Whether you’re a regular reader of so-called ‘conspiracy’ material or merely have a passing interest in the dark underbelly of world events, The Club Of Rome is a name with which you will most likely be familiar.
Established in 1968, The Club describes itself as a “non-political organisation founded in concern for the future of humanity.” The various documents and reports The Club has issued over the years are frequently cited in conspiracy writing and investigations into the existence and possible agenda of the New World Order or NWO.
Two of the best-known reports are 1972’s The Limits of Growth and The First Global Revolution, first published in 1991. I purchased a copy of the latter in a small second hand bookstore in 1992, read it, found its language to be fairly wooden and impenetrable and promptly thought no more about it.
In recent years, however, the references I was constantly reading to both documents, but The First Global Revolution in particular, prompted me to dig out my copy and re-read it. The £2.50 price label still attached to it certainly puts its current value of between £40-£90 on Amazon into perspective. Clearly something had changed since 1991 to make this insignificant looking little paperback much sought after. The images of the book shown here are scans of my own copy, the 1992 first UK paperback edition published by Simon & Schuster. (Continues below)
In essence, many of the claims made about The First Global Revolution portray it as a blueprint for the NWO: one world government, one world bank, one world army, the end of the sovereign state and – possibly – the end of the sovereign individual. In particular, The First Global Revolution is said to map out a strategy whereby the exaggerated and manipulated threat of man-made global warming will be used to justify the establishment of a New World Order.
While re-reading The First Global Revolution, it became clear that the claims made about its contents vary from outright misrepresentations to completely accurate assessments of the plans it outlines. What follows is a brief trawl through some of the main points backed by direct quotes from the original text. Some of these quotes appear frequently in Internet articles, often inaccurately copied verbatim from second and third hand sources. Dots thus …. indicate some text omitted from a sentence but obviously not with the intention of altering its meaning, but merely to summarise the central point being made. (Continues below)
The overall thrust of The First Global Revolution is that there are mounting global problems facing humanity which can only be solved through global action. The concept of sovereign nations and the notion of the individual are presented as a major part of these problems. Against this background, let’s pull some quotes from the book which deal with intense areas of concern for critics of the New World Order agenda.
Reduction in living standards in Western nations and the eradication of the middle class: “In seeking a normative approach to world development at this moment of turbulence and change, it is vital to discover whether the present levels of material prosperity in the rich, industrialized countries are compatible with global sustainability or, better perhaps, whether a world economy driven by stimulated consumer demand can continue for long.” (Page 44)
“The indispensible measures will be unpopular, costly and painful, and wealth will inescapably have to be shared. This means a whole lifestyle and pattern of consumption will have to be modified in the industrialized countries. …but minds are not in the least prepared for this multi-faceted revolution. Unless public opinion is truly educated and intensely prepared for the acceptance of new living conditions, we can expect revolt and inertia to occur…” (P159)
“Our efforts to create a sustainable world society and economy demand that we diminish the profligate lifestyles in the industrialised countries through a slow-down in consumption – which may, in any case, be forced upon us by environmental constraints.” (P227)
Uncontrolled mass immigration as a means to dilute national identity: “It is clear that no measures will effectively stop the immigration trends. This could induce a sharp rise in defensive racism in the receiving countries and encourage the emergence of a series of right wing dictators swept in by popular vote. Such situations must not be allowed to develop. It is therefore equally important… to prepare the populations of the rich countries to accept this reality.” (P56)
The emergence of the Big brother state: “There will be the means for electronic control of everyone’s activities, for ‘Big Brother’ dictators and societies, far more effective than myriads of secret police.” (P59)
Man-made global warming: “Can we live without enemies? Every state has been so used to classifying its neighbours as friend or foe that the sudden absence of traditional adversaries has left government and public opinion with a great void. New enemies have therefore to be identified, new strategies imagined, new weapons devised. The new enemies may have changed in nature and location, but they are no less real. They threaten the whole human race and their names are pollution, water shortage, famine, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment. However, it appears that awareness of the new enemies is, as yet, insufficient to elicit world cohesion and solidarity for the fight.” (P95-96)
“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we suggested that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill.” (P102)
The previous quote is often linked directly with these quotes, also from P102:
“All these dangers are caused by human intervention.” and also “The real enemy then is humanity itself.”
However, the complete paragraph from P102 reads thus: “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we suggested that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. In their totality and in their interactions, these phenomena constitute a common threat which demands the solidarity of all peoples. But in designating them as the enemy, we fall into the trap about which we have already warned, namely mistaking symptoms for causes. All these dangers are caused by human intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behaviour that they can be overcome. The real enemy then is humanity itself.”
World government: “Is this new world we find ourselves in governable? The answer is: probably not with the existing structures and attitudes… there is an increasingly evident contradiction between the urgency of making some decisions and the democratic procedure founded on various dialogues such as parliamentary debate, public debate and negotiations with trade unions or professional organizations. …Its disadvantage lies in the time it takes, especially at international level… the slowness of decision making in a democratic system is particularly damaging at the international level.” (P99)
“While for some countries the principle of sovereignty is the only basis for cohesion and national identity, it is increasingly incompatible with the realities of interdependence.” (P165)
Critics of the European Union and the sameness now prevalent among British political parties will recognise trends forecast in this statement:
“In most democratic countries operating on a multi-party system, a model of confrontation has evolved and spread throughout national life …there are strong reasons for attempting, in both political and industrial relations, to inculcate a change of attitude in the direction of consensus-building. In the face of the gravity of the decisions that will have to be taken in the near future, artificially stimulated party rivalries… could lead to disaster. There is an overwhelming need to establish the maximum of common agreement between political parties… if we are to weather the many storms ahead. To this end it would be useful to bring together representatives of different parties in a non-political forum.” (P174-175)
Restrictions on the use of energy: “Highest priority must be given to energy conservation and efficiency in the transmission and use of energy in every sector of the economy. …To achieve the necessary savings here will require fundamental changes in the habits of millions of individuals.” (P132)
“We hear many proposals for energy taxation suggested by present difficulties. These demand consideration. Interesting proposals have also been made for energy to be used as the basis for general taxation, both national and local. Many possibilities are opening up in this new field and The Club Of Rome has proposed study of the various suggestions for energy taxation designed to control the energy in the North and to ensure that in the South development should be on the basis of clean energy.” (P137)
N.B. Many take this last point as tacit admission that the Third World will never be permitted to industrialise.
Summary: Page 229 offers a summary and overview of the text.
“The whole of this book is a call for world solidarity. Living as we do at the onset of the first global revolution, on a small planet which we seem hellbent to destroy, beset by conflicts, in an ideological and political vacuum, faced with problems of global dimensions which the fading nation states are impotent to solve, with immense scientific and technological possibilities for the improvement of the human condition, rich in knowledge but poor in wisdom, we search for the keys to survival and sustainability.”
Many of the general ideas put forward in The First Global Revolution are wide open to interpretation. Others are more specific. In either case, the key lies in how – if and when adopted – these proposals are taken forward, developed and implemented. There exists both the possibility for an enlightened global society living in peace and harmony, and of an enforced global dictatorship where individual freedoms have been all but eradicated. At this present moment the world seems to be headed for the latter. The First Global Revolution and the reams of documents like it may contain mere ideas. But ideas have consequences.
