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In 1980 Alvin Toffler wrote the book "Third Wave." While Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich endorsed the book, and put it on his congressional recommended reading list. He liked it so much, that in 1996 he wrote the forward to it's sequel "The Politics of the Third Wave."
The premise of both books is that national sovereignty is an outdated concept. The books call for the complete repeal of the US constitution. It envisions a world wide technocracy run by multi-national corporations and NGOs.
When Gingrich was presented with a copy of "The Politics of the Third Wave" and asked to sign his forward, he was quite surprised. He signed it, but declared that "I disagree with half of what is in the book."
Toffler believes mankind is entering a new system. To the founding fathers in his book, he wrote, “For the system of government you fashioned including the very principles on which you based it, is increasingly obsolete, and hence increasingly, if inadvertently, oppressive and dangerous to our welfare. It must be radically changed and a new system of government invented, a democracy for the 21st century. For this wisdom, above all, I thank Mr. Jefferson who helped create the system that served us so well for so long, and that now must, in its turn, die and be replaced.”
In his next book, “Creating a New Civilization: The Politics of the Third Wave,” Toffler writes:
“In 1975 at the request of Congressional Democrats, we organized a conference on futurism and ‘anticipatory democracy’ [the latter being the political game plan of the former] for senators and members of the House. We invited Newt Gingrich, probably the only Republican among the many futurists we knew. He attended.
“That conference led to the creation of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future, a group eventually co-chaired by a young senator named Al Gore, now vice president.” (7)
Gingrich, Gore-like, would rise within the Third Wave/Third Way movement, would become a member of the executive committee of the Congressional Clearing House on the Future, and would win the praise of leftist, “ex”-Marxist Toffler as possibly “the single smartest and most successful intellectual in American politics. …”
"The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution," he said. "Under our [constitutional system] - either we're going to have to rethink our Constitution, or we're going to have to rethink our process of decision-making."
"I am just saying that we need to be honest about the fact that we are transferring from the United States at a practical level significant authority to a new organization. This is a transformational moment. I would feel better if the people who favor this would just be honest about the scale of change.
"I agree ... this is very close to Maastrict [the European Union treaty by which the EU member nations have surrendered considerable sovereignty], and twenty years from now we will look back on this as a very important defining moment. This is not just another trade agreement. This is adopting something which twice, once in the 1940s and once in the 1950s, the U.S. Congress rejected. I am not even saying we should reject it; I, in fact, lean toward it. But I think we have to be very careful, because it is a very big transfer of power."
—Newt Gingrich, House Ways and Means Committee hearings during June 1994.
"The time has come for the next great step forward in American politics. It is not a matter of Democrats versus Republicans, or of left and right...but something more significant...a clear distinction between rear-guard politicians who wish to preserve or restore an unworkable past and those who are ready to transition to what we call a “Third Wave” information-age society…
A new civilization is emerging in our lives, and blind men everywhere are trying to suppress it. This new civilization brings with it new family styles, changed ways...a new economy, new political conflicts, and...altered consciousness... Humanity faces a quantum leap forward. This is the meaning of the Third Wave…
Our argument is based on what we call the “revolutionary premise”... The revolutionary premise liberates our intellect and will.
Nationalism is...First Wave. The globalization of business and finance required by advancing Third Wave economies routinely punctures the national “sovereignty” the nationalists hold so dear...
As economies are transformed by the Third Wave, they are compelled to surrender part of their sovereignty... Poets and intellectuals of Third Wave states sing the virtues of a “borderless” world and “planetary consciousness.”
The Third Wave...demassifies culture, values, and morality... There are more diverse religious belief systems.
The Constitution of the United States needs to be reconsidered and altered...to create a whole new structure of government... Building a Third Wave civilization on the wreckage of Second Wave institutions involves the design of new, more appropriate political structures... The system that served us so well must, in its turn, die and be replaced."
Originally posted by mishigas
It would be nice if we could look back 15 - 20 years ago and see if all other politician's views were 100% correct and consistent when judged by today's issues and standards.
I've always said that if a person's views do not mature and change over the years, that that person is a rigid fundamentalist; perhaps too rigid to govern.
It also brings to mind the following axiom: "If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain".edit on 30-11-2011 by mishigas because: (no reason given)
"In our battle against those that detest our free and prosperous society, we cannot sacrifice any of the pillars our nation stands upon, namely respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Our enemies in the war against terrorism abuse the Islamic law known as the Sharia that they claim to value. It is perversely used as justification for their horrific and wanton acts of violence.
We must demonstrate to the world that America is the best example of what a solid Constitution with properly enforced laws can bring to those who desire freedom and safety. If we become hypocrites about our own legal system, how can we sell it abroad or question legal systems different than our own?
I strongly believe Congress must act now to rein in the Patriot Act, limit its use to national security concerns and prevent it from developing "mission creep" into areas outside of national security."
BLITZER: So, Speaker, just to clarify, you wouldn't change the Patriot Act?
GINGRICH: No, I would not change it. I'm not aware of any specific change it needs. And I'd look at strengthening it, because I think the dangers are literally that great. And again, I've spent years studying this stuff. You start thinking about one nuclear weapon in one American city and the scale of loss of life and you ask yourself, what should the president be capable of doing to stop that?
I would have to agree that he is a bit of a flip flopper personally. I just wonder what caused his stance to change between 2003, and now to cause him to become more corrupt? Perhaps the flawed American policies abroad. I'd suggest he stop thinking about entire American cities being wiped out. Fear mongering, I think it's called?
If I could respond to Newt Gingrich, I'd tell him I don't want his Feardom, I prefer the Freedom we once knew.
I'd suggest he stop thinking about entire American cities being wiped out. Fear mongering, I think it's called?
Originally posted by mishigas
It would be nice if we could look back 15 - 20 years ago and see if all other politician's views were 100% correct and consistent when judged by today's issues and standards.
I've always said that if a person's views do not mature and change over the years, that that person is a rigid fundamentalist; perhaps too rigid to govern.
It also brings to mind the following axiom: "If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain".edit on 30-11-2011 by mishigas because: (no reason given)