Der har i løbet af den seneste uge, tre uger, fire uger, været forsøg på at køre dette potentielle topmøde af sporet og gøre det mislykket selv inden det løber af stablen. Vi må i de næste syv dage holde nøje øje med ethvert forsøg på at sprænge dette i luften eller sprænge muligheden for den rolige og klare, rationelle relation, som præsident Trump og præsident Putin kunne få ved et regulært møde.

Vi har set en række provokationer i Syrien, først og fremmest. Vi så et syrisk fly, der blev skudt ned; vi så et amerikansk militærfly, der chikanerede [den russiske forsvarsminister] Shoigus fly. Og i de seneste dage har vi set forsøget på at sætte en fælde for præsident Trump til endnu en direkte konfrontation med Syrien – og, gennem forlængelse, med Rusland – over såkaldte »kemiske våben«, de angivelige kemiske våben. Dette forsøg døde i fødslen, og der er mange faktorer i dette, vi sikkert ikke kender alle detaljerne omkring. Vi ved, at der finder en intens kamp sted om politikken bag scenerne i Det Hvide Hus. Vi så dette udspilles i forskellige offentlige former; vi så også udgivelsen af denne meget vigtige artikel af reporter Seymour Hersh, der beviste, at disse beskyldninger om kemiske våben i den tidligere hændelse, hvor Trump-administrationen bøjede sig og angreb den syriske flybase, var falske, og blot var operationer ’under falsk flag’.

Og igen, dette er alle faktorer, der er i overensstemmelse med dette forsøg på at køre dette mulige topmøde mellem Putin og Trump af sporet. Men alt peger nu på, at det kører på skinner og kunne vise sig at blive et meget vigtigt møde med det formål at stabilisere og normalisere relationerne mellem USA og Rusland. Vi ser, at ’narrativen’ er begyndt at flosse i kanterne og faktisk er ved at trevle helt op omkring historien med det såkaldte »Russia-gate«. Vi ser nu meget offentlige og fremtrædende tilbagetrækninger, som CNN blev tvunget til at foretage, og vi har set den seneste fra New York Times. Denne medie-narrativ begynder nu at gå i opløsning i kanterne, og det amerikanske folk begynder at gennemskue det. Vi har set forskellige Demokrater i Huset og Senatet sige til det Demokratiske Partis lederskab, vi kan ikke blive ved med at gå ud i valgkredsene og sige »Trump, Trump, Trump; Putin, Putin, Putin. Det hele handler om russerne, der hacker valgene. Vore vælgere er ikke interesseret i denne narrativ. Det, de er interesseret i, er økonomiens kollaps og perspektiverne for beskæftigelse. Hvordan skal vi overvinde krisen med narkotikaafhængighed? Og, meget reelt, USA’s kollapsende infrastruktur?«

Vi vil gå lidt i dybden med dette spørgsmål, men lad mig blot bemærke, at den anden, vigtige mulighed, som vi kunne få at se på G20-mødet, er en opfølgning af topmødet mellem præsident Trump og præsident Xi Jinping. Vi ved, at en meget vigtig relation blev skabt mellem Trump og Xi på Mar-a-Lago-topmødet for nogle ganske få måneder siden, da præsident Xi kom til USA. Men flere dramatiske begivenheder er indtruffet siden da; først og fremmest, Bælte & Vej Forum, der fandt sted i Beijing, hvor præsident Trump traf den meget kloge beslutning at sende en repræsentant på højt niveau – Matt Pottinger. Dette har nu etableret den mulighed, hvor der finder en meget seriøs diskussion sted på meget højt niveau omkring USA’s formelle tilslutning til Silkevejens udviklingsprojekter – Ét Bælte, én Vej-initiativet; og omkring at bringe Kina ind til at assistere med genopbygningen af infrastrukturen her i USA. Der er flere udviklinger, som vi dækkede detaljeret i sidste uge, men den vigtigste af disse var et regulært møde mellem rådgiver Yang og præsident Trump, der fandt sted i Det hvide hus; hvor præsident Trump – iflg. rapporter fra Xinhua – sagde »Ja, vi er meget interesseret i at deltage i en fælles relation med Kina for at bygge Bælte & Vej«. Dernæst var der flere satellitbegivenheder, der fandt sted omkring dette, og som diskuterede detaljerne i, hvad det ville betyde at få en sådan form for fælles samarbejde omkring udvikling både udenlands og herhjemme.

Denne diskussion om USA’s tilslutning til den Nye Silkevej kunne ikke være mere presserende nødvendig. Infrastrukturen internt i USA befinder sig nu ved et punkt, hvor den totalt er ved at disintegrere. Vi har netop haft nyheder fra New York City, som vi har dækket, om, at der har været den ene afsporing efter den anden togbrand, den ene krise i undergrundsbanen og forsinkelse efter den anden i New York City. Det leder alt sammen til det, der bliver kaldt »Helvedessommeren«. Vi har en overskrift her, som jeg viser på skærmen; dette er fra New York Times.

»Guvernør Cuomo erklærer New York Citys undergrundsbane i nødtilstand«.

Guvernør Cuomo har erklæret, at, efter den seneste togafsporing, der skete i onsdags – og som er en temmelig skræmmende oplevelse for alle involverede – med tog, der brændte og forsinkelser, der forstyrrede dusinvis af New York-indbyggeres dagligliv. Dette er blot en af mange i rækken af farlige og ødelæggende katastrofer, der er indtruffet i dette 100 år gamle undergrundssystem i New York. Det, som guvernør Cuomo nu har gjort, er at erklære New York City i en nødtilstand for så vidt angår Metropolitan Transportation Authority [MTA]. Han har givet MTA-formand Joe Lhota 30 dage til at fremlægge en komplet plan for reorganisering. Han har sagt, at staten New York vil bevilge yderligere $1 mia. i midler til MTA’s hovedplan.

Her er et citat fra guvernør Cuomo, som jeg viser her på skærmen, så I kan se, hvad han sagde om denne nødtilstand.

»Forsinkelserne driver New Yorkere til vanvid«, sagde han. »De er rasende over manglen på kommunikation, pålidelighed og nu ulykker. For kun tre dage siden var der bogstavelig talt et tog, der kørte af sporet. Det er en perfekt metafor for hele det dysfunktionelle system. I dag vil staten New York sende penge efter sine ord.«

Det er altså et citat fra guvernør Cuomo i New York.

Så jo, infrastrukturen ikke alene i New York City, men i hele USA er i en nødtilstand. Vi har brug for en nødplan for at udbedre og genopbygge vores eksisterende infrastruktur; meget af den er et halvt, hvis ikke et helt århundrede gammel og er ude over sin naturlige levetid. Men herudover, og meget eftertrykkeligt, kan vi ikke blot have en fremgangsmåde, hvor vi flikker kanterne sammen og kommer plastre på et system, der er i forfald og blev bygget i det foregående århundrede. Vi må også fuldstændig gentænke og danne os nye begreber om, hvordan en fremtidsorienteret, 50-100 årig vision for USA skal være. En vision med et USA, der er integreret i den nye, globale platform med den Nye Silkevej; med Bælte & Vej-initiativet, der er i færd med at forandre plantens fremtræden, mens vi taler.

Som sagt, så handler det ikke om at flikke ting sammen i kanterne og fikse den eksisterende infrastruktur. Det, vi har brug for, er en helhedsvision, en national vision, ikke kun for nutiden, men forlænget 50-100 år ud i fremtiden, og som vil bestemme de nødvendige delelementer, som vi bygger, for at komme derfra og dertil, for at opnå denne vision om en fremtidig platform i USA. Jeg kan godt lide det billede, som kineserne har talt om i Afrika; ideen om at bygge et helt nyt kontinent. Det, kineserne har været i stand til at præstere i Afrika på nogle ganske få år, er forbløffende mht. et økonomisk mirakel, som de bibringer dette kontinent; men det er præcis en sådan fremgangsmåde, som vi har brug for, for kontinental-USA og for hele den vestlige halvkugle – Nord- og Sydamerika tilsammen. En komplet vision for, hvad en kontinental infrastrukturplatform må være, integreret i denne Ét Bælte, én Vej; det Økonomiske Silkevejsbælte og den Maritime Silkevej. Og en af hjørnestenene ville være at bygge jernbaneforbindelsen over Beringstrædet, der ville forbinde de to, store, kontinentale landmasser på planeten på en måde, der i geologisk historie aldrig før er sket.

Men, hvordan skal vi gøre det? Dette kan tydeligvis ikke ske ved hjælp af økonomisk frimarkedstankegang. Man må have en vision, der dirigeres fra toppen og ned centralt, af den nationale regering; der blev skabt som en Forfatningsmæssig Føderal Republik af Alexander Hamilton til dette formål. Man må sige, hvilke er de nødvendige projekter? For Alexander Hamilton var det havneprojekter, veje, at åbne op for det indre af kontinentet; at bringe vareproduktion ind i det, der før blot havde været en tidligere landbrugskoloni på det tidspunkt. Men Alexander Hamiltons vision nødvendiggjorde dernæst skabelsen af de nødvendige, statslige finansinstrumenter – den Første Nationalbank – for at bringe denne vision til virkeliggørelse.

Det er sådan, kineserne har diskuteret, hvordan de har bygget den Nye Silkevej. Xi Jinping fremlagde sin vision i 2013, under en tale i Astana, Kasakhstan; og han har nu på fire korte år været i stand til at gøre denne vision til virkelighed. Som han sagde, »fra tanke til handling«. De har nu erklæret, at kineserne har til hensigt om tre år at fjerne fattigdom fuldstændigt fra Kina, og det er en bedrift, vi kan tro på, de vil opnå; som det er blevet demonstreret af det økonomiske mirakel, der hidtil er kommet fra Kina. Men dette er essensen i Henry Clays [udenrigsminister 1824-29 under præsident John Quincy Adams] og Abraham Lincolns Amerikanske System. Dette er, hvad programmet for USA’s præsidentskab bør være.

(Her følger udskrift på engelsk af resten af webcastet)   

We have a very fascinating report just incidentally, that

there is continuing to be discussion around this idea of the

American System; even coming from Republican circles inside

Washington.  Representatives of {Executive Intelligence Review}

attended a briefing in Capitol Hill just a few days ago, that was

sponsored by the American Opportunity Foundation and the American

Public Transit Association.  This drew some leading Republicans

from the levels of Federal and state government, who are strongly

in support of the idea of large public financing of

transportation infrastructure.  This might not seem to fit the

Republican profile, but if you go back to the original Republican

Party platform that President Trump cited from McKinley in the

end of the 19th Century, the idea of the American System was

written directly into the Republican Party platform.  Abraham

Lincoln, after all, was a strong advocate of the American System

and was the founding President of the Republican Party.  In fact,

two speakers at that event, surprisingly former Virginia Governor

Jim Gilmore and then the former Connecticut Department of

Transportation Commissioner Emil Frankel, both referenced by

name, explicitly, the “American System of Henry Clay.”  So, I

would not discount the fact that the ideas that the LaRouche

Movement have been championing along this front for years if not

decades, are becoming very pervasive in policymaking circles in

the United States.  Not only in the Republican Party, but in the

Democratic Party, too.

But it’s our job to consolidate and to pull this together

into a national leadership cadre who understand not just in

words, but in principle, the concept which underlies Lyndon

LaRouche’s Four Economic Laws.  If you start with Glass-Steagall

and return the banking system to what it was originally to be as

a commercial banking system which is able to guarantee credit for

small businesses and for projects of development which have

knowable rates of return, instead of this kind of Wall Street,

Las Vegas-type casino gambling which has been predominant on Wall

Street for the last 17-18 years since the repeal of

Glass-Steagall; that’s the necessary open door that we then

create the possibility to build the Third National Bank or an

equivalent of such.  And to direct large flows of direct Federal,

public credit into infrastructure not just of the 20th Century

variety, but infrastructure projects which have yet to be

conceived of.  The infrastructure of the future; or as Mr.

LaRouche identifies it in his Four Economic Laws, the platform

for creating a higher state of existence for the human economic

system.

So, this is the critical element, and I cannot say enough

how important it is to understand that we’re now at the point

where the United States integrating itself into this New Paradigm

is a very real concept.  This is something which could happen in

a very substantial way.  We have a countdown now of seven days

until the possibility for a sit-down meeting between President

Trump and President Xi, where they can discuss this in much more

detail; and the very strategically important meeting that will

occur between President Trump and President Putin, despite all

attempts to derail, undermine, and sabotage this potential

relationship.

Here in the United States, I think we just have to take a

moment to recognize the leadership significance of what has been

provided on the street level by LaRouche movement and LaRouche

PAC activists across the country; but most importantly, as we’ve

seen recently, in New York City.  We’ve had several on the ground

reports that we’ve shared with you via the LaRouche PAC Facebook

page and the LaRouche PAC website.  We’ve had some very important

insights that the American people are at the point that if you

present this kind of optimistic vision of what could possibly be

achieved if we were to overcome this geopolitics and the

attempted coup against the sitting President of the United

States, it’s a very optimistic kind of picture.  Americans are

ready to participate in that.

The other element of this though, is that there is a certain

element of optimism which has been able to cut through the

pessimism and cynicism that have pervaded the American people for

the last 16 years.  If you look at the two terms of George W Bush

followed by the two terms of Barack Obama, the American people

have become so demoralized and beaten down, and become so

acclimated to the idea that America’s role in the world is to

spread perpetual war; and the Federal government’s role

domestically is to bail out speculators on Wall Street.  But when

they see that someone’s willing to take this establishment on,

the American people have now begun to break out of their shells.

There are many elements of that.

As we’ve cited in recent days on the LaRouche PAC website,

there is a line to be remembered from the famous essay by the

19th Century English poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in his essay “In

Defence of Poetry,” where he talks about a time in which people

are able to absorb and communicate much more profound and much

more impassioned ideas about the future state of man and man’s

relationship to the Universe.  This was an insight that Percy

Shelley had as a poet; but as he said, “the poets are the

unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

Now, in a very, very special event that occurred yesterday,

just last night, that I had the great honor and pleasure of

attending, in New York City at the historic Carnegie Hall, there

was a great poet and artist, who was honored on her 100th

birthday:  This was Sylvia Olden Lee, who was born on this date,

June 29th — yesterday — one hundred years ago, in 1917.  She

would have been 100 years of age last night.  And a tribute to

her memory and to perpetuating her living legacy, was sponsored

by the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture, at

Carnegie Hall in New York City, to an absolutely packed audience,

and an audience which was impassioned in their involvement in the

memory and celebration of the legacy of this incredible woman.

Now, this tribute concert, which was called “Tribute to

Sylvia Olden Lee, Master Musician and Teacher” comprised of arias

that were sung by leading students of Sylvia Olden Lee from

across the United States who are now leading operatic singers,

people who had been touched by her and had learned from her and

who had lived alongside of her, they sang Verdi arias, Donizetti

arias; they sang art songs by Johannes Brahms, by Franz Schubert,

but they also sang the Spirituals, the African American

Spirituals which were so much a legacy of this woman: Sylvia

Olden Lee, who was the first African American vocal coach to be

hired by the Metropolitan Opera.  And she created the opportunity

for Marian Anderson to break the color barrier and become the

first Black woman singer to take the stage at the Metropolitan

Opera, with so many others to follow behind her.

Also was presented choral selections of Spirituals, of these

arrangements of {Lift Every Voice and Sing}, of {Lord, I Don’t

Feel No Ways Tired}, {Go Down Moses}, {Soon I Will Be Done}; but

also the {Ave Verum Corpus} by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the

Hallelujah chorus from Beethoven’s {Christ on the Mount of

Olives}.

So this was an absolutely stunning musical event, but it was

also an event which testifies to the immortality of the human

soul.  Because I think, as everyone who was present at this

tribute concert can tell you, Sylvia Olden Lee was not just

remembered at this concert; she was not just remembered by those

in the room, but she was physically and spiritually present to

those who were gathered in that room in her honor.  She {was}

there, in person, in a very real way.

Now, along with these beautiful musical tributes that were

sung and presented by all the various musicians that were

involved, there were also an astounding number of written and

spoken tributes that were presented in her honor. Sylvia Olden

Lee’s daughter, Eve, spoke in person at Carnegie Hall. Her former

husband, Everett Lee, spoke via video; and there was even a video

that was played of Sylvia Olden Lee herself speaking at a

Schiller Institute conference in 1994, in which she spoke about

the relationship that she had to the legendary Roland Hayes who

was a close friend of Sylvia’s father.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2pItZ0jIe4]

There were also written greetings from Jessye Norman who is

a world renowned opera singer;  Willis Charles Patterson, a

bass-baritone; George Shirley, also a world renowned opera

singer;  Eugene Simpson, a renowned conductor and music arranger;

Everett Lee III who is the son of Sylvia Olden Lee;  Bobby

McFerrin, who is the godson of Sylvia Olden Lee and the son of

the famous Robert McFerrin, one of the renowned 20th century

African American opera singers.  Bobby McFerrin himself is a

renowned jazz vocalist here in the United States.  A variety of

others: William Ray, Marti Newland from Oberlin; also Jesse

Hamilton, a New York state senator; Blanche Cook, distinguished

professor of history at John Jay College; Gail Robinson, soprano;

Marian Dora Howe Taylor, and many others.  Also there was a

greeting from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

And present at the event, was the biographer of Sylvia Olden

Lee, Elizabeth Nash, who worked so closely with Sylvia to draft

her memoirs, which appropriately were published under the title

{Who Is Sylvia?}, a reference to a famous English-language

Schubert Lied, based on text from William Shakespeare.  That song

was also presented at the beginning of the second half of this

extraordinary, historic concert.

The shocking thing that occurred for the audience, was in

the beginning of the second half, a representative of Mayor Bill

De Blasio’s office came out onstage, and declared that an

official proclamation had been issued by the Mayor of New York

City, declaring that June 29th, 2017 was “Sylvia Olden Lee Day.”

And I’d like to put on the screen the text of this proclamation

from Mayor De Blasio.  It reads as follows:

“Office of the Mayor, City of New York

“Proclamation:

“{{Whereas:}} The creative energy that defines the five

boroughs has long

inspired people from across the world, and generations of diverse

artists and musicians have flocked to our city and shaped our

cultural landscape. As a trailblazing African American vocalist,

pianist, and music educator, the late Sylvia Olden Lee is among

this group of influential performers who advanced the music scene

in the five boroughs and beyond. Tonight, on what would have been

Lee’s 100th birthday, New Yorkers and performing artists of all

backgrounds will celebrate her life and legacy during a concert

at Carnegie Hall, hosted by the Foundation for the Revival of

Classical Culture, the Schiller Institute, and Harlem Opera

Theater.

“{{Whereas:}} Born in 1917, Sylvia Olden Lee was raised in

Mississippi by

parents who were gifted musicians, and she began learning piano

at age five. Equipped with immense natural talent, she went on to

study piano at Howard University and at age 16 she was invited to

perform at the White House for Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s

inauguration. Lee also excelled as a vocalist and she possessed a

deep knowledge of African American spirituals. In 1954, Lee

became the first African American professional hired by New

York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she worked for many years as a

vocal coach and played a key role in coordinating the

groundbreaking debut of Marian Anderson at the Met. During her

long and successful professional career, Lee accompanied and

coached singers throughout the United States and Europe, and she

worked with many internationally-acclaimed artists, among them

Paul Robeson, Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle and Robert McFerrin.

“{{Whereas:}} As a dedicated vocal coach and a passionate

music educator,

Lee was a mentor to generations of young artists, and her legacy

continues to inspire emerging and established musicians in the

five boroughs and beyond. Through her hard work, enthusiasm,

phenomenal talent and encyclopedic knowledge of spirituals and

classical music, Lee made tremendous contributions to the world

of music, and as a pioneering African American artist, she

fostered diversity in the cultural sector, paving the way for

others. As you gather tonight to enjoy an evening of performances

in Sylvia Olden Lee’s honor, Chirlane and I are pleased to join

in paying tribute to an outstanding artist who shaped the history

of music in New York and around the world.

“{{Now therefore,}} I, Bill De Blasio, Mayor of the City of

New York, do hereby proclaim Thursday, June 29th, 2017 in the

City of New York as:  {{Sylvia Olden Lee Day}}”

So this was an incredible tribute and celebration of Sylvia

Olden Lee Day in the City of New York.  This commemorative

program went out to everybody who was present, with this

beautiful picture of Mrs. Lee on the front of the program.  And

on the back it said, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” which was

appropriate for the concluding piece of this concert, which was a

wonderful and rousing arrangement of that national song of

freedom, {Lift Every Voice and Sing}, which was arranged and

conducted by the famous Roland Carter.  And as soon as the music

began, the audience on its feet, singing along.

Now, Lynn Yen, who is the executive director of the

Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture, invited

everybody present to join the Schiller Institute Community Chorus

and to become part of a growing movement for the revival of

Classical culture in New York City and beyond, setting as a goal,

one year from today, that that community chorus should have 1,500

members.  And I think many members of the audience were so

inspired by that concert that they were very eager to join such

an extraordinary chorus.

The combined choruses of the Harlem Opera Theater and the

Schiller Institute Chorus comprised a chorus of hundreds on the

stage of Carnegie Hall last night.

Now, one more greeting that was written and included in this

commemorative program, was from Helga Zepp-LaRouche, herself, who

is the founder and director of the Schiller Institute.  And I’d

like to put in the screen the tribute to Sylvia Olden Lee from

Helga Zepp-LaRouche.  She said:

“Sylvia Olden Lee was one of those absolutely outstanding

artists, who are capable of crystallizing for her many pupils and

the people she inspired, the essence of a piece of music, the

true idea, only accessible to those individuals, who can read the

intention of the poet and the composer.  She implanted in many

minds throughout her life the knowledge in her students, how the

artists, the singer, the instrumentalists steps modestly behind

the composition, but at the same time adds his or her ennobled

individuality to the performance, to make it both unique and

absolutely truthful.

“In doing that, she was always playful, polemical, full of

humor, profound, loving and with a disarming openness, and by

representing all of these characteristics, she would liberate her

students, as well as the audience out of their normal un-elevated

condition to the higher plane of true art.  She was able, like

only a few, to let those around her participate directly in the

creative process, in the diligent work of the kind of perfection

it takes, to actually produce art, and not just nice sounds.

“The afternoons and evenings she would participate in

{Musikabende} or coaching sessions in our place in Virginia,

together with William Warfield, Robert McFerrin, and numerous

other Classical artists, belong to the fondest memories for my

husband, Lyndon LaRouche, and myself.  Sylvia and Bill [Warfield]

were for many years on the board of the Schiller Institute and

added an invaluable treasure to its work.  In thinking about

Sylvia, one suddenly wishes she would be still there, since what

she taught is so very needed for our humanity. — Helga

Zepp-LaRouche, Founder, Schiller Institute”

Now, I think that spirit was infused in the entirety of the

performers and the audience that was present, and many of them

are gathering again, as we speak today, in New York City at the

Lincoln Center for a follow-up symposium, again sponsored by the

Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture, which is the

conclusion of this two-day tribute to Sylvia Lee, which is

called, “The Aesthetical Education of Humanity through Music,”

and is involving a discussion among many of those performed last

night, and who were teachers and who were touched by Sylvia Olden

Lee; including a presentation on the necessity for a return to

the so-called “Verdi tuning”: This is the A=432 tuning which was

mandated by the great operatic composer Giuseppe Verdi; and a

return to the idea of a discussion for a proposed, new National

Conservatory of Music.

Now, what I’d like to show you, just inclusion for today’s

broadcast, to give you a little bit of a taste of the

extraordinary character of Mrs. Sylvia Olden Lee, as we celebrate

her 100th birthday, is this small video excerpt from the

conclusion of a speech that she delivered at a conference of the

Schiller Institute in February 1994:

“I know from the fact that you’re here, your presence

attests to the fact that you believe in justice and one world.  I

hope you keep persevering and going into the far corners of this

globe, selling it to other people, because {we are one family}.

We all belong to {one God}, no matter what you call Him. And as

such, we should keep in touch with each other, through Classics

{and folk music}. [applause]”

So I think that’s a beautiful rallying call for all who are

believers in justice, as she said “one world,” a cooperation

among humanity, that we all send this message, sell this message

to the ends of the Earth and that we work tirelessly, to achieve

that beautiful vision, and to remain in touch with each other

through music and art, the Classics and the folk songs alike.

So again, this was a beautiful event.  All of those who had

the opportunity to attend, I’m sure, will remember this for the

rest of their lives, and will be inspired to follow in the

footsteps of such a beautiful and inspiring teacher.

As I said in the beginning of our broadcast, we are now in

the eve of the beginning of the month of July, I think we can

expect some very important opportunities, as things continue to

develop, as we look ahead to the July 7-8, one week from today,

summit — the G20, but the important bilateral meetings that will

occur on the sidelines, between President Trump and President Xi,

and President Trump and President Putin.

So we continue our work here in the United States for the

U.S. to join the New Silk Road, and it couldn’t be any more

urgent than it is right now:  Thank you very much for joining me

here today, and please stay tuned to larouchepac.com, as we bring

you more updates, in the continuation of our campaign here in the

United States.

Be sure to visit larouchepac.com, subscribe to YouTube

channel, and please become a regular member of the LaRouche PAC,

by joining our email list and by signing up on the Action Center

at larouchepac.com.  Stay tuned, and we’ll see you again.




Nye omstændigheder, og hvad de kræver

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 29. juni, 2017 – Verdenshistoriens nye fase, der formelt blev indviet, da Bælte & Vej topmødet blev afholdt den 14.-15. maj i Beijing med deltagelse af Helga Zepp-LaRouche, fortsætter med at vælte den gamle imperieorden og åbne vejen for, at verden kan gå ind i det Nye Paradigme, som LaRouche-parret har kæmpet for i årtier. Disse fuldstændigt nye omstændigheder kræver nu af hver enkelt af os, at vi skarpt opgraderer graden af vores generelle vurdering, vores engagement og vores lederskab, for at imødegå de kommende timers og dages kvalitativt nye udfordringer.

I dag samles, sammen med hundreder af andre, LaRouches Manhattan-projekt for at hylde den udødelige lærer i klassisk musik, Sylvia Olden Lee. Men den selvsamme dag erklærede New Yorks guvernør, Andrew Cuomo, at New Yorks transportsystem var i nødtilstand. Hvem kan stadig være i tvivl om, at de løsninger, som Lyndon LaRouche så indtrængende har krævet, behøves omgående – baseret på et massivt program for statskredit, som foreskrevet i LaRouches »Fire Love«?

Til trods for, at Gruppen af 20-topmødet i sig selv – planlagt til 7-8. juli i Hamborg – tilsyneladende er dømt til irrelevans pga. den tyske kansler Merkels tåbelighed, så er der ikke desto mindre planlagt mange flere, vigtigere, bilaterale og trilaterale møder omkring og i mellemrummene af G20-mødet. Det vigtigste af disse møder er sandsynligvis mødet mellem præsidenterne Trump og Putin, et møde, som både vi og præsident Trump – og sandsynligvis også præsident Putin – havde håbet at holde meget tidligere. Alt omkring dette Trump-Putin-møde er blevet et spørgsmål om nærkamp med dem, der for enhver pris ønsker at forhindre enhver forståelse med Rusland. I betragtning af, at, fra nu af at regne, vil der blive et møde af en eller anden art mellem de to præsidenter i Hamborg, florerede officielle erklæringer om, hvilken form for møde, det bliver, frem og tilbage i løbet af dagen. Senest forlyder det fra Trumps økonomiske chefrådgiver Gary Cohn, at Det Hvide Hus forventede, at mødet ville blive et formelt, bilateralt møde, snarere end en uformel »trukket til side«-samtale.

På en anden front i den samme krig fortsatte præsident Trump frem i sporet af sin afvisning den 1. juni af Paris-klimaaftalen og sagde til et møde i Energiministeriet her til eftermiddag, at, »I dag annoncerer jeg stolt seks helt nye initiativer til at fremdrive denne nye æra med amerikansk energidominans. For det første vil vi begynde at genoplive og udvide vores kernekraftsektor – som jeg er meget glad for – der producerer ren, bæredygtig energi, fri for udledning. En total gennemgang af USA’s politik for kernekraft vil hjælpe os til at finde nye måder til at revitalisere denne afgørende energikilde. Jeg ved, at du er meget entusiastisk for det, Rick. [Energiminister Rick Perry.]«

For at slutte denne rapport i en helt anden dimension – konsulenter fra McKinsey har netop udgivet en banebrydende undersøgelse om Kinas økonomiske engagement i Afrika. McKinsey skønner, at omkring 10.000 kinesiske firmaer er aktive i Afrika – med omkring 90 % af dem, der er privatejede – og af hvilke de undersøgte omkring 1.000 i otte lande. De bemærker, at, siden år 2000, er Kina skudt frem fra at være en lille investor i Afrika og til at blive langt den største, økonomiske partner i kontinentet. Næsten en tredjedel af de kinesiske firmaer i Afrika er involveret i varefremstilling, en fjerdedel i tjenesteydelser, omkring tyve procent i handel og tyve procent i ejendomme og byggeri. Tolv procent af afrikansk industriproduktion – til en værdi af omkring en halv billion dollar – varetages af kinesiske firmaer. Kinesiske firmaer tegner sig for næsten halvdelen af Afrikas internationale kontrakter inden for byggesektoren. Fireoghalvfjerds procent af de kinesiske firmaer i Afrika sagde, de var optimistiske omkring fremtiden dér, og de fleste har foretaget investeringer, der repræsenterer et langsigtet engagement over for Afrika snarere end handelsaktiviteter og aktiviteter på kontrakt.

I de kinesiske selskaber, der var med i undersøgelsen, var 89 procent af de ansatte afrikanske og kom op på næsten 300.000 jobs for afrikanske arbejdere. Opskrevet til de skønsmæssigt i alt 10.000 kinesiske firmaer i Afrika betyder dette, at kinesiskejede foretagender har flere millioner afrikanske arbejdere. Næsten to tredjedele af kinesiske arbejdsgivere tilbyder en eller anden form for faglært uddannelse. Inden for bygge- og varefremstillingssektoren tilbyder halvdelen af firmaerne lærlingeuddannelser.

Halvdelen af firmaerne havde introduceret et nyt produkt eller en ny tjenesteydelse til det lokale marked, og en tredjedel havde introduceret ny teknologi. I nogle tilfælde havde kinesiske firmaer sænket prisen for eksisterende produkter og tjenesteydelser med så meget som 40 procent, gennem forbedret teknologi og storproduktion med lavere omkostninger.

Under »områder for signifikant forbedring« siger McKinsey, at værdimæssigt kun 47 procent af de kinesiske firmaers indkøb skete fra lokale, afrikanske firmaer. Et andet »område for forbedring« er, at kun 44 procent af de lokale administratorer i de kinesiske selskaber var afrikanske, selv om nogle firmaer havde drevet deres ansættelser på administratorniveau op over 80 procent.

Det er da ’noget nyt under Solen’, er det ikke?

Foto: Helga Zepp-LaRouche var gæst på CCTV’s ’Dialog med Yang Rui’ under sit besøg til Bælte & Vej Topmødet i Beijing, Kina, 14.-15. maj, 2017. (EIR-foto).




To fortællinger om én by

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 28. juni, 2017 – Torsdag 29. juni vil en historisk koncert blive afholdt i Carnegie Hall i New York City for at fejre Sylvia Olden Lees liv og værk. Sylvia Olden Lee var en banebrydende sanglærer ved Metropolitan Operaen og mangeårig ven og kollega i Schiller Instituttet. Sponsoreret af Fonden for Genoplivelse af Klassisk Kultur vil et 220 mand stort kor, af hvilket Schiller Instituttets 110 mand store NYC-kor udgør halvdelen, optræde. Desuden vil Convent Ave. Baptistkirkens kor, ledet af Lees (og Schiller Instituttets) mangeårige ven Gregory Hopkins, stifter og leder af Harlem Opera Theater, ligeledes optræde.

Koncerten/hyldesten til ære for Lee vil dagen efter blive fulgt op af et arbejdssymposium over Verdistemningen C=256, der vil omfatte sammenligninger mellem udvælgelser sunget i A=432 og A=440 eller højere. Den to dage lange proces vil udgøre et betydningsfuldt skridt fremad for Lyndon LaRouches »Manhattan-projekt« om opbygningen af et 1000 til 1500 mand stort kor, som LaRouche foreslog for mere end et år siden.

En sådan genoplivelse af klassisk kultur er afgørende for at bringe videnskabelig tankegang tilbage til USA, og for helt at kunne skifte landet ind i det Nye paradigme med Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ.

Men, der findes et andet New York, som vi dagligt bliver mindet om. I går fandt der en katastrofal afsporing sted på én af Manhattans store undergrundsbanelinjer, der medførte dusinvis af sårede (heldigvis ingen døde – denne gang) og alvorlig beskadigelse af spor og tunnel. Ingen har et skøn over, hvor længe, det vil tage at udføre reparationerne. Men dette er kun en forsmag på den »Helvedessommer«, der venter New Yorks indbyggere, med start 10. juli, hvor man har bebudet en række nedskæringer af driften på 20 % for at give plads til, at nødvendige udbedringer kan udføres.

Sagens kendsgerning er, at hele infrastrukturnettet i det større New York-område er ved at bryde sammen som følge af årtiers manglende vedligeholdelse og investering i ny kapacitet. Schiller Instituttet er i øjeblikket ved at udarbejde et totalomfattende programforslag for, hvad der må gøres og omgående sættes i værk, for at adressere denne krise – hvilket indbefatter et tæt samarbejde med Kina og dets kapacitet inden for infrastruktur, der er i verdensklasse.

Faktisk er hele det transatlantiske system i færd med at kollapse – både dets fysiske økonomi og dets finanssystem – og vil ikke kunne genrejses uden en afskrivning af den bankerotte derivatboble til $1,5 billiard, på basis af Glass/Steagall-bankopdelingsloven og den bredere politik i LaRouches Fire Love. 

Dette er fuldstændig åbenbart i det aktuelle dødvande i debatten i Kongressen om Obamacare vs. Republikanernes sygesikringslov, som begge simpelt hen slår folk ihjel for at holde Wall Streets forsikrings-molokker glade og tilfredse. Og det er åbenbart i implikationerne af brandhelvedet i Grenfell Tower i London, der bedst kan betegnes som Grenfell-krematoriet, hvor disse implikationer er, at der findes dusinvis, hvis ikke hundredevis af sådanne farlige sociale boligbyggerier til fattige immigranter og andre, som følge af privatiseringen af socialt boligbyggeri og spekulation i den britiske ejendomsboble – for begge deles vedkommende takket være det bankerotte City of London og Wall Street.

Heldigvis er alternativet til disse mord og dermed forbundet kulturelt vanvid i færd med at blive til virkelighed omkring Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ. Kinas præsident Xi Jinping har netop meddelt, at han afholder topmøder med den russiske præsident Vladimir Putin (3. juli), og med Tysklands præsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier og kansler Angela Merkel (kort tid efter), for begges vedkommende forud for G20-topmødet i Hamborg, den 7.-8. juli. I særdeleshed kan Xi-Putin-topmødet forventes at producere vigtige, nye udviklinger, som begge sider gentagent har erklæret i de seneste måneder, især omkring forstærket koordinering mellem Kinas Bælte & Vej og Ruslands initiativer med den Eurasiske Økonomiske Union, EAEU. Det er ligeledes signifikant, at Xi og Putin vil mødes umiddelbart forud for det forventede møde mellem Putin og Trump under G20-topmødet i Hamborg.

Dette møde kunne »ændre spillet«, som man siger, ikke alene mht. de bilaterale relationer mellem USA og Rusland, men også mht. den strategiske situation, der konfronterer hele planeten.

Det britiske Imperium og de personer i Washington, der udfører underordnede tjenester for Dronningen af England, er ganske udmærket bevidst om denne situation og er indstillet på at gøre hvad som helst, og hvor som helst (og ikke kun i Syrien), for at forhindre, at dette finder sted.

Men vi er lige så forberedt til at sikre, at det finder sted.

Som Lyndon LaRouche så hjerteligt sagde i sidste uge, så vil vi gøre New York til et historisk vendepunkt.

Foto: Plakat for hyldestkoncerten for Sylvia Olden Lee i Carnegie Hall, New York.




Beijings Wang Yi opfordrer verden til at bringe
udvikling til Mellemøsten og sikre fred

25. juni, 2017 – Netop ankommet fra sit 12. besøg i Afrika, besøgte den kinesiske udenrigsminister Wang Yi Jordan og Libanon den 22.-23. juni for at diskutere med begge landes ledere midler til endelig at sikre fred for deres område, med særlig fokus på en løsning af krisen i Palæstina og Syrien.

Kina har klart gjort sig til en vigtig »spiller« i området og tilbyder samarbejde om økonomisk udvikling og tilføjer sin vægt til bestræbelser for at afslutte krige og terrorisme, der har skabt elendighed og umenneskelig flygtningekrise.

Eksterne interventioner og modstridende, geopolitiske interesser optrapper spændinger; det internationale samfund må dedikere mere opmærksomhed og bestræbelser til at støtte udvikling i Mellemøsten for mere effektivt at adressere truslen om terrorisme, sagde Wang ved en pressekonference i Jordan efter sine møder med Kong Abdullah II og andre regeringsfolk den 22. juni, rapporterede Jordan Times.

Blandt de mest interessante områder for øget økonomisk samarbejde med Jordan, der rapporteres, er etableringen af et jordansk-kinesisk, teknisk universitet.

I Libanon, hvor Wang mødtes med præsident Michel Aoun, premierminister Saad Hariri, udenrigsminister Gebran Bassil, samt andre, var det store Bælte & Vej Initiativ diskussionens centrum. Xinhua rapporterer, at Aoun roste Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ og sagde, at Libanon var parat til at deltage aktivt. Aoun takkede Kina for, hvad det har gjort for stabiliteten i Libanon og Mellemøsten, og hilste mere investering i området fra Kina velkommen. Wang på sin side kaldte Libanon for »en vigtig station på den gamle Silkevej« og sagde, »vi hilser Libanons støtte og deltagelse i Bælte & Vej Initiativet velkommen«. Wang påpegede Libanons politik for at bevare national enhed og for at bevare sikkerhed og stabilitet gennem dialog og forhandlinger, som »at give nyttige erfaringer i, hvordan forskellige civilisationer kan have fredelig sameksistens«.

I sin Beirut-pressekonference sammen med Libanons udenrigsminister Bassil adresserede Wang flygtningekrisen for både palæstinensere og syrere.

»I takt med, at situationen i Syrien gradvist bliver stabil, bør syriske flygtninge, der var tvunget til at flygte til forskellige steder, tage tilbage til deres hjemland, hvilket er alle flygtninges dybeste ønske … Kina vil arbejde hårdt sammen med Libanon og alle lande for at spille en konstruktiv rolle i denne retning«, citerer CGTN, Kinas Tv-netværk, Wang for at sige. »En gennemgribende løsning af flygtningekrisen kræver udvikling og forbedring af folks levebrød, for at skabe de nødvendige omstændigheder for, at flygtningene kan komme af med fattigdom«, fremførte han.

Foto: Kinas udenrigsminister Wang Yi (bagest) lytter til sin libanesiske modpart Gibran Bassil under en briefing i Beirut, 23. juni, 2017. Wang var i Libanon for at mødes med libanesiske regeringsfolk som en del af sit besøg i Mellemøsten.




Bælte & Vej-feberen når Spanien:
En bro til Afrika og Latinamerika

23. juni, 2017 – Den 12. juni meddelte den kinesiske skibstransport- og havnegigant COSCO, at de stod for at købe en majoritetspost på 51 % i Noatum Ports, et spansk selskab, der i øjeblikket driver Valencias havn (den største havn i Middelhavet), dybvandshavnen i Bilbao på Spaniens nordkyst og et halvt dusin øvrige havnefaciliteter i landet. Handlen til €203 million har mange lighedspunkter med COSCO’s tidligere handel til €360 million, der involverede den græske havn i Piræus, derved, at de omfatter førsterangs-omdrejningspunkter for Bæltet og den Maritime Silkevej.

Meddelelsen kom mindre end en måned efter Bælte & Vej Forum for Internationalt Samarbejde i Beijing den 14.-15. maj, hvor den spanske premierminister Mariano Rajoy deltog blandt de 29 statsoverhoveder og 1500 delegerede fra regeringer, erhvervsliv og tænketanke. Ifølge Pedro Nuevo, en spanier, der er leder af Kina-Europa Internationale Erhvervsskole i Shanghai, »fik Rajoy på BRF-topmødet at vide, at det [Bælte & Vej] ikke slutter i Spanien, men går videre til Latinamerika. Det betyder, at kinesiske selskaber skal flytte ud, og yderligere, at Spanien er en bro til Latinamerika og Afrika. Det bør ikke anses for at være et logistisk projekt, men snarere et begrebsmæssigt projekt … Man må forstå, at Vejen går ud over infrastruktur«.

Spaniens økonomi- og handelsattaché i Kina, Javier Serra Guevara, understregede sidste år en lignende pointe: Spanien bør ikke se sig selv som blot den vestlige endestation for Bælte & Vej, »men bør foreslå sig selv som et omdrejningspunkt for at forbinde denne korridor med Nordafrika og Latinamerika«.

Dette fokus på Spaniens bredere rolle i BRI er en parallel til det, som EIR foreslog i 2012 i sin Specialrapport, »Et økonomisk mirakel for Sydeuropa, Middelhavsområdet og det afrikanske kontinent«, der omfatter et kapitel om »Spanien: Verdenslandbroens Bro til afrikansk udvikling«.

Foto: Fra havnen i Valencia, Spanien.




USA tilslutter sig Bælte & Vej – Ideer flytter verden!

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 23. juni, 2017 – Fire begivenheder i løbet af de seneste par dage har vist, at USA nu responderer til det krav, Lyndon og Helga LaRouche fremsatte for tre år siden: USA tilslutter sig den Nye Silkevej.

* Den 22. juni mødtes Kinas udenrigspolitiske top-regeringsperson Yang Jiechi med præsident Trump, der sagde, at USA er villig til at samarbejde om projekter relateret til Bælte & Vej Initiativet;

* Den »9. Amerikansk-kinesiske Dialog mellem virksomhedsledere og tidligere seniorregeringsfolk«, sponsoreret i fællesskab af USA’s Handelskammer og Kinas Center for Internationale Økonomiske Udvekslinger, mødtes i Beijing den 20.-21. juni og erklærede i en fælleserklæring, at »begge sider aftalte, at de to lande kan indlede fuldt samarbejde under ’Bælte & Vej’ initiativet og gennem flere andre midler«. De aftalte at holde en fælles konference om Bælte & Vej inden for de næste 12 måneder;

* i San Francisco mødtes 200 kinesiske og amerikanske regeringsfolk og repræsentanter for infrastrukturselskaber i »Forum 2017 for Amerikansk-kinesisk Transportsamarbejde«, hvor den kinesiske konsul sagde, at »Kinesisk og amerikansk samarbejde på infrastrukturfronten er klar til at blive det nye fokus i de to landes handelsengagement«;

* i Detroit Michigan var 3000 mennesker proppet sammen i Cobo Center den 20.-21. juni til en konference, sponsoreret af Ali Baba-direktør Jack Ma. Michigans viceguvernør Brian Calley, der talte ved arrangementet, sagde om handel med Kina: »Det er den traditionelle win-win-situation.« Ma sagde til forsamlingen: »Hvis I går glip af Kina, går I glip af fremtiden.«

Under en diskussion af disse historiske begivenheder i dag bemærkede Helga Zepp-LaRouche, at vores organisation har kæmpet for, at USA gik med i den Nye Silkevej, i mindst tre år, siden udgivelsen af EIR-rapporten, »Den Nye Silkevej bliver til Verdenslandbroen«. »Først var vi de eneste«, sagde Helga, »men nu er det blevet almindeligt. Vi bør høste anerkendelsen – tænk på, hvor mange arrangementer, vi sponsorerede, i hele verden, for denne idé. Dette viser, at ideer virker!«

»Folk bør bestemt være optimistiske«, understregede hun. »Hvis dette udvikles yderligere, så kan alle problemer løses. Gå ud med en optimistisk rapport til befolkningen – vores politik virker!«

Foto: USA’s præsident Donald Trump møder Kinas statsrådgiver Yang Jiechi i Det Hvide Hus torsdag. (Photo @ChinaDailyUSA / twitter)




Trump vil samarbejde med Kina om Bælte &
Vej / Indsats for Glass/Steagall optrappes:
LaRouche PAC Internationale Webcast,
23. juni, 2017

… Ifølge det Kinesiske Udenrigsministeriums rapport om mødet, responderede præsident Trump til denne udtalelse fra rådgiver Yang ved at sige, at han – præsident Trump – ville være åben over for at samarbejde med Kina om Bælte & Vej Initiativet og hermed relaterede projekter. Han sagde, han er tilfreds med de positive fremskridt, der er sket i de kinesisk-amerikanske relationer, siden sit møde med præsident Xi i Mar-a-Lago. Og han meddelte, at han planlægger at besøge Kina inden for det næste (nuværende) år.

Matthew Ogden: Med mig i studiet i dag har jeg Paul Gallagher, redaktør for EIR’s økonomiske stof, og som har været meget aktiv i Washington, D.C., i den eskalerede kamp for genindførelsen af Glass/Steagall og resten af hr. LaRouches Fire Økonomiske Love i Hamiltons tradition. Han har mange opdateringer til os på denne front. Og via video har vi Diane Sare, LaRouche PAC Policy koordinator for New York, med os fra Manhattan. Hun har netop skrevet en artikel med titlen, »Gullivers rejse til Manhattan! Kun LaRouches Fire Love og Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ kan løse Manhattans infrastrukturkrise.« (EIR, 23. juni). Som vi alle ved, venter »Helvedessommeren« forude i New York City, mht. transportinfrastruktur.

Jeg vil straks begynde med nogle meget signifikante udviklinger i kampen for at bringe USA ind i den Nye Silkevej, ind i Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ. For det første vil jeg rapportere direkte, at Xinhua, et kinesisk nyhedsmedie, rapporterer, at præsident Donald Trump i går mødtes med Kinas statsrådgiver Yang Jiechi i Det Hvide Hus, og til statsrådgiveren Yang sagde, at USA er villig til at samarbejde om projekter relateret til det kinesiske Bælte & Vej Initiativ. De to havde dette møde i Det Hvide Hus som en del af statsrådgiver Yangs besøg til Washington; dette var et møde på højt niveau. Og, iflg. nyhedsrapporter, sagde Yang til præsident Trump, at Kina var meget tilfreds med, meget glad over og satte meget stor pris på det faktum, at Trump-administrationen havde besluttet at sende en repræsentant på højt plan – Matthew Pottinger – til at deltage i Bælte & Vej Forum i Beijing i sidste måned. Vi har rapporteret, at denne repræsentant for USA var en beslutning i sidste sekund fra Trumps side, og at det var en meget god beslutning. Rådgiver Yang sagde også til Donald Trump, at Kina ville være villig til at arbejde sammen med USA om Bælte & Vej Initiativet. Ifølge det Kinesiske Udenrigsministeriums rapport om mødet, responderede præsident Trump til denne udtalelse fra rådgiver Yang ved at sige, at han – præsident Trump – ville være åben over for at samarbejde med Kina om Bælte & Vej Initiativet og hermed relaterede projekter. Han sagde, han er tilfreds med de positive fremskridt, der er sket i de kinesisk-amerikanske relationer, siden sit møde med præsident Xi i Mar-a-Lago. Og han meddelte, at han planlægger at besøge Kina inden for det næste (nuværende) år. Dette blev bekræftet af udenrigsminister Rex Tillerson i en pressekonference, han holdt onsdag. Præsident Trump rapporterede ligeledes, at han ser frem til igen at mødes med præsident Xi Jinping ved G20-topmødet i Hamborg, Tyskland, i juli måned. Det var første punkt, og det er naturligvis en meget signifikant udvikling.

Det andet punkt er, at der samtidig, dagen før dette møde mellem præsident Trump og statsrådgiver Yang, var en møde på højt niveau mellem tidligere kinesiske regeringsfolk og amerikanske erhvervsledere på højt niveau, i regi af et bilateralt eller fælles møde, der fandt sted mellem USA’s Handelskammer – der repræsenterer førende, amerikanske erhvervsinteresser – og Kinas Center for Internationale Økonomiske Udvekslinger, der er en regeringstilknyttet tænketank med base i Beijing. Under dette møde udstedte disse to grupper et fælleskommunike, der promoverede fælles samarbejde mellem USA og Kina.

Her følger resten af webcastet på engelsk:

So, I’m going to put on the screen here a picture of this
meeting that occurred [Fig. 1].  As you can see, it’s the 9th
U.S.-China CEO and Former Senior Officials Dialogue; jointly
sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the China Center
for International Economic Exchanges.  What the joint communiqué
reports is that not only would the U.S. businessmen be interested
in joint cooperation on the Belt and Road, but they would also be
interested in cooperation on building U.S. infrastructure here
domestically.  So you can see here a direct quote from their
communiqué.  This is under the subtitle “Strengthening Investment
Cooperation Under the Framework of Belt and Road Initiative and
Through Other Means.”  So, here’s what it says:
“Investment is an important driver of China-U.S. trade
relations and the growth of the two economies.  There is great
potential for the two sides to further expand mutual investment.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has spurred investment in
infrastructure building, will considerably broaden the space for
Chinese and U.S. investment and open many opportunities for
Chinese and U.S. companies to cooperate in third countries.
Significant participation by U.S. companies, including in
partnership with Chinese companies, can make new contributions to
the furtherance of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.  In
certain areas, U.S. companies can offer the world’s best
technology and management capability, thereby helping to insure
smooth and efficient completion of Belt and Road projects.
Infrastructure building in the U.S. will generate an enormous
need for investment, and the new U.S. administration has
indicated that this is a major priority.  China has strong
capabilities and cost advantages in infrastructure building,
including the building of urban roads, expressways, fly-overs,
high-speed rail, and ports.”
It goes on to say: “Chinese companies and financial
institutions are ready to contribute to this effort through
financing and through the provision of goods and services.
Chinese investment in certain areas of U.S. infrastructure
development has the potential to help strengthen business
relations between the two sides, and in some cases, speed up
completion of the needed projects at lower cost and with greater
efficiency.  Both sides agreed that the two countries can engage
in full cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and
through a number of other means, including the Asia
Infrastructure Investment Bank, the World Bank, and other
multilateral investment and financing institutions.”
Then it has a subtitle:  “Agreed Action”
“Within the next twelve months, the CCIEE and the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce will organize a conference on the Belt and
Road in China or in the United States; which will allow the
Chinese side to brief the U.S. side on the Belt and Road plans,
including initiative content, current progress and projects that
might be appropriate for U.S. company participation, including in
partnership with the Chinese companies.  The U.S. side will brief
the Chinese side on the latest infrastructure developments in the
United States and share reflections on pathways for Chinese
companies to participate in U.S. infrastructure revitalization
initiatives.”
So, this is a very important development.  And now, third,
here’s an article from {China Daily} which reports on a rather
extraordinary forum that happened in San Francisco yesterday,
which was titled “2017: U.S.-China Transportation Cooperation
Forum.”  Before I get to the next slide, just see here, the
beginning of the article.  It’s titled “Chinese Builders Wanted
in the U.S..”  The beginning of the article says, “Chinese
infrastructure techniques are urgently needed to rehabilitate
America’s poorly maintained and in some cases dilapidated bridges
and road system, industry experts from both countries agree.  The
fact that the U.S., the world’s most economically and
technologically powerful country, should import fast-train
know-how from a developing China, reflects a new normal for
China-U.S. cooperation and communication.”  Then, the article
quotes Chinese Consul-General to San Francisco Luo Linquan, who
gave the keynote.  He said, “China and the U.S. cooperation on
the infrastructure front is posed to become the new highlight in
the trade engagement between the two countries.  California along
with its neighboring states has especially close trade relations
with China,” he added. “The import and export volume between this
region and China has mounted to more than $201 billion in 2016.
The One Belt, One Road Initiative was conceived in China,” he
added, “but it provides a global platform for economic
development for all the countries participating.”
So clearly, all three of these are extraordinary
developments, highlighted by this meeting in the White House,
where Donald Trump said — according to Chinese reports — that
the United States would be happy to participate in the Belt and
Road Initiative.  This is clearly coming along very rapidly; and
as Helga LaRouche said when she was briefed on these developments
earlier today, she said “Remember, it was only three years ago,
in 2014, that the LaRouche movement put out the call for the
United States to join the Silk Road.”  I think you can remember
the pamphlet that was printed by the LaRouche Political Action
Committee that was called “A Hamiltonian Vision for the Future of
the United States:  The United States Joins the New Silk Road.”
But Helga LaRouche said, at that point — 2014 — this idea was
almost unheard of.  But now, as you can see from these
developments and otherwise, this initiative has really gained
prominence and is becoming a dominant reality.  It is very
urgently needed.  “We’ve seen a very significant victory,” she
said, “on this front; and we should recognize it as such.”  She
said, “I think an appropriate for this is ‘Ideas Matter; Ideas
Shape History’.”
I think you can really expect the consolidation of this with
the meeting between Trump and Xi at the G20 summit in July.  And
I think we can also see some dramatic developments between the
potential for a bilateral meeting — and this is becoming more
solid as the days go on — between Trump and Putin.  But, as the
lead article on the LaRouche PAC website states very clearly
today, although it’s widely expected that President Trump and
President Putin will meet for the first time on the sidelines of
this G20 summit, it’s very clear that the opponents of this
world-changing event of the United States-Russia-China
cooperation, are doing everything they can in an hysterical
fashion, to try to undermine this before it ever happens, to
force the cancellation, to cause it to become totally hostile, or
to cause there to be no positive progress that can be made out of
such a summit.  You see this crazy Russian sanctions bill that
was rammed through the Senate 98-2; you can see the efforts by
the U.S. forces shooting down this Syrian jet over Syrian
territory, which has the potential to develop very rapidly.  This
forced the Russians to again terminate the non-confliction
hotline between the United States and Russia.  You can see Steve
Mnuchin’s efforts to levy new sanctions against 38 Russian and
Ukrainian firms and individuals.  Then you can see this F-16 that
buzzed the military aircraft that was carrying Russian Defense
Minister Shoigu.  All of these are very dangerous, and are
obviously planned to try to derail any potential for a positive
relationship between the United States and Russia.
One only has to read this hysterical article in the
{Washington Post} today, “Obama’s Secret Struggle to Punish
Russia for Putin’s Election Assault,” which only continues this
false narrative.

PAUL GALLAGHER:  Not so secret.

OGDEN:  Not so secret.  So, that gives you a picture of
where we stand, but a very optimistic picture, as Helga LaRouche
underlined; if we see in terms of the potential for this United
States New Silk Road, New Paradigm consolidation.  But it’s very
urgent that this happen as well.  That was why I asked both Paul
and Diane to join me on the show today.
First, I’d like to ask Diane to go through a little bit of
what you have in this article.  As I said, it’s titled “Gulliver
Travels to Manhattan! Only LaRouche’s Four Laws and the Belt and
Road Can Save Manhattan Infrastructure Crisis.”  So Diane.

DIANE SARE:  Sure.  I was inspired, if one can call it that,
by my attendance at a Cranes, New York real estate conference,
where they had three panels.  The way it was billed was that —
and they had the CEO of the Port Authority, and the building
trades union, and Staten Island and Brooklyn.  And given what’s
about to happen here, which people may or may not be aware of,
basically we are at a total breakdown point in the greater
Manhattan area.  During the day in Manhattan, you have about 3.1
million people; at night, it’s about 1.8 million.  There’s
something between 1.5 million and 1.8 million who commute into
the city to the island of Manhattan on a daily basis.  That’s a
very large traffic flow.  Penn Station handles about 650,000
people a day; I think that’s triple what it was built for.
Similarly, every other major transit point, whether it’s coming
in from Long Island and Brooklyn across the East River, or coming
in from New Jersey on the western side, everything is completely
overloaded; at or well above capacity.  So now, the system itself
is anywhere from 70 to 100 years old, and very little maintenance
or repair or upgrading has been done.  We’re using switching
systems which were built before World War II largely; I think
they’ve modernized one line so far, and another one will be done
in a few years.  It really is insane.
So, I went to this conference, because starting on July 10,
since there were two train derailments in early April in Penn
Station on the tracks there, they’ve decided they cannot put off
repairing those tracks.  But of course, to repair tracks, then
you cannot use them while you’re repairing them.  They’re saying
they’re going to have to reduce the traffic coming in from Long
Island by 20%; I don’t know what the percentage is from New
Jersey, but it’s probably something similar or greater.  I know
the commuter routes from Essex and Morris Counties, which include
commuters coming in from Pennsylvania who go to various places
and then take a train into Penn Station, that’s all going to be
rerouted into Hoboken; the PATH system which is also overloaded.
At any rate, these repairs start on the 10th of July, and they’re
going to be going on for at least six weeks or longer.  Who
really knows, frankly?
There’s no redundancy.  This is a system that any section of
it that you shut down, if you’re talking about transit points
that are already functioning or not functioning I should say, at
over capacity.  And you’re going to add 20% more traffic, or 30%
more traffic, or 50% more traffic to it; you could have a total
breakdown of everything.  None of the plans I’ve seen so far
really are adequate.  I don’t know what they’re going to do as
they get closer; maybe they’re going to have to have people come
into work on rotating shifts, people’s hours are going to change,
I don’t know.  But at any rate, I was hoping that this conference
might address it.  What I heard there — and it’s not as though
these speakers were completely incompetent or were not aware of
the crisis in some way — but what you saw was that people’s
thinking has been so warped.  One, as I said in the article, by
this Bertrand Russell legacy that there’s no such thing as a
creative idea, or a new idea; but that everything is an algebraic
system of linear deduction.  Of course, from that standpoint, you
could never conceptualize where this region should be in 50 or
100 years.
So, the things that they were proposing be done, like
turning Rikers Island into a part of LaGuardia Airport —
LaGuardia Airport, as people may know who have travelled into New
York, is very much overloaded.  They don’t have the space for the
number of flights that are coming in, and they’re projecting that
by 2030 there will be another 30 million people per year trying
to fly into the city.  So, how do you handle this?  They said,
well we need 75 more flight operations per hour.  Taking over all
of Rikers Island for this and a new wastewater treatment plant,
only gives you an increase of 30 more flight operations per hour.
So, why would you do that?  What is the point of investing in
something that doesn’t even meet either the current needs or what
you are projecting?  It’s really insane.  So, you have that
factor; and the other factor is the funding, which I think Paul
may deal with more; but the idea that everything can only be done
through public-private partnerships.  As people know, my
colleague Bill Roberts has an article in the same issue of {EIR}
about the Soo Locks, where of course they figured out in 1986
that this is a key transshipment point for coal and other things
in the United States; and they really needed to be repaired and
modernized.  So, this was approved in 1986, but they concluded
that you’d only make back 75 cents on the dollar of what was
invested.  Clearly by Bertrand Russell-type methods, where it’s
all linear, because if you cause 11 million people to be
unemployed, which is what would happen if this thing wasn’t done,
that’s not taken into account.
Similarly, the speaker at this conference from Brooklyn,
showed pictures of the damage from Hurricane Sandy, which were
horrific; I was here in New Jersey when that occurred.  We didn’t
have electricity for about two weeks; it was very damaging, very
devastating.  There were several proposals made in 2009 at a
conference in Manhattan for storm surge barriers.  My favorite
was a five-mile one that went from Sandy Hook in New Jersey to
the Rockaways.  So you go across the whole area before you even
get to Staten Island, and it would have an underground tunnel and
it would have gates that came up; but normally the ocean would be
flowing through.  I think that would cost something like $6
billion.  I can see these silly accountants with their
mathematical methods saying $6 billion, what’s the profit?  Well,
how about saving $80 billion?  $6 billion versus $80 billion in
damage when you get one of these storms.  But nonetheless, they
decided not to build it, and we got what we got with Hurricane
Sandy.  So, because of the way people think in terms of
worshipping money, as opposed to seeing money as a means of
credit generation, or as a means of figuring out how to measure
the cost of an improvement that you need; which will lead
ultimately to the increase in the productivity of your
population.
What does it mean when you say we want our standard of
living to be higher?  Well, that doesn’t mean having seven
television sets in every room as opposed to one, or something
like that.  When you say the standard of living, we mean things
like life expectancy, being free from disease, being better
educated.  How many Americans speak only one language, and maybe
that’s an exaggeration to say that Americans even speak a
language.  Many people now do not have a very good command of the
English language, which is our language in this country.  In
other words, how many Americans know how to read music?  How many
Americans have conducted basic scientific experiments in school;
have ever tried to make a painting or a work of art or write a
poem?  In other words, by standard of living you mean that
there’s a life expectancy which allows for a young person to be
educated to the age of 22, 25, 28; and then that person has an
adult lifespan in which they’re still developing and learning.
You can get human beings developing a quality of genius which
contributes to the future for all mankind.
The only reason for money, is to create a situation where
you can think in those terms.  That the people living 100 and 200
years from now will live longer, be healthier, be better
educated, and be better; which is what you would want.  Who
really wants to be the best of all time?  That means, in effect,
that your life is meaningless, if everything coming after you is
going to be worse than you.  So, that’s the point of economy; but
none of these people was thinking that way at all.  It really
struck me that here we are sitting on potential complete chaos;
you already had two weeks ago, there was a subway that got stuck,
and it didn’t have air conditioning because the power was out.
So you had people packed in this car, and the temperatures were
getting to 100 degrees, it was like a sauna in there.  No one
could move for 45 minutes and they were on the brink — as you
might imagine — of getting completely panicked.  Happily, no one
had a heart attack or other medical disaster, but it does make
people nervous.  A few days ago, another subway car was stalled
out, so people went out the back exit and got down on the track
and started walking to the station.  That’s extremely dangerous.
What happens if you lose all order because people just panic
because they don’t know if they’re going to reach their
destination?  They don’t want to be stuck in a subway for hours
on end.  We’re really on the brink of a situation like that.
People would be prepared to tolerate hardship if they knew that
there was a plan to actually address it.
For example, if President Trump, as a result of his
dialogues with Xi Jinping and President Putin, were to say “Look,
we actually think the Bering Strait tunnel should be built within
the next decade; and we’re going to launch a crash program with
China and Russia to develop high-speed rail corridors across the
United States.  So that Manhattan really should be connected with
Paris; and that’s something that will happen.  I’m going to
initiate that in my Presidency, and it’s something that will be
completed during a future administration.”  Now knowing Trump,
he’d probably say “Well, it has to be done within my first term.”
But at any rate, what would that mean for Manhattan?  What kind
of infrastructure would you want to have in place?  If you had
high-speed rail connecting Washington D.C., Philadelphia,
Manhattan, New York City, and Boston, then you would know that
you might have a free flow of people in the entire northeastern
coastline — this huge metropolitan area — because you’re
talking about taking an hour to travel from D.C. to New York.
So, what does that mean?  What do you want New York City to look
like under those circumstances?  Maybe we have to consider taking
advantage of this massive 22% of New Jersey’s land areas in the
Pine Barrens, and convert part of that into a large city where
part of the population of New York City could be relocated, while
you build something which is actually appropriate.  But no one is
thinking in this way.
Apparently, plans have been made, as we know with the Soo
Locks, plans have been made.  There are engineers who are highly
competent who are aware of these things, who know that there are
limits on the life expectancy of cast iron and things like that.
They may have long life expectancies, but there is a point at
which things begin to corrode and things like that.  So, plans
have been made, plans exist.  But where do you get the funding to
implement it?  What is the magnitude of these plans?  If the
population were aware that such a thing existed, that is was
going to be set into motion, then people would be prepared to put
up with a certain amount of hardship; probably very happily,
knowing that their children were going to live in a much more
beautiful and functioning location than we currently do now.
So, this is the battle.  And I think Matt, what you reported
just at the beginning of this show, in terms of the commitment of
President Trump to work with the Chinese, the commitment of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce explicitly to collaborate with the Belt
and Road Initiative; this is extremely promising, and should
absolutely be promoted.

OGDEN:  Well, I think those scare stories you have from New
York City should probably encourage people that this is a rather
urgent initiative.  I know from talking to Paul, that you have a
few more scare stories that you might want to share with us.  I’m
going to just let you go through a few of those also.

GALLAGHER:  Well, I’m going to come back to this.  I wanted
to just briefly sketch the fight around Glass-Steagall; but I’m
going to come back to this in particular on the character of the
PPPs — public-private partnerships — as actually “poison pill
policy,” which is really threatening this entire potential for
collaboration, China-U.S. collaboration both on the Belt and
Road, and also starting with the Bering Strait Tunnel.  Also in
regard to infrastructure in North America and infrastructure in
the United States.
But on Glass-Steagall, let me just indicate, you have a very
stark comparison in terms of infrastructure investment between
the United States and China.  In the United States, about $300
billion is invested in infrastructure every year, and that is,
every school, every hospital, every road job, every subdivision’s
new sewer and water and optical fiber, and so forth — that is
absolutely everything, public, private, local, Federal, amounts
to about that much investment.  In China, the four major state
banks which provide the credit for the infrastructure
breakthroughs that have been made in China, those four banks
issue about $140 billion worth of credit annually for high-speed
rail in China alone.  And just that form of advanced
infrastructure and just that public investment by those four
national banks:  the Exim Bank, the China Development Bank, the
other China policy banks, as they’re called.  That investment in
just high-speed rail is half of the total investment made by the
United States — public, private, in every form, on every kind of
infrastructure and every public band-aide that’s put on, and
claimed as infrastructure, every year.
In addition, those banks in China have invested and
committed $300 billion just in the three years since the Belt and
Road Initiative of President Xi began to take off, and that $300
billion invested and committed by those banks is outside China.
So that’s going on simultaneously with the large-scale
investments in completely frontier, including things like maglev
subways, in the major cities of China, and there are many, many,
many major cities in China as people know.
So this is widely in the financial press in the United
States and Europe, the old imperial liberal order defends itself
by saying, “This credit issuance of China can’t possibly be
sustained.  There will be a tremendous, earthshattering collapse
of all of this infrastructure credit, because the banks — it has
dwarfed even what the Federal Reserve has done for the banks
here, and for a good purpose, and it can be sustained; it’ll all
blow up.”  There is a very fundamental difference here, though,
in that China, for the last 20 years has had bank separation; it
has many shadow banks, it has a lot of investment companies
involved in broker-dealers, but they are completely separated
from the both private commercial banking system, which they want
to build up further, and also from this kind of public banking.
So that these banks are not involved in the $550 trillion
derivatives exposure of the banks in London and New York.  These
banks are not involved in securities speculation.  They are able
to handle bankruptcies; they’re able to handle non-performing
loans when they appear in various sectors as the economy
develops.  So, Glass-Steagall, although they don’t call that law
“Glass-Steagall” in China, that bank separation is important to
what they are able to do and the fact that they’ve been doing it
now for 20 years on a level of spending nearly 9% of their GDP on
new infrastructure every year, for more than 20 years.  Compare
that to the United States, which spends about 1.3% of its GDP now
on infrastructure annually. They’ve been able to do that, and
keep it up.
Now, we’ve been fighting for Glass-Steagall in Washington.
It’s really taken on much more of the characteristics of a good
brawl, in the recent weeks.  It’s become a big public fight, for
one thing, where you have on the one hand, especially for the
last two months, three months,  — on the one hand, you have all
the financial press and the major national {Wall Street Journal,
Washington Post, New York Times}, running all kinds of editorials
and op-eds on why Glass-Steagall is not necessary, why it’s
terrible, why it’s completely outdated;  it was only repealed 20
years ago, but it’s completely outdated, practically a relic of
the Middle Ages, why it didn’t have anything to do with the crash
in 2008, and so on and so forth.  You have that going on, you
have think tanks in Washington, like Heritage Foundation and
American Enterprise Institute running whole events which consist
of nothing but examining Glass-Steagall.  I went to one recently,
at the American Enterprise Institute, where six different
speakers were attacking Glass-Steagall.  The only person in the
room who was fighting for Glass-Steagall was me, and I was not
one of the speakers.
So you have these kinds of attacks on it, but also the
sponsors.  The main sponsors of the House bill, Marcy Kaptur (D)
of Ohio, Walter Jones (R) of North Carolina, the Republican main
sponsor, have started to really fight publicly.  They had a
public press conference when they introduced the bill three and a
half months ago with 25 sponsors.  They now have about 55
sponsors as a result of fighting for it publicly since then.
This is a much faster rate of getting sponsors onto the bill than
was the case in the last session, where eventually there were
about 85 sponsors after two years of work.  But in this case, the
week before last they had a congressional briefing for the staffs
of Congressmen throughout the House, about somewhere between 35
and 40 other Congressmen sent their staffs to this briefing, so
it was really quite a packed event in one of the office
buildings, to take notes and report back to their Members of
Congress.  And not only Kaptur and Jones, but also experts from
the AFL-CIO, from the Americans for Financial Reform, from Public
Citizen; Nomi Prins, an independent, former investment banker and
author on banking, independent expert — they all testified.  And
this is causing a tremendous amount of discussion throughout the
House in particular.
On the Senate side, the leading sponsors have all made it a
point to draw out the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and make
it clear that what he was advising Donald Trump to do during the
campaign essentially, was not the real Glass-Steagall or anything
like it; but rather Mnuchin’s advice to Trump during his
campaign, was to talk about Glass-Steagall while Mnuchin
privately was designing something which was really Wall Street
deregulation like the bill that recently passed the House.
So the fact that they have really broken Mnuchin down on
this and made him say “No, no, no, I don’t believe in anything
like separating commercial and investment banking.”  This has
also dramatically clarified issues for people in both the Senate
and the House.  And secondly, we have begun to get close to the
mobilization of large organizations, large trade unions,
coalition organizations like Public Citizen, and in this I don’t
mean them endorsing Glass-Steagall, I mean them mobilizing their
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of members to demand this from
Congress.  We’ve come very close to getting to that stage, and in
particular you saw last week a broadcast that Public Citizen ran
on their Facebook page with Rep. Marcy Kaptur, in which they were
motivating and calling on their reportedly 400,000 members to go
after Congress to get this.
So the objective is to get from the 55 sponsors now to 100
— fast.  Because it’s not so important in the Senate, to pile up
a lot of sponsors — there are only a 100 Senators. It’s very
important in the House, when the leadership of both parties is
against Glass-Steagall, which they are: Both the Republican and
the Democratic leadership do not want to see it; the Democratic
leadership wants to cling onto this failed Dodd-Frank Bill, and
pretend that Obama came up with something nice there.  And the
Republican leadership wants to give Wall Street every kind of
deregulation that they’ve ever asked for.
So in that situation, it is crucial to get to 100 sponsors.
This is the stated objective of the major sponsors in the House
and when they do that, then they really want to go public and
start to hold the kind of press conferences and press bugging of
other Members which will get widely covered in the media and
really  make this into a bigger brawl.
So that’s just an indication of some of the things we have
been getting going.  And one of the arguments that Jones and
Kaptur have started to use, for example when they — I didn’t
mention this, but they also went to the Rules Committee when it
was marking up this crazy Republican deregulation bill called the
“Financial CHOICE Act.”  They went to the Rules Committee with an
amendment that said, strike CHOICE Act, take it away, and put
Glass-Steagall reinstatement in its place, and that’s our
amendment.” So they got to make a fight in front of the Rules
Committee on that.
But they’ve begun to make the very coherent argument that
not only did Glass-Steagall’s elimination lead directly to the
crash in 2008; there’s no need to go over this now, it’s the most
obvious thing in the world to most thinking Americans.  It’s like
the guy who ate nothing but McDonalds food for four months and
after four or five months his organs were failing, he was
catastrophically obese, he was near death!  And this is like
saying “there was no connection, there were other factors that
brought this guy into this condition.  It wasn’t the McDonald’s
Big Macs that he was eating.”  That’s what it amounts to to tell
Americans that less than 10 years after getting rid of
Glass-Steagall, the whole banking system blew up simultaneously,
which has never, for all of the major banks to be bankrupt at the
same time, as Ben Bernanke admitted they were, has never happened
in the entire history of the United States.  It took less than 10
years without Glass-Steagall to bring that about.
So they also are now arguing that the period in which
Glass-Steagall was in effect, which is also the period in which
the biggest infrastructure investments in new infrastructure in
the United States were being made, from the ’20s, up through the
end of the ’60s and into the ’70s, that that was a golden era of
productivity in the United States.  We had a banking system then,
which concentrated not only on loaning to  — but you see it in
many examples of the history of that period — concentrating on
making commercial and industrial loans to businesses for
expansion and for participation in major projects.  You don’t
have that kind of a banking system without Glass-Steagall;
instead, you have a banking system which wants to underwrite bond
issues for only the biggest corporations, with which they can
play around with their stock prices and so on.  And it brings the
entire economy down.
It gets us right back — and they’re making now the right
argument and very powerful argument, that if we want to rebuild
the United States, and particularly build new, frontier new
infrastructure in the United States, we have to have a commercial
banking system which is separated from securities broker-dealing
and speculation in the derivatives markets; and which is
concentrating on household lending and commercial and industrial
lending to the companies participating in these great projects.
Now, public-private partnership is, again, back to Treasury
Secretary Mnuchin, the conference that was held in Washington
last week, SelectUSA, which was a conference trying to get
foreign investment in the United States.  So this is the Treasury
Department; you’ve already given the context for this, along with
what Diane reported, in terms of the imminent potential,
absolutely imminent potential for large-scale investment,
particularly from China in an infrastructure build in the United
States.  instead, what the Treasury Secretary went there and
offered was, he said:  We want this kind of investment and
public-private partnerships are critical.
Suffice it to say, never in the United States has a major
infrastructure project or major new element of the infrastructure
of the United States, {never} has such a thing been constructed
with a public-private partnership, let alone by private
investment alone.  The Transcontinental Railroad was by no means
a public-private partnership.  And these things simply don’t
work.  The investors in them want their capital back in 10 years,
and they want 10-12% rates of interest in their invested capital
during that 10 years.  Well, that means they want it back, if
it’s anything major, while the thing is still not finished, and
still not being used to a full extent; and they want to
absolutely rob the public taxpayers whose money is going into
such a project.  It simply cannot work, and it will sabotage
foreign investment in new infrastructure building in the United
States if this method is used.
We have a threadbare public investment in infrastructure
now.  What President Trump has spoken about, the time has run out
for him and for the Congress to implement it.  They have to now
create, immediately, a National Bank on the order of $1-2
trillion in capital, in the way that Alexander Hamilton and his
successors in the American System built such National Banks
starting in 1790, through the 19th century.  They have to create
such a bank {now}, so that there is a credit institution here, to
cooperate with the credit institutions like those in China that I
was discussing earlier.
Otherwise, we are really facing disaster.  I’ll give you an
example:  I went to  a Congressional hearing yesterday and talked
to some of the witnesses who were involved in exactly trying to
organize some of the infrastructure developments that Diane
indicated are so needed in the New York area.  One of them is a
bridge over the Hackensack River near Secaucus, New Jersey,
called the Portal Bridge, which is 108 years old.  It was
designed in the 19th century, completed in 1910.  It has ships go
under it by splitting the bridge, but opening as a drawbridge.
All of the rail traffic, freight and passenger, between Florida
and Massachusetts goes over that bridge — all of it!  And that
bridge, when they open it to get a ship go through, when they try
to close it now, 9 times out 10, according to the fellow who
spoke to me there, 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t close properly,
so that rails don’t align.  And they then send workers out on the
concrete abutment of the bridge with sledgehammers, and they
hammer at the iron trusses of the bridge to get the rails to
align.
All that it would take is for them to be able to unable to
get them to align, once, and as he estimated, that would be a
single-point loss of potentially 10% of U.S. gross domestic
product.  Right there.
And then you have, in the Poe Lock, the potential failure of
the Poe Lock between Lake Superior into Lake Huron, and the whole
Mesabi Iron Range, and all of the ships which are carrying all of
the strategic metals, the iron, the coal coming out of Northern
Minnesota, Ontario, the Mesabi Range, all of that would be
stopped:  another 10% of the gross domestic product of the United
States would be frozen and they estimated up to 11 million jobs
would be lost.
So you say, “well of course, they’re replacing this bridge
at Hackensack,” but actually, they’re not!  They don’t have the
funds!  They have a plan, it’s all worked out, it’s engineered,
but the replacement is not under way.
So you have here, the makings of a movie you could call it,
a suspense thriller: “The Bridge over the Hackensack River.”  But
with 10% of the U.S. economy hanging on the guys banging those
rails back into place, but there is not any funding arranged to
replace that bridge.  And you can multiply that for all the other
things that have to be done.
We’re very far from the frontier, national high-speed rail
network, nuclear desalination plants, the Western water
management systems,  — we’re very far from the frontiers in
space infrastructure that we have to be building. We’re actually
threadbare in terms of just continuing to use, and have an
economy, what we already have.
So there’s no time at all left, for these wonderful
prospects by the discussions with the Chinese now at the highest
level, between President Trump and one of the tope people in the
Chinese government, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, for these
wonderful prospects to be backed up by the institution which
issues credit for the United States, a Hamiltonian bank for
investment.  It must be formed.  It must come out of the Congress
with the drive from the White House in order to get it done.

OGDEN:  As you said, time is running out: We’re five months
now into the Trump administration, and you highlighted the role
of Steve Mnuchin:  I think this continues to be a very bad
element in the Trump administration.  And the kind of support
that Trump gained from his support for Glass-Steagall during the
Presidential election campaign, is something that has now — that
has to become visible.  That has to become a visible, vocal, sort
of element from the population, from the constituency.  And I
just want to put on the screen the URL that we have for the
mobilization that we have for H.R.790: That’s the bill that’s in
the House, the “Return to Prudent Banking Act” —

GALLAGHER:  The Glass-Steagall bill.

OGDEN:  Which was introduced by Marcy Kaptur and Walter
Jones.  This is the return to Glass-Steagall.  As you can see,
this is the website:  http://lpac.co/hr790  And I think that this
goal of reaching 100 cosponsors in a very short amount of time,
is a very tangible goal that we can mobilize for, along with this
vision of, the United States joining the New Silk Road.  But
Paul, as I think you just laid out very clearly, that is
impossible without Glass-Steagall.  You cannot set up the kind of
national credit institutions, the national banking credit
institutions that would channel that kind of joint investment
into this infrastructure in the United States, without this
critical first step of the return to Glass-Steagall.
One thing I wanted to ask you about, Paul, is just the
prognosis on how close we could be to another disastrous blowout
of the trans-Atlantic banking system.  I know Nomi Prins did an
interview a few months ago with you, where she highlighted a few
of these things with the corporate debt bubble.  But that’s
something that Marcy Kaptur cited in her testimony to the Rules
Committee, and I think that element of urgency is also necessary
to put in here.
[https://larouchepac.com/20170319/interview-nomi-prins]

GALLAGHER:  We don’t know how much time, because it’s
impossible to put a finger on a date when a really huge and
increasing unproductive debt bubble, in this case, as
Representative Kaptur identified, the corporate debt bubble in
the United States, when it’s going to blow up.  But, the size of
corporate debt in the United States has doubled in seven years,
from about $7 to about $14 trillion, with really the great
majority of that tremendous debt expansion being used for what
they call “financial engineering” by large companies: Meaning
buying back their own stock, mergers and acquisitions, finding
ways to increase the dividends they give to their stockholders,
increasing their own executive compensation — all of this kind
of financial engineering has used in various years up to 80-85%
of this new corporate debt.
What has really suffered in the process has been business
capital investment and the commercial and industrial lending,
which it depends on. So that that tremendously expanding bubble
has stopped expanding.  And this has been noted  rather suddenly,
by everybody from the IMF to individual bank research teams,
since April of this year, that suddenly that tremendous expansion
has stopped; as happens with an immense bubble that’s about to
explode, and it started to shrink.  And there was a report put
out by UBS bank in Switzerland about two weeks ago which caused a
certain amount of alarm, because they found that what they call
the “credit impulse,” had gone negative in the last six months —
they’re talking globally now — meaning that the second
derivative, the rate of the rate of growth of business lending
around the world had suddenly in the last six months become
negative.  And that is something which virtually always points to
a bubble about to collapse.
This is a very huge one, indeed.  The IMF estimated that if
interest rates were to go up sharply in the United States, 20% of
all the companies in the United States would default.  That’s way
above the rate of defaults on mortgages even at the worst 10
years ago; and the whole thing would come crashing down.
So we need the reorganization of the banking system,
urgently, for that reason, also in order to make the commercial
banking side of it proof against this kind of a blowout.  And so
you don’t have, again, a situation in which the bankruptcy of any
investment bank, let’s say, becomes, almost overnight, the
bankruptcy of every major U.S. based bank as happened in late
September 2008.

OGDEN:  I would say, this is real policy.  This is what
anybody who’s serious is discussing right now.  And the failed
decision by the Democratic Party, for example, to just be the
party of resistance, is increasingly proven to be an increasingly
proven to be very ill-advised policy.  And I think even Sen.
Chris Murphy made some headlines this week where he said:  Look,
none of my constituents are talking about “Russia,” when I go
home.  They’re talking about jobs, drugs, poverty.  They’re
talking about exactly what we’re discussing here!  Hmm, gee,
maybe we shouldn’t be pumping anti-Putin propaganda all day every
day.
So, I wanted to ask Diane, you know, we’ve had some
surprising reports — or surprising for some — from the streets
of Manhattan, where you would assume because of the 24-hour-a-day
anti-Putin propaganda that people are being inundated with, that
this would be the only thing that’s on people’s minds.  But as we
saw, the reality on the ground in New York is the collapsing
infrastructure.  This is what people are actually interested in
talking about.  And we’ve had some rather surprising readings
from the population there in New York and northern New Jersey, in
the recent weeks.

SARE:  Sure.  We’ve had numbers of teams set up by the
roadside in New Jersey or right in the middle of the large
sidewalks in Manhattan, with giant signs saying “Defend Trump.
Stop Here.  Donald can’t do it alone, join LaRouche PAC.  The
U.S. must join the Belt and Road.  Russia-Gate Is a Comey Plot!”
And many people are coming up to our tables and we’re actually
getting a very hot response, much more intense than at any period
since the election, with people coming over saying, “You know, I
thought I was the only one.  The propaganda is so intense, I
don’t dare to say that I supported Trump at my workplace.”
We had a very strong response also in Connecticut, Long
Island, Jersey and Manhattan per se, where we are getting this
type of response.
And I also just wanted to add, in light of this crazy
continuing of the story about the alleged Russian hacking which
somehow caused people to change their mind on how they were
voting.  Remember we did just did have the special election for
Congress, in South Carolina and Georgia, where the Democratic
candidates, one of whom I think spent $33 million or some
absolutely obscene amount of money, and still lost the election.
And it’s not because the Republican candidates were so brilliant;
it’s because the population has really had it and this is where,
if President Trump moves in a very big way, very public way to
embrace the Chinese offer, to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act so
we can have a sane banking system, and to launch some of these
infrastructure projects on a Federal basis, you would just see an
incredible upsurge of support.  And most of this vicious,
including assassination threats and so forth, these attacks on
the President, would simply evaporate and the people that persist
would be shown for the paid agents of the British Empire and
George Soros that they are.

OGDEN:  I think it was clearly said by Helga LaRouche:  We
have a very significant victory to claim, I think both in terms
of the further consolidation of this idea that the United States
should join the New Silk Road, and the fact that these
discussions are now going on at the very highest level between
the United States and China.  But also in terms of this fight for
Glass-Steagall and as Paul said, this is something that LaRouche
PAC has been directly involved in, on the forefront of leading
for year — 2008, 2009?  Lyndon LaRouche’s call at that time was
for a complete bankruptcy reorganization of the economy.  It was
initially the Homeowners and Bank Protection Act and that became
this idea of the Four Laws.

GALLAGHER: August 2007 was the Homeowners and Bank
Protection Act.

OGDEN:  That’s right. So now we’re coming up on 10 years!  I
think that’s widely recognized, the leadership that the LaRouche
movement has played, including on Capitol Hill from the sponsors
of this legislation.  So this decision now to mobilize and to
really enter into a brawl, the fight is on on that front and we
have a responsibility to pour as much as we can, from around the
country, in mobilizing on that front, too.
I think that’s a good conclusion for our webcast here,
today.  Thank you Diane, for joining us from New York, and thank
you very much Paul for joining me here.

GALLAGHER: A pleasure.

OGDEN:  Stay tuned to larouchepac.com and we’ll talk to you
soon.




»Gør amerikansk-kinesisk samarbejde
om den Nye Silkevej til hjertet af
menneskehedens fælles skæbne«
Af Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, stifter og formand for Schiller Instituttet, indspillede denne videotale den 16. juni til en Schiller Institut-konference i Detroit, USA, den 17. juni, 2017.

Vi befinder os stadigvæk i den menneskelige races udviklings barndom. Jeg mener, vi er meget heldige at leve og kunne forme fremtiden på dette tidspunkt; men jeg mener, at det mest afgørende aspekt for, at hele dette perspektiv skal lykkes, er: Få det amerikansk-kinesiske samarbejde om de Nye Silkevej til at fungere i den umiddelbart forestående periode.  

Download (PDF, Unknown)




Hvad alle lader som om, de ikke bemærker

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 22. juni, 2017 – Der er en udbredt forventning om, at præsidenterne Trump og Putin vil mødes personligt for første gang, blot to uger og én dag fra i dag, på sidelinjen af G20-topmødet i Hamborg, 7.-8. juli. Dette møde har potentiale til at blive en begivenhed, der forandrer verden. Den russiske senator Alexander Pushkov sagde den 20. juni, at dette møde, hvis det finder sted, vil blive højdepunktet af G20. »Meget vil afhænge af dette møde«, sagde han, og »det er grunden til, at det allevegne imødeses med så store forventninger – fra Tallin til Lissabon, fra Beijing til Kairo«. Jo, det er afgørende vigtigt – og alligevel taler ingen om det! Det »skjuler sig for alle at se«, et begreb, som Lyndon LaRouche ofte har nævnt, fra Edgar Allan Poes historie ’The Purloined Letter’ (Det stjålne brev).

Vore modstandere i den britiske imperiefraktion siger absolut ingenting om dette snarlige Trump-Putin-topmøde, fordi de er forfærdelig bange for, hvad der kunne ske dér. For hvorfor skulle de neokonservative og neoliberale ellers i så mange måneder have løjet, så det driver, om, at præsident Trump og hans medarbejdere på en eller anden måde skulle være russiske agenter? Nu er dette forventede topmøde, der hastigt nærmer sig, så vigtigt, at de nægter så meget som bare at nævne det!

I stedet har de åbenlyst gjort ting, i forsøg på at få Trump-Putin-mødet aflyst – eller, hvis de ikke kan få det aflyst, da at forsøge at sikre, at det bliver ødelagt, og at det blive fuldstændig fjendtligt, så der ikke kan udvikle sig nogen positiv, personlig relation.

Det er baggrunden for, at et sindssygt lovforslag om russiske sanktioner blev banket igennem Senatet gennem et skævt 98-2 flertal for blot en uge siden i dag – og dernæst fejlagtigt benævnt som »Trump-sanktioner« af de løgagtige, britiskkørte medier – til trods for, at Trump-administrationen er modstander af loven og forsøger at standse den, før den vedtages som lov. Det er også grunden til, at amerikanske styrker nedskød et syrisk jetfly den 18. juni, hvilket tvang russerne til atter at afslutte den hotline, gennem hvilken amerikanske og russiske styrker havde ’dekonfliktet’ – altså reduceret risikoen for sammenstød mellem fly og luftskyts i et område ved at koordinere deres bevægelser – deres operationer i Syrien. Det var af denne grund, at Steve Mnuchins Finansministerium den 20. juni gennemtvang sanktioner mod 38 russiske og ukrainske firmaer og individer og herved tvang Rusland til at aflyse et planlagt møde mellem viceudenrigsminister Ryabkov og USA’s understatssekretær i Udenrigsministeriet, Shannon. Og hvis F-16 fly var det, der cirkulerede rundt om den russiske forsvarsminister Shoigus fly, blot i går?[1] Og hvilke, endnu værre forræderiske handlinger vil disse folk begå i morgen, i deres hysteri over udsigten til bedre relationer mellem USA og Rusland?

Disse dystre kræfter har nægtet at anerkende det amerikanske folks forfatningsmæssige valgbeslutning fra dag ét, og de nægter stadigvæk. De af os, der støtter præsidenten og Forfatningen, må træde frem for at knuse de forræderiske kræfter, og for at støtte præsidenten i at opnå sine mål gennem at slutte USA til Rusland og Kina i den Nye Silkevej og genskabe amerikansk infrastruktur gennem massiv statskredit, og i partnerskab med Kina, gennem Lyndon LaRouches »Fire Nye Love« fra juni 2014. Og, i morgen kunne være for sent.

En yderligere indikation på de britisk-elskende lags hysteri ved udsigten til et samarbejde mellem Putin og Trump kan findes i den tyske finansminister Schäubles bemærkninger den 20. juni (da han modtog Henry Kissinger-prisen):

»Jeg tvivler på, at USA virkelig tror på, at verden ville være lige så god, hvis Kina eller Rusland udfyldte svælgene, efterladt af USA, og hvis Kina og Rusland simpelt hen fik frie hænder til at dominere de indflydelsessfærer, de har defineret for sig selv. Det ville være afslutningen af vores liberale verdensorden.«

Han lyver, og han ved, at han lyver – men kan I ikke føle hysteriet bag hans løgne?

Foto: Vladimir Putin holdt et møde med regeringsmedlemmer om forholdsregler til beskyttelse af rettigheder hos folk, der er involveret i byggeprojekter med delt egenkapital, og om at definere den juridiske status for folk, der er selvstændige erhvervsdrivende. 22. juni, 2017. (foto en.kremlin.ru)

[1] Et NATO F-16-fly forsøgte at komme tæt på den russiske forsvarsminister Sergei Shoigus fly over neutrale, baltiske vande nær Kaliningrad i dag, men blev jaget væk af et russisk Su-27-kampfly, rapporterer Sputnik Internationale i dag (21. juni).

Shoigu var en route til den vestligste, russiske by, Kaliningrad, da F-16-flyet forsøgte at nærme sig. Ruslands Sukhoi Su-27 kampfly, et af de fly, der eskorterede Shoigus fly, viste dernæst sine våben, hvilket fik F-16-flyet til at trække sig.




Giv amerikanerne nogen anerkendelse / kredit!

Leder fra Larouche PAC, 21. juni, 2017 – Med det rette lederskab afviser amerikanere det britisk-ansporede forsøg på at »kuppe« præsident Trump, tvinge ham ud af embedet gennem impeachment, tilbagetrækning eller endda mord, fordi han ønsker samarbejde med Rusland og Kina. Dette kup, der implicerer Obamas efterretningstjenester og FBI-direktør, har drevet det Demokratiske Parti vanvittigt med antirussisk McCarthy-isme imod Trump – og det taber fortsat valg på grund af det.

Med hensyn til anti-Trump-intrigemagernes motivering, lyt blot til den fanatisk nærige, tyske finansminister, Wolfgang Schäuble, der i går angreb Trump i en tale i Berlin:

»Jeg tvivler på, at USA virkelig mener, at verdensordenen ville være lige så god, hvis Kina eller Rusland … simpelt hen fik frie hænder til at dominere de indflydelsessfærer, de har defineret for sig selv. Det ville være enden på vores liberale verdensorden.«

Fuldstændig rigtigt – den »liberale« verdensorden, som afindustrialiserede USA’s økonomi og gjorde den til en rustbunke, og som amerikanerne stemte for at blive af med. De betroede Trump atter at gøre Amerika til en industrimagt, en teknologisk magt, en magt i den nuværende og fremtidige udforskning af rummet. Kongressen – begge partier – skal omgående gå i gang med at genopbygge og erstatte nationens forældede, økonomiske infrastruktur. Samarbejde med Kina, med dets »Bælte & Vej Initiativ«, der er mange gange større end Marshallplanen, kan på dramatisk vis hjælpe, lige fra højhastigheds-jernbanenet og til Månelandinger.

I en tale for USA’s Handelskammers »topmøde« for udenlandsk investering i mandags, sagde finansminister Steven Mnuchin:

»At arbejde med udenlandske investorer vil blive en afgørende del af enhver infrastrukturplan, vi fremlægger.«

Fint. Mange kinesiske ledere af foretagender blandt de 1.200 deltagere ønsker at se Kina investere i byggeri af ny, amerikansk infrastruktur, gennem amerikanske, statslige kreditinstitutioner som de fire, store nationalbanker, der har finansieret Kinas utrolige infrastrukturgennembrud i de seneste tyve år.

Men dernæst sagde Mnuchin:

»Partnerskaber mellem det offentlige og det private er afgørende …«

for byggeri af ny infrastruktur – den mislykkede »liberale verdensorden«. Såkaldte PPP’er (Public Private Partnerships), hvor investeringsselskaber vil have deres kapital tilbage inden for 10 år, og 10-12 % årligt afkast, bygger IKKE nye infrastrukturplatforme.

Et netværk af højhastigheds-jernbanelinjer over hele nationen?

Systemer af sluseporte, der ville have beskyttet New Orleans fra orkanen Katrina, og New Yorks transportsystem fra superstormen Sandy?

Afsaltningsanlæg og vidtrækkende vandføringssystemer til kunstvanding af det vestlige USA?

Baser til menneskelig beboelse på Månen?

PPP’er skaber ikke sådanne ting!

Men det gør statskredit. EIR’s stiftende redaktør, Lyndon LaRouche, sagde for et par år siden:

»Vi taler om en investering over mere end én generation. Alle de store projekter, som vi nu behøver, ligesom i fortiden, er projekter, der kræver flergenerationsinvestering. Det er at påtage sig gæld, en gæld, der løber over flere generationer. Og én af de ting, vi må mestre i denne henseende, er, hvad er menneskets natur …

For det første, så er ideen om kredit menneskelig. Det eksisterer ikke for noget som helst, undtagen for mennesket, så vidt vi ved. Vi udarbejder derfor et monetært system, eller et finanssystem, baseret på et system med kredit, hvilket vil sige udviklingen af en person, der videregiver noget, der er til fordel for den næste generation. Og dette er ikke en proces, hvor noget fortsætter; det er en proces, hvor noget udvikles. Og udviklingsenheden er det, vi bør kalde ’kredit’.«

Store projekter ved hjælp af statslig kredit, en gæld, som den næste generation vil kunne »tilbagebetale« ved at bruge infrastrukturen på et højere, teknologisk niveau til at producere og til at leve på et højere, og mere produktivt, menneskeligt niveau. Kun nationer kan skabe den form for kredit, individuelt og gennem internationale udviklingsbanker, som LaRouche har foreslået det i femogfyrre år.

Der er ikke mere tid til at »tale om at bygge en ny infrastruktur«. En nationalbank i Hamiltons tradition til sådan kredit, må skabes nu.

Foto: Finansminister Steven Mnuchin aflægger ed i det Ovale Kontor. (Photo V.P. Mike Pence’s Twitter)




Menneskeheden på en ny kurs:
Rusland og Kina udvikler Arktis
– Vil USA tilslutte sig?

Rusland og Kina er i færd med at optrappe deres indsats for at udvikle en af Jordens sidste, fremskudte grænser for menneskeheden – Arktis’ udstrakte vidder med et rigt resursegrundlag. … Vil USA, under præsident Trump, gå med i denne proces? Svaret på dette spørgsmål vil spille en afgørende rolle i det større spørgsmål, der i betydelig grad vil afgøre menneskehedens skæbne – nemlig, om Trump fuldt ud vil integrere USA i Bælte & Vej Initiativet (BVI); den Nye Silkevejsproces, der først blev fremmet af Lyndon og Helga LaRouche i 1990’erne, og som nu er blevet fuldt ud vedtaget og implementeret af Kinas præsident Xi Jinping, på vegne af alle Jordens nationer.

Af Mike Billington, EIR. 

12. juni, 2017 – Rusland og Kina er i færd med at optrappe deres indsats for at udvikle en af Jordens sidste, fremskudte grænser for menneskeheden – Arktis’ udstrakte vidder med et rigt resursegrundlag. Alt imens Ruslands enorme kystlinje langs det Arktiske Hav er den primære base for deres operationer, så er Kina stærkt engageret i byggeriet af den infrastruktur, der er nødvendig for at gøre udnyttelsen af disse resurser mulig.

Vil USA, under præsident Trump, gå med i denne proces? Svaret på dette spørgsmål vil spille en afgørende rolle i det større spørgsmål, der i betydelig grad vil afgøre menneskehedens skæbne – nemlig, om Trump fuldt ud vil integrere USA i Bælte & Vej Initiativet (BVI); den Nye Silkevejsproces, der først blev fremmet af Lyndon og Helga LaRouche i 1990’erne, og som nu er blevet fuldt ud vedtaget og implementeret af Kinas præsident Xi Jinping, på vegne af alle Jordens nationer.

En betydelig, fysisk drivkraft bag dette initiativ er den kendsgerning, at Nordøstpassagen – ruten fra Asien til Europa via det Arktiske Hav – i stigende grad er blevet sejlbar på grund af den arktiske iskappes tilbagetrækning. Alt imens den ’grønne’ bevægelse er hurtig til at proklamere, at (ikkeeksisterende) menneskeskabt klimaforandring er ansvarlig for denne, de arktiske iskappes vigen, så har den russiske regering og russiske videnskabsfolk (blandt andre) bevist, at dette er et cyklisk fænomen uden forbindelse til kulstof – og som faktisk er til stor fordel for menneskeheden. Ikke alene fremmes handel af iskappens tilbagetrækning, men resurserne i Arktis gøres også mere tilgængelige – hvis verden vælger at drage fordel af de nye omstændigheder.

 

Ét Bælte; én Vej; én Cirkel

Hu Angang, en førende, kinesisk økonom ved Tsinghua Universitet, opfandt begrebet, »Én Cirkel« – hvorved refereres til indkredsningen af hele den eurasiske landmasse gennem at fuldstændiggøre Nordøstpassagen – som føjes til politikken med »Ét Bælte, én Vej, som initieredes af præsident Xi Jinping i 2013. Det Nye, Økonomiske Silkevejsbælte, der forbinder Asien, Europa og Afrika over land, og det 21. Århundredes Maritime Silkevej, der forbinder Eurasien, Afrika og de amerikanske kontinenter over hav, kan nu få tilslutning af »Én Cirkel«, den arktiske rute, der reducerer sejltiden fra Østasien til Europa med mere end 30 %.

Ud over sejltiden, så omfatter de resurser, der venter på at blive udnyttet – blot venter på, at menneskeracen skal udvikler teknologierne, der skal til for at muliggøre denne udnyttelse i et barsk miljø, på en måde, der er acceptabel for menneskelig beboelse – enorme aflejringer af guld og andre mineraler, så vel som også skønsmæssigt 30 % af verdens endnu ikke-opdaget naturgas og 13 % af ikke-opdaget olie, iflg. U.S. Geological Survey.

Alt imens spørgsmålene om suverænitet er relevante for resurserne nær grænserne af de arktiske nationer (Rusland, USA, Norge, Finland, Sverige og Danmark), så er det udstrakte, arktiske territorium uden for territoriale farvande og er således udelukkende underkastet FN’s Havretskonvention (UNCLOS), der kun giver mulighed for fælles udvikling af resurserne under konsensusaftaler. Arktisk Råd med de seks arktiske nationer, og med andre til stede som observatører, inkl. Kina, styrer denne proces. Kina anser sig selv for at være en »nær-arktisk« stat og påpeger, at området har »den af hele menneskeheden arvede rigdom«. Det seneste topmøde i Arktisk Råd, som finder sted hvert andet år, var i Juneau, Alaska, i marts, hvor Finland overtog formandsskabet for den nuværende toårs-periode.

På vejen til at besøge præsident Trump i Florida i april stoppede præsident Xi Jinping op i Finland for at diskutere Finlands rolle i Bælte & Vej, men han arrangerede også, at Finland repræsenterede Kina i Arktisk Råds møder.

Alt imens Rådets overvejelser hidtil har undgået bestræbelser på at introducere geopolitiske konflikter, så har nogle medlemmer af USA’s Kongres brugt den kendsgerning, at Rusland har sikkerhedsinteresser langs sin udstrakte arktiske grænse, til at kræve, at USA udarbejder militære kapaciteter til at udfordre russisk dominans i området. Dette er absurd i betragtning af, at USA alt i alt har én fungerende isbryder, mens Rusland har 40 og er i færd med at bygge eller bestille (primært fra Sydkorea) byggeriet af yderligere flere dusin.

Netop i denne uge overværede præsident Putin navngivningen af verdens største isbryder-fragtskib til flydende naturgas (LNG) i Skt. Petersborg, bygget til Rusland af Sydkoreas Daewoo Skibsbygger- og Havingeniørselskab. Tydeligvis ikke tiltænkt militære formål, vil skibet blive anvendt i Yamal-projektet på den arktiske Yamal-halvø, ved Uralbjergenes nordlige ende. Dette område har enorme naturgasdepoter, der udvindes af et konsortium, som omfatter Ruslands Novatek, Frankrigs Total og Kinas Nationale Olieselskab. Skibet er det mest moderne af højklasse-isbrydere (dvs. forstærket) og vil blive flagskibet i en flåde af 15 lignende skibe. Yamal-projektet tilsigter at producere 16,5 million tons LNG om året.

Ved skibsdåben sagde Putin:

»Yamal-projektet banede vejen for den arktiske rute. Det vil bidrage til udviklingen af energiindustrien i hele verden, udover Rusland og Europa … Yamal-LNG spiller en vigtig rolle i udviklingen af den Nordlige Sejlrute og i den yderligere undersøgelse og udforskning af Arktis. Jeg regner med den succesfulde lancering af nye, lovende, storstilede projekter sammen med vore franske, kinesiske og udenlandske partnere, så vel som også vores voksende samarbejde i det ekstremt rige, arktiske område.«

Rusland er også i færd med at bygge en Nordlig Breddegrads-jernbane, der forbinder Yamal med Ural-områderne mod syd og nationens transportårer, der vil sikre, at områdets mineralresurser kan transporteres hele året rundt.

I en anden, stor udviklingszone, nemlig Arkhangelsk-regionen syd for Murmansk nær ved den norske og finske grænse, planlægger Kinas Poly Group Corp. et udviklingsprojekt til $5,5 mia., og som omfatter en ny dybvandshavn og en jernbaneforbindelse mod syd. Det er planen at udskibe kul, gødning, olie og andre råvarer fra Sibirien og Ural-området via Arktis, og dernæst mod syd via jernbane. Igor Orlov, Arkhangelsks guvernør, skønner, at projektet vil skabe 40.000 jobs, når det står færdigt i 2023.

En langfristet plan for den russiske udvikling af arktiske faciliteter er at afprøve strukturer, der kræves for menneskelige forposter på Månen og Mars.

 

Amerikansk samarbejde

Et møde på ministerplan i Arktisk Råd i Fairbanks, Alaska, den 11. maj, forudsås at blive omstridt af dem, der forsøger at sabotere præsident Trumps bestræbelser på at etablere samarbejdende og venligtsindede relationer med Rusland. Disse forudsigelser viste sig at være forgæves. Blandt resultaterne af mødet, som USA præsiderede, var underskrivelsen af en bindende aftale om at fremme samarbejde omkring videnskabelig forskning i området, og som vil sikre, at videnskabsfolk og deres udstyr og data kan strømme mere frit hen over internationale grænser inden for Arktis. En Arktisk Skibstrafik Database er blevet oprettet, mens et nyt Arktisk Økonomisk Råd og en Specialstyrke for Forbedret Forbundethed er i færd med at blive operationelle.

David Balton, USA’s viceassisterende udenrigsminister for hav og fiskeri, og som repræsenterede USA ved mødet, modgik de neokonservatives drømme om konfrontation med Rusland og sagde, at Arktis forbliver stabilt og fredeligt.

»I Arktisk Råd har vi et mødested, der har gjort det godt mht. at promovere internationalt samarbejde blandt alle otte nationer, inklusive Rusland«, sagde Balton og tilføjede, at »Uanset, hvilke andre vanskeligheder, der måtte eksistere mellem USA, Rusland og andre medlemmer af Arktisk Råd, og mellem Rusland i relation til andre dele af verden, så manifesterer de sig ikke i Arktisk Råds verden. Det er fortsat en meget samarbejdende organisation.«

Wilson-centrets Arktisk Cirkel Forum er vært for en konference i Washington 21.-22. juni, med titlen, »USA og Rusland i Arktis«. Balton vil være taler sammen med mange andre fra USA, Rusland og andre nationer i Arktisk Råd. Det er netop denne form for samarbejde – hvor vi forcerer udviklingens fremskudte grænser og den menneskelige videns fremskudte grænser – der, ligesom den Nye Silkevej, er i færd med at bevæge verden ind i et nyt paradigme for fred gennem udvikling.

Denne artikel publiceredes første gang i EIR, 16. juni, 2017. Artiklen er ikke tidligere udgivet på dansk.




Gør New York til et vendepunkt i historien

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, 20. juni, 2017 – De hastigt voksende spændinger mellem USA og Rusland over de seneste dages udviklinger i Syrien, har bragt hele planeten ind i en meget farlig og skrøbelig situation. Vi er nu tættere på udbruddet af en global atomkrig, end vi har været på noget tidspunkt, siden Barack Obama og hans klon, Hillary Clinton, blev drevet ud af Det Hvide Hus.

Uanset nogle nyttige skridt, væk fra randen af krig, i løbet af de seneste 24 timer – inklusive meddelelsen fra det amerikanske militær om, at det »tager forsigtigheds-forholdsregler for omplacering af fly over Syrien«, i lyset af den russiske advarsel om, at deres mest avancerede radarsystemer ville »være indstillet til at spore sig ind på« ethvert, og alle, fly over syrisk luftrum vest for Eufrat; samt Australiens beslutning om helt at suspendere deres deltagelse i koalitionsflyvninger i området – så kan situationen udløses af det mindste pres. Der er gentagne erklæringer, der kommer fra diverse dele af Trump-administrationen og Kongressen, om, at amerikanernes nedskydning af det syriske fly (over syrernes eget, nationale territorium!) var berettiget; at »vi vil ikke tøve med at forsvare os eller vore partnere, hvis vi trues«, ligeledes i fremtiden; og at Syrien i realiteten skal deles.

Ingen af disse politikker er Donald Trumps – ikke som kandidat, og ikke som præsident. De er politikker, der kommer fra de selv samme kræfter, der arbejder på at vælte hans præsidentskab, eller simpelt hen myrde ham. De repræsenterer lag inden for efterretningsetablissementet, militæret, medierne og Wall Streets finansinteresser – der alle køres fra toppen af Det britiske Imperium – der har lanceret disse operationer for at forhindre Trump i at handle på sin erklærede dagsorden. Velinformerede kilder har rapporteret, at Trump belejres og distraheres af de endeløse, grundløse, juridiske trusler, der samles omkring ham – hvilket præcist er deres hensigt.

Vi må optrappe vores mobilisering for at vække den amerikanske befolkning til denne fare, sagde Helga Zepp-LaRouche til medarbejdere i dag, og standse det igangværende kup imod Trump. Med folkelig opbakning til de presserende nødvendige forandringer, som vi må organisere, kan Trump befries til at handle for at skabe en helt ny ramme for økonomiske og politiske relationer, med Kina og Rusland i særdeleshed.

Men en stykkevis fremgangsmåde vil ikke virke, erklærede Zepp-LaRouche. En total erstatning af det bankerotte, transatlantiske finanssystem kræves, med en ny, der er bygget op fra bunden, langs linjen af den politik, som Lyndon LaRouche har specificeret i sine Fire Love: en global Glass/Steagall-bankreform og skabelsen af et kreditsystem i Hamiltons tradition for at skabe højteknologiske infrastrukturprojekter og relaterede udviklingsprojekter. Det er præcist, hvad Kina har lanceret med sit epokeskabende Bælte & Vej Initiativ, og som USA nu må tilslutte sig.

Der er intet tydeligere eksempel på dette end situationen omkring New York City og byens smuldrende infrastruktur. Ethvert stykkevise »fiks« af ét problem vil kun gøre situationen værre andetsteds. Hele New York-områdets infrastrukturnet, især transport, må totalt udskiftes, fra bunden og op.

Lad os tage denne krise og vende den til en mulighed, fremførte Zepp-LaRouche. Problemet er så alvorligt, at det ikke kan løses på kort tid. Men hvis man har en plan, vil folk få en fornemmelse af, at en løsning er i sigte, og de vil være optimistiske og vil deltage i problemets løsning. Hvis der kun er kaos, så vil vi stå med et oprør – nationalt, så vel som i New York City.

Så lad os gøre New York til et vendepunkt i historien!

Foto: 29. maj, 2013, blev et tog på vej mod syd afsporet, lige uden for 125. station i New York.