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LaRouche Addresses the Youth Movement:

The Fight To Stop Alito and Bring Back Classical Culture and Economics

Lyndon LaRouche addressed the LaRouche Youth Movement's Los Angeles cadre school on Jan. 28, 2006.

You probably notice there's a report that President Bush, who is still looking for his condom, after a recent statement—it may not have broadcast—at a press conference, appointed two characters from his staff for the Federal Reserve Board. I wonder what crime they've committed that qualifies them for that position, under them. But that's the nature of the thing, with Greenspan going out. He's probably going to go down in history as the Elmer Gantry of financial-monetary policy.

The main issue, of course, today, internationally, is the Alito nomination. This is a pivot-point in world history. It's comparable, not quite of course, but it's comparable by implication to the Reichstag's Fire and Carl Schmitt's certification of Hitler as a dictator, which Hitler remained from that date on, in the immediate aftermath of the Reichstag's Fire, which was set by Hermann Goering, until 1945, until he died. So, it's that kind of ominous event. Because, at this point you have Cheney, who is not very bright, but who's a tool of certain interests, who are pushing for a collapse of the system; who are pushing for a war involving Iran; who are pushing a scenario which can lead the world into Hell. And under this kind of scenario, with a Bush Administration which is losing popularity regularity—Bush is very unpopular now—there is no basis for expecting now, anything but an overturn of the composition of the Congress in the coming November elections.

So therefore, these guys are desperate, with a financial crisis onrushing, and with the desperate situation of the current Bush-Cheney Administration about the mid-term elections coming up this November, to do something, to pull their situation out of the coals. And with the people behind them, who control them, because they don't really control themselves, the people behind them who are these financial Synarchists, are willing to make a great strategic gamble for a grab for world fascist power.

So, under these conditions, it's extremely dangerous.

Now, what's happened is, that we had a setback, in fighting against this Alito nomination, and what it represented, because the leader of the Democratic forces in the Senate, Reid, backed off from assuming leadership against the Alito nomination. And Senator Schumer from New York, who had been designated earlier by circles around Senator Reid, to sort of lead the floor fight on this Alito thing, became a little bit demoralized by the way that Reid is reacting. So, we had a very bad situation, as you know, going into last week.

We acted, and not only we acted, but happily, the former candidate for Presidential election, who was then in Davos, at the meeting of the Davos international financial meeting, reacted, and assumed the position of saying, "I'm going to take the leadership on this issue." Now, Kerry's initiative, with the support of Senator Kennedy, on this matter, has reinvigorated the Democratic forces, and we're gaining back what we had apparently lost, in terms of a fighting position on the Alito nomination. That's now the case.

What is going to happen, is not yet decided. But as you know from your neighbors in California, that the California Democratic Party has moved, partly with our initiative but also the initiative of those whom we've collaborated with, in turning the situation around in California. So, California is now efficiently back in the fight. And you see this by Feinstein has shifted her position, to opposing—to actively opposing, as opposed to just opposing—but actively opposing the Alito nomination.

So, anything can happen. It can happen over the weekend. But now, we have a reinvigorated effort to fight this Alito nomination. Which could be a turning point in world history: a turning point comparable to Hitler's coming to achieving dictatorial powers. Not that the first step in itself, but the fact that you have a majority of the Supreme Court which is controlled by this pro-fascist, implicitly pro-Nazi, crowd in the Supreme Court. And then, the Bush Administration, or the people behind it, pull off a crisis operation, under crisis conditions of a confrontation over the use of power between the Congress and the Presidency, and the thing gets thrown in the direction of the Supreme Court. Then the indication that the Supreme Court will support the President on a move to establish a dictatorship, like Hitler's, would get through. So therefore, stopping this now, is extremely important.

And what you have is, you have the leading role from (not exactly behind the scenes) by former President Clinton, who of course is one of the best fundraisers in political history, who is now mobilizing forces on the danger of this Alito nomination. This is, at the moment, is the center of the fight to save civilization. And we are deeply involved in this, naturally, and we are a factor in this fight. How much of a factor? Well, let's determine that, after the smoke has settled. But we are a factor, we are an important factor in this, and we have to look at ourselves, and our responsibilities in terms of the position we occupy, in terms of the position we occupy, as being a key factor in this fight to try to defeat the fascist takeover of the United States.

And I don't exaggerate in the slightest, in saying "fascist takeover." I've already indicated some of the qualifications, you might want to raise in discussing how serious the threat is: How does this compare exactly with the situation prior to the Nazi takeover in February 1933 in Germany. Well, that's a moot point. But, the very fact that we have to debate that, indicates the seriousness of the situation. We do have to debate that. Not because we want to sit and be involved in a debate on this question, but because the very fact that we should debate that, indicates the seriousness of the situation we're facing.

So, that's where we stand.

What Is an Economy?

Now, behind this, and overlapping it, is another issue, which I'm addressing in a piece which you saw a glimpse of, or a glimpse of the introduction to, in my latest economic piece which is coming out in the coming issue of EIR: It's entitled, "What Connects the Dots." But the fuller program is much more serious.

The problem is, and again, this is something you've been discussing, is, what is an economy? What do we mean by an economy? The key issue, which is very much a focal point of the youth activity today, as a matter of fact, it's the keystone, the keystone is physical science and music. But not just physical science and music, but the valid approach to both, to physical science and music.

In music, of course, it is the Bach choral method, as exemplified by issues we've raised, by the comma question as it arises in tuning a choral performance of something like the Ave Verum Corpus of Mozart—again, Mozart's birthday celebration aftermath—and the Bach Jesu, meine Freude. And other works. But these are exemplary works, in which simply each individual person, singing the right notes at the right level, does not produce an integrated performance of the actual intention of the composer. To realize the intention, you must modify, or temper, the modalities of the vocal parts, so that they interrelate in a way which creates a unity of effect from beginning to end. And that is what Furtwaengler called "performing between the notes."

And very few people today, still understand—relatively speaking, among people who've learned music—what music is. They know how to make noise. You have these chimpanzee things, which is called "rock performance." It's called "rock performance" because it's pre-Stone Age performance, in terms of intellectual quality. It is highly sexual, in the same say that you can see sexuality practiced by chimpanzees and monkeys generally; but it is not—and it may be entertainment for those who like such monkey business in the name of sexual entertainment, but it's not music, and it certainly is not art. And it really is not human, either.

So, to convey ideas, which are the ideas which represent discovery of universal physical principles, as they apply in music, you must understand this tempering requirement, which Furtwaengler called "performing between the notes," which is exemplified in what's called "a cappella"—that's a misleading term anyway, but it's used for a non-orchestrated performance, choral performance. But the actual a cappella, which does involve musical instruments, but this vocal-only setting, or slightly enhanced vocal setting, as in the case you require this for the Mozart Ave Verum Corpus; but in this case, it's this that defines what music is, because it defines a distinction between monkey music which you can get on any rock concert, or any popular concert today, or popular recording, and real human music, which is based on this principle: And the principle is, the same principle of the mind, which occurs in the actual discovery of a universal physical principle, such as gravitation, or the principle of "quickest time" of Fermat.

And what we've emphasized as a movement, particularly for the Youth Movement, is the emphasis on a unified approach to the development of the adult personality, or the young adult personality, through emphasis upon true creativity, as it occurs in the field in physical science; and the same quality, mental quality of creativity, which in music is unique, in a sense, to Classical musical composition, based on principles of Bachian tempering.

Now, there's some quarrel about this, about so-called Negro music. Now, the so-called Negro Spiritual, as developed by the influence of Dvorak, on the understanding of musical composition by Harry Burleigh, resulted in a development of the Negro Spiritual in the United States, during the early 20th Century, under impetus provided by Antonin Dvorak, who had dealt with this thing with folk music in Europe, and who was a student of Brahms who was also an expert in folk music. You can also see in the work of Mozart, and Haydn, and Beethoven, on folk music before Brahms, in terms of dealing with the setting of certain kinds of Scottish, Irish, and English folk music; you see exactly how this approach works.

So, the Negro Spiritual, as enhanced, and immortalized by the influence of Dvorak, and the work of Burleigh, and Burleigh's immediate followers, produced in the American Negro Spiritual, a form of Classical performance which actually requires all the other qualifications of a Florentine bel canto voice-training. This is not grunting. This is applying the art of tempering which is derived from a Bachian view of Florentine bel canto voice-training to the medium of the Negro Spiritual, as insight into this was provided by Dvorak, and was developed by Burleigh and his students, such as the great singers of the Negro Spiritual of the 20th Century.

So, when we're talking about, in this case, in all these areas, creativity is there. The recognition of the way of putting across the embedded creativity in the Negro Spiritual, which is perfected through this Dvorak-Burleigh connection, shows the generality of the principle of creativity in art. Especially in singing, because the most human kind of thing in the world, is people singing in choral formation, with the various species of voices participating. That is the exemplification of Classical music, of Classical performance, is the exemplification of the role of creativity, the distinction of the man from the ape, of the difference between a Classical performance and a rock concert—hmm?—for example.

So. Then, you get the same thing in physical science, in the application of the principle of Sphaerics, to defining the discovery of universal physical principles, the same principle which is raised by Nicholas of Cusa in his De Docta Ignorantia, which became the birthplace for modern physical science; with, in a sense, with the follower of Cusa such as Kepler, who lays the foundations of modern physical science in practice; followed by Fermat, who, with his quickest-time principle, together with the work of Kepler, defines what is the only competent current of modern physical scientific thought.

Entering the Noösphere

So now, our Youth Movement, coming in the context of the collapse of a culture, a cultural collapse, including the cultural collapse of physical science as practice, in an earlier generation—which was largely corrupted, because of this Newton-Descartes influence on scientists, which corrupted them, and deprived them of the realization of what was otherwise their natural creative contributions to scientific progress.

Now we have a youth generation which is getting in on the ground floor, so to speak, in music and in science, of these things. This is getting on the ground floor, of a social principle of a society, which is based on a conscious mobilization around the creative powers, which are uniquely the property of the human species, and no other species. This is the entry, the conscious entry into what Vladimir Vernadsky defined as the Noösphere.

So, we're now entering the Noösphere.

Now, what I'm addressing in this case, in this present paper, is exactly that: We need a science, a science of economy and a programmatic approach to the present world crisis of economy, of physical economy, which is based on this concept. And therefore, we must define economy, not in terms of Cartesian terms, or mechanistic terms, or conventional empiricist terms. We must define economy in terms of creativity. Now, an economy has two sides to it: On the one side, we have what is called the monetary side. The monetary side, which is treated by Marx, the Marxists and others, as well as the usual crowd, as the basis for economics, is incompetent. It's intrinsically incompetent. Marxism and conventional economics is intrinsically incompetent, scientifically. Because, it is based on the assumption that there is a lawful relationship, or a statistically lawful relationship, between the circulation of money, and economy. And that is not true. That is a great fraud. All economics, as generally taught, including Marxian economics as well as the varieties you can find in any university today, is essentially fraudulent. That doesn't mean that all of the people who practice it are incompetent. They do have some useful insights here and there. But their systemic conception of what an economy is, is a fraudulent one.

Now, here we are, with the greatest collapse of world economy, the world could imagine. It's been onrushing for 40 years, since the second half of the 1960s—we've been degenerating. We've been degenerating under the influence, the increasing influence, of a degeneration—it's called the "De-Generation"; it's called the Baby-Boomer generation: The people who came into leading positions associated with the 68ers, the 68er phenomenon. So, we have a cultural paradigm-shift, which was introduced as a complication of the intrinsic incompetence of economic thinking, which now becomes called "post-industrial society," or, "services economy."

This is the ultimate insanity! The ultimate mass insanity, which is the actual basis, threatening the existence of a world economy, and threatening to plunge the world as a whole, today, into a New Dark Age, in which the level of the human population will sink rapidly, from a present level of over 6 billion people, to a population of significantly less than 1 billion people, within the course of approximately a generation; and a disappearance of entire language-cultures, of whole other aspects of cultures, the disappearance of nationality, as a relic of the past; and the degradation of humanity largely to something resembling rutting, cannibalistic beasts.

Unless we stop it!

So, now, the question is, we need a model of economy, which gets us out of this mess. And this means we have to go to the understanding of what an economy is. There are two aspects to any modern economy. One aspect, which is popular, which is the monetary aspect: The use of money as a medium of exchange (and for other things, hmm? as diapers, or whatever). The second thing, is the physical economy.

Now, physical economy is not simply an equilibrium of the relationship among the physical components of economy, including human labor and human existence. But an economy is actually—to get a profit, in a physical economy, the profit can not exceed the rate of growth, the rate of physical growth! The rate of increase of productivity, per capita and per square kilometer. Now, the only sustainable basis for such an increase in per-capita output and standard of living, to compensate for attrition—that is the depletion of certain resources, and things like that—is scientific creativity. Scientific creativity, which we are addressing, as in the recent Christmas issue of EIR, and the application of Sphaerics, define what we mean by a universal physical principle, taking some elementary examples up through the implications of the work of Kepler and Fermat. And which means going through the work of Leibniz, through the circles of Gauss and Riemann.

So therefore, we have to apply that. But you look at the economic textbooks and the economic policy-making, and you find hopeless confusion and desperate incompetence, on economic thinking, in all circles.

Therefore, we have—and I have, in particular—a unique responsibility for making what is a real economy clear, to people who may be intelligent, but who really don't understand economics.

Now, what we have, of course, are people who know how to practice machine-tool design, which is an expression of the process of realization of scientific discoveries, and their application. We have the means for programmatically approaching the question of increasing the productivity, physical productivity, per capita, per square kilometer, on this planet—we have that. I have the theory. I have the scientific theory which enables us to understand this. And we have in general, no systematic understanding of political economy, or economy otherwise, which is competent for this purpose, except my own. And that's what I'm doing. And that's what this next paper, in progress, is going address in a more specific way. It does not replace what I've written otherwise, earlier on this thing. But it supersedes it, by going a clinching point, of what do you actually mean by an economy? What is the difference between me, and all my rivals, who are incompetent by comparison, especially in light of the crisis which faces us now.

If what I'm doing in this respect, is not adopted, as the leading policy of civilization now, from our own government on, then the planet has not much of a chance of avoiding a New Dark Age: We've run out of all other options.

Okay, that's it. Have fun!