PRESS RELEASE
Highlights of LaRouche Webcast Dialogue
July 26, 2011 (EIRNS)—LaRouche's webcast presentation was followed by a lively discussion, focussed very much on economic issues and the ongoing fight in the U.S. Congress to get the Glass-Steagall passed, a cause championed by the LaRouche movement for nearly three years. Go the www.larouchepac.com for the full dialogue.
The first question came from an editor of the Russia weekly Zavtra, on the chain reaction consequences that a default by the United States would have if the debt ceiling is not raised. In his reply, LaRouche advised not to think about what factor could lead to what consequence, or what could prevent it. The reality is that "the entire system is coming down, not because something is causing something, which is causing something... That's the monetarist way of thinking." This system will never survive, it cannot. All that "lollapalooza money out there has no real value." It's a swindle. Value is intrinsically physical in nature, LaRouche said, in terms of what's useful to human beings, as improvements in the physical conditions of human life.
"Money can be used, very usefully, as a credit system, but that's because you have predetermined the value of the product," in terms of how it will affect the performance of the economy. "What is the value of a machine tool? Can you eat it? Or can you use it as a tool, which results in production... which improves the conditions of human beings?"
A question came in from Democrats in the House and the Senate on the underhanded attempts by President Obama to bypass Congress by negotiating privately with the Republican leadership on raising the debt ceiling and enforcing vicious cuts. Asked what he thought of the negotiations, LaRouche replied: "What we have to do - and there is no substitute for doing it - is crack down with a Glass-Steagall law. Otherwise, what you're doing is nothing but an act of masturbation." It's worthless money, that can never be redeemed. "What are you kidding yourself for?", LaRouche asked the elected officials. "Put Glass-Steagall through now, Otherwise, you're wasting your time, and you're wasting our time."
The following question was also on Glass-Steagall, from a staff member of the House Ways and Means Committee, asking about providing a mechanism for implementing the measures. LaRouche's reply: "There's no problem. Get Glass-Steagall rammed through, and in the process, kick the President out of office. If you don't do that, you're wasting your time...."
Once the garbage is cleaned out, he went on, there will be very little money in the system, so we have to create a mass of Federal credit which is then made available for large projects, such as NAWAPA, which will automatically spin off many smaller supporting projects, to put the unemployed back to work. Such projects become the basis for the assets which are being created to pay the debts, covered by Federal credit.
LaRouche's presentation on the energy question provoked many questions on the environmentalist issue. A number of people who are for nuclear energy thought it would also be a good idea to use wind and solar energy, where available, because they are non-polluting and asked why LaRouche he was against that.
LaRouche replied:
"Windmills and solar collectors are pollution. The standard of proof of cleanliness is energy flux density and the incremental rate of energy flux density, which is produced by certain kinds of technology and scientific progress.... There is no pollution in nuclear power... The worst pollution is the lack of nuclear power, because the existence of the human species depends on it.... The greatest pollution is the pollution of ideas with that kind of character."