Five men rule the world. None of them holds public office, but they choose who shall hold office in the nations. These five men comprise the apex of the pyramid of power, the World Order. We may ask, Why should there be a World Order ? Is it not sufficient to hold absolute power in a single nation, or in a group of nations ? The answer is No, because of the nature of international travel, international trade, and international finance.
International travel requires that a person may travel in peace from one nation to another, without being molested. Excepting cases of anarchy, revolution or war, this requirement can usually be met. International trade requires that traders of one nation can go to another nation, transact their business, and return with their goods or their profits. This requirement too is usually met. If not, the offended nation can exercise military force, as Great Britain did in its Opium Wars.
It is the third requirement, international finance, which called into being the World Order. In earlier days, when international trade consisted of barter, payment in gold or silver or piracy, the seizure of goods by force, there was no need for a world arbiter to determine the value of instruments of trade. The development of paper money, stocks, bonds, acceptances and other negotiable instruments necessitated a power, able to exercise influence anywhere in the world, to declare that a piece of paper represented one billion dollars in real wealth, or even one dollar in real wealth.
An entry on a computer, flashed from London to New York, states that someone owes five billion dollars to someone else. Without genuine power backing, no such sum could ever be collected, regardless of the factuality or morality of the debt. As anyone in the Mafia can tell you, you don’t collect unless you are willing to break legs. The World Order is always prepared to break legs, and break them they do, by the millions.
What would have happened to the earliest settlers in America if they had gone to the Indians and said, “Give us your goods and the deeds to your homes and lands. In return, we will give you this beautifully printed piece of paper.” The Indians would, and did, attack them. If the settlers arrived with an army led by a Pizaro or a Cortez, they took the lands without a piece of paper.
The World Order rules with its pieces of paper, but behind every paper is a force which can be employed anywhere in the world. The force may be disguised by various subterfuges as international agreements, associations or other camouflage, but its base is always force.