Posted by gospelnous on 11/14/08
Last updated 11/14/08

In the Belly of the Beast . . .

This is a revision of blogged comments to an article posted at Newsvine entitled, In the Belly of the Beast - Report from a Homeless American.   

The Western financial system dominating global economics over the last half century, and coming into existence towards the end of World War II, will be under review beginning tomorrow at the G20 Summit in Washington, D.C..  Otherwise known as the Bretton Woods System, it came into existence at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in 1944.  These sessions served to establish IBRD, GATT, and the IMF under the auspices of a Keynesian 'debt-based' theory, but as a foundational component of what H.G. Wells had previously proposed in 1940 as The New World Order.

The historical backdrop for this system began taking shape towards the end of the 17th Century in conjunction with John Locke and the prescription of popular, 'middle-class' ideals involving 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'.  Ironically, the prospect of a collapse of this system (Western civilization), according to Arnold Toynbee, could set the stage for a universal religion to rise in its place.

Because Toynbee suggested that Democracy's greatest contribution to human development was 'social justice', it's especially ironic that the West's deviation from the first commandment should stand in such stark contrast to comparable principles of Sharia Law which forbids the subjection to usury in paying riba.