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| The Externalization of the Hierarchy - Section II - The General World Picture |
| The Coming World Order April 1940 This analysis of world conditions is being written in America, where there is, as yet, relative physical safety and [175] time for the readjustment of views, and the opportunity also to give direction - along with embattled Britain and her Allies - to a world sorely needing guidance and vision. There is great confusion of voices. Those who know the least speak ever the loudest and apportion the blame for events with facility. There is much mental distress everywhere, occasioned by the war and also by the desire of the well-intentioned to stress their particular solutions of the world problem. It is necessary, therefore, to speak with directness, to indicate the inherent dangers of the present situation, to present its amazing opportunity to bring about needed changes, and to point out the lines of demarcation between the right and the wrong ways of living, between a vision of the new world order and the retrograde plans of the so-called "new order" with which the totalitarian powers seek to bewilder humanity. We start with the premise that two opposing world visions confront humanity and that two world orders are presented to mankind. Between these man must choose, and his choice will determine the future. The years 1941 and 1942 will be years of crisis and of tension. Those who perceive the risks, the opportunity, and the important decision to be made are struggling with almost frantic haste to awaken the masses to the uniqueness of this moment. What mankind decides during the next twelve months will condition the future as no other human decision has ever before done in the history of mankind. There have been points of crisis before in history, but not one that involved the entire planetary population. There have been periods of danger, difficulty, war, famine and distress, but none which conditioned the lives of untold millions as does the present. Time and again there has been the emergence of leaders, conquerors, dictators and world figures, but they have hitherto come at a time when their influence was limited by world communications and by national limitations; therefore their power was not universal and their progress was arrested by the conditions of the [176] period in which they lived. Today, the entire planet is involved and all the nations of the world are definitely affected. There is the setting up of barriers in a futile effort to keep out of trouble and avoid war; dominant groups are swinging many nations under their banners so that they are either associated with the totalitarian powers or with those nations which are opposing them. The nations which are not actually belligerents are equally active in the task of endeavoring to preserve their national integrity. The conflict today is a world conflict. The following groups of people are involved:
The momentum of this struggle is gaining daily. Fresh areas of the world are being swept into the conflict every week. The real issues, the impending economic results and the political implications are emerging with growing clarity in every land and - make no mistake - even in those lands which lie numbed and suffering under the heel of the conqueror. Among them there is a silent and at present voiceless revolt. The inner speechless revolt in itself constitutes a menace to world peace and, if evoked into full expression, may plunge the world still deeper into conflict. Facing humanity today are two major dangers. These are: first, the conflict will be so prolonged that humanity will be completely exhausted, and thus a stalemate will be reached and a situation will arise which will bring to an end all civilized relationships and all hope of an ordered life of beauty, peace and culture. Secondly, the nations not yet involved will fail to see the realities of the situation and will not come to the assistance of those fighting for the preservation of national and individual freedom. If this [177] should prove to be the case, then - without so intending and yet inevitably - they will stand on the side of evil and share in the responsibility of engineering world disaster. Today, there are no more than two parties in the world - those who are on the side of right human relations and those who are on the side of selfish and cruel power politics. The totalitarian powers are on the march - ruthless, selfish, cruel and aggressive; the powers which are battling for human liberty and for the rights of the defenceless little nations are standing with their backs to the wall, facing the strongest display of human might that the world has ever seen. The nations which are not yet physically involved are preparing for some form of action and for defence - defence against the dictator powers but not against the fighting democracies. The battle today is being fought out on the land, on the sea, and in the air. From the economic standpoint, every country is involved, and ruin stalks in the wake of war; the stopping of imports or of exports in many lands is bringing about the financial ruin of thousands; the pressure of economic disaster, the fear of famine and pestilence and the constant risk of becoming actively a part of the war faces every country not yet actually in the fighting line. The fear of defeat, of death and injury, and of the loss of all possessions is added to these problems, where the nations at war are concerned. Humanity must face up to these facts. No matter how people may evade the truth, no matter how they may escape into a dream world of wishful thinking, the fact remains - inevitable and undeniable - that the world is at war and everyone is involved. |
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