• The original source of this document is no longer available; this is an archived version maintained on this website.
• Back to News Index

A distant mirror on today's turbulent times

By Kim Vicente

Originally appeared in The Globe and Mail

When I drove down from Toronto last summer to spend nine months as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I had no clue I'd be faced with the situation I'm in today. As a Canadian living in the United States during these turbulent times, I've found it distressing that American politicians seem to be intent on bombing Iraq into the stone age no matter what.

Last week, I walked down the street to the Harvard Book Store and picked out a shiny new copy of a book that I suspected might help me make sense of what's going on in the world. I couldn't wait to crack open its spine and, having just finished reading it, I can tell you that, although it was tough going in places, I wasn't disappointed.

The erudite author had done his homework, covering a wide range of subjects and their impact on contemporary society. In some passages, he even anticipated the interaction between wealthy oil reserves and the prospects of war: "The last conflict is at hand in which Civilization receives its conclusive form -- the conflict between money and blood."

In other passages, he marshalled out, one by one, the influential forces that dominate modern times. About technology (military or otherwise), he had this to say: "Man has become the slave of his creation. The machine has forcibly changed his habits in a direction from which there is no return."

The powerful influence of contemporary media in shaping public opinion was, of course, also acknowledged: "What the Press wills, is true. Three weeks of press-work, and the 'truth' is acknowledged by everybody."

The modern influences of globalization didn't escape his attention, either: "The private powers of the economy want free paths for their acquisition of great resources. No legislation must stand in their way. They want to make the laws themselves, in their interests, and to that end they make use of the tool they have made for themselves, democracy, the subsidized party."

The intellectual who wrote this fascinating book also knew that, unlike the days of old, money has become the new Esperanto: "The destinies of this world-economy are now decided in a few places, the 'money-markets' of the world. Money is the form of intellectual energy in which the political and social, technical, and mental are concentrated. Every idea, to be actualized, has to be put into terms of money." And as a result, market forces affect everything else: "The freedom of public opinion involves the preparation of public opinion, which costs money; and the freedom of the press brings with it the question of possession of the press, which again is a matter of money; and with the franchise comes electioneering, in which he who pays the piper calls the tune."

About international relations, the author wrote: " 'Race' springs forth, pure and irresistible -- the strongest win and the residue is their spoil. They seize the management of the world."

Given all of these insights, I wasn't surprised to find that this learned scholar was also aware of the tremendous interactions between the forces he had identified, interactions that make the world a very different place from what it once was: "There is no need now to impose military-service on the subject -- one whips their souls with articles and pictures until they clamour for weapons and force their leaders into a conflict to which they willed to be forced." But what may be surprising is the next sentence: "This is the end of Democracy."

I'm really glad I read this book. It helped me understand the global forces that have conspired, at this particular moment in world history, to create the mess that we're all embroiled in. Even if I can't do much to shape the deliberations inside and outside the United Nations, at least I can better understand how we got to where we are, and perhaps even what might happen next.

You might be wondering when this book was written. Well, 1922. The author's name? Oswald Spengler. And the book's title? The Decline of the West.