LaRouche's Leadership and a Youth Movement: Crucial to Saving Civilization
December 27, 2023

Well, we live in interesting times, in a situation in which so-called "traditions" will not work; so-called "generally accepted values" will not work. We're in a general breakdown of civilization as it has existed in the recent decades. There are no local national solutions for any problem. There has to be a solution, in terms of sovereign nation-states, but the solution will have to be a global solution.

Now, as you may have observed, I have been working on a number of a projects, in various locations; the concept of leadership, in the sense of the sublime versus the tragic; exposing the fraud, of what are generally accepted as standards of democracies, standards of leadership and so forth; opposing the fraud of what are considered generally accepted, programmatic approaches to issues, or tactical approaches to issues; because, we're coming into a time, where several things are collapsing at once.

First of all, we have a change in the world situation, in international policies, which have essentially been installed, since about 1964. That is, the period 1961-1964, the period from the Bay of Pigs through the Missile Crisis, the assassination of Kennedy; the attacks on de Gaulle, the assassination attacks; the ouster of Adenauer; the overthrow of the British government of Macmillan; the Harold Wilson government; the assassination of Kennedy, as I said, and the entry into the war in Vietnam; inaugurated a phase-change in the world system toward what had been intended by some circles, at the close of World War II: the establishment of world-government to replace the nation-state. And the establishment of a system, which would prevent any return, to the modern nation-state.

In the 1960s and 1970s this change occurred, was consolidated. And, we're now in something which is comparable, globally, to the emergence of the Roman Empire as a kind of imperialistic consumer society, looting all the victim nations, and killing all the people it didn’t want. And, this is the general standard of behavior in Europe, throughout the Americas, actually, in terms of the leading circles; and in Europe, and elsewhere, somewhat.

So, now we've come to a point, that the system doesn't work. We're in a systemic breakdown crisis. And, it's a breakdown crisis, essentially of the prevailing, accepted versions of culture. It is the accepted cultures, the ideologies, the university teachings, and so forth, in each and all of these countries--the Americas, Europe, and elsewhere--which is the current problem. As long as people try to find solutions, in terms of the generally accepted, academically accepted, popularly accepted cultures, no solution is possible: Civilization, under those conditions, is plunged into a dark age.

So therefore, we are in the course of making a revolution, which is essentially a cultural revolution, globally. The cultural revolution is quite normal. It's typified, as in all history, or most history as we know it, by youth revolutions: That is, when the existing adult generations become hopelessly decadent, then only the intervention of a young generation, which introduces a cultural change to a culture which is viable, away from the prevailing culture which is not viable, which is inherently doomed, can save civilization. And therefore, what I'm doing focuses upon that fact, and those factors.

So, I'm writing a number of things and saying a number of things, all of which are against what is generally accepted teaching in universities. My authority in this depends upon the fact, that over the past decades, that, on long-range economic forecasting, I've been consistently right--I've never made a mistake on a long-range forecast--and it's always come in in a timely fashion. And therefore, I have a certain authority, intellectual authority, worldwide, which no one else has. Therefore, I'm using that authority, as a way of emphasizing that my authority in economic forecasting is based on certain considerations, including certain discoveries I've made, which make me qualified, when no one else in leading positions is qualified--that is, does not have the credentials to deal with the situation the way I do, as typified by the economic situation.

So therefore, the key here is, we're trying to build a youth movement. The youth movement is not a youth movement as most people understand a youth movement. It is an educational movement, based on a Platonic conception of man, essentially, on the basis of fundamental physical discoveries, as I define them; on the method, as I describe it; and based on the general bankruptcy of the universities and the so-called "intelligentsia," as well as popular opinion around the world today. So, we're saying, essentially, "Your intelligentsia, your popular opinion, are totally bankrupt and hopeless; the world situation for us, as long as your ideas dominate, is hopeless. Therefore, please change your ideas, please change your choice of values, because that's the only way that we're going to survive."

So that's what's in place.

Now, we have come to a very interesting point: Over the period since 1998, the collapse of the world monetary-financial system, and the economy as well, has reached the point, that we're now in the absolutely terminal phase of the system. This system is finished. There's no way it can be perpetuated--don't believe what anyone says. If someone says, "No, you're not going to change the system. The system can't be changed," they're idiots: The system will change. The question is, "change for what?" The present international financial-monetary system will not last out more than some weeks, or at most, months to come. It is already in the process of disintegrating. This is true in every part of the world, outside of some special situations in Asia, at the present time. But, in Europe and in the Americas, the system, as it presently exists, is finished; it will not survive more than weeks, or at most months, to come.

So, every part of the national economies of the Americas, and Europe, is now doomed to collapse, unless a very fundamental change of the type we are leading, occurs. That's our situation.

Therefore, at this point, because we're operating in a vacuum, in which it becomes increasingly obvious, that none of my opponents have any competence to deal with the world situation, we're in a unique situation to spread our influence rapidly. That influence is not in the form of slogans, or doctrines, or papers, or this or that; it's in the form of going to a standard of a Platonic tradition in science and so forth, as I have defined it by my work in economics, and related things. That's the only alternative.

In the United States, in particular, it's not possible, that any leadership inside the United States, except my personal leadership, will be capable of leading the United States out of a general collapse: It's not possible. People can say, "Well, you don't have a chance of being elected." I say, "Well, that's fine. Then, you're doomed!" And, that's the way it is. And, that's the way we have to play the game.

The crucial thing, here, is: To get rid of this silly idea called "democracy." And, to put that into focus, go back to the time of ancient Athens, at the close of the Peloponnesian Wars, in which you had a Democratic Party of Athens, who committed a judicial murder of Socrates, the best man of Athens, as an expression of their decadence. Since that time, it's been understood (if we understood history, at all, or those who did), that leadership is a very rare quality. Competent leadership is rare. This becomes especially conspicuous in times of crisis. We are governed by idiots, bums, opportunists, and whatnot, and parties, which are about the same quality, most of the time. But then, we come to a point, at which the idiocy of the existing culture, the idiocy of the existing beliefs and so forth-- educational systems--all comes to a point, at which these systems are no longer consistent with a surviving society.

Then, you have an opportunity--a very brief opportunity, historically--in which an intervention to change and replace defective cultures, defective educational systems, and so forth, can occur. Only if those changes occur, will the society survive. Those changes do not occur as a result of spontaneous "popular" reaction against bad ideas--because the bad ideas are in the population! They will come by a leadership, which is capable of changing the population's values. And, you do that, essentially, by organizing young people, generally in the 18- to 25-year range, as a group: You educate them, in the kind of cultural outlook, which is needed for that situation--scientific, etc. Then, you hope that this youth group, so educated, so uplifted, will be able to move other parts of society, into accepting the change which is needed.

In all known history, such changes occur only by exceptional figures--exceptional leaders, of which, historically, I'm typical--an exceptional individual, unlike other people in his or her time, who provide a vehicle of change, in a time of crisis, which, if it infects enough parts of the society, under conditions of crisis, can possibly result in the society following that kind of leadership, to get out of the destruction, which otherwise awaits it, certainly.

That's where we are, today.

Realistically, what I'm doing, is I am acting as if I were, already, the President of the United States, in the sense, that on the question of policy and ideas, I'm providing the leadership which should be coming the President of the United States, at this time. Now, that's crucial, because, without that kind of thing, from the United States, the survival of civilization in any part of the world is unlikely. That is, in other parts of the world, there are some good leaderships, interesting leaderships; but, they're not capable of getting the world to save itself from collapse. Therefore, you must have that from inside the United States, not assume that it's going to come from some other part of the world, outside the United States. I have to provide, personally, that leadership.

And, that's where it stands.

Right now, we have managed to jam up this proposed Iraq war, which is the Clash of Civilizations war. We haven't won. The war is still possible. It could be the end of civilization, if it occurs, as a chain-reaction effect of this. But, we're still fighting. And we have a certain amount of influence, and we have already accomplished, what some people have considered relative miracles, in jamming up and delaying the outbreak of this war. And, I'm in the center of it.

So, that's the way we have to look at this: We have, as a result of what's happened in the United States, which is largely come into being over the past three years, in the development of the youth movement, and the more recent spread of that youth movement operation, from the United States into Europe and into Mexico, and so forth, we have a new situation, a hopeful situation. That youth movement, as an international youth movement, following the pattern I set, could be the factor which saves civilization. And, that's the kind of thing we ought to discuss.

And, I think at this point, I'll just turn it over to you, because I'm sure that I've provoke enough questions now, that the discussion will be useful to both of us.

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