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Jones: Attention. We have been delayed this morning in giving you the news because of a PA system failure. They will have the PA system corrected as soon as possible in the vegetable and dining area.
Friday news. President [Jimmy] Carter’s election commission, the central commission that collects campaign funds for Mr. Carter, is charged with receiving illegal gifts. Coca-Cola, who attempted apparently to bribe and gave an illegal gift, its executive was fined. Of course, not sentenced. Did you ever hear of a capitalist receiving any real sentence? But bribery for the ordinary citizen would be treated with years’ imprisonment. The others who gave illegal bribes or gifts to President Carter’s campaign were not named. There still is a subtle undermining of the Carter administration, not because he is a popular hero of the people, but somehow the establishment is not pleased with him, because the orchestrating of Gallup Polls that now show him at an all-time low of any president in the entire history, is being rebealed– revealed from day to day. Thirty-six percent.
Will you please tell dispatch not to broadcast while I’m giving news? All people should cease using radio and dispatch equipment while giving news. It interferes. I hear you as I am speaking.
Nonetheless, this subtle undermining goes on. (pause) As with [John] Kennedy, apparently the ruling class decided that he was not moving fast enough or firm enough, when he refused to give air support to the pirate invasion of Cuba, which caused it to go to defeat, even though he did carry out the plans that had been designed by Vice President [Richard] Nixon and the CIA under the [Dwight] EisenhowerAdministration. But Carter is being undermined, little snide– uh, snipes giving him a bad light or in every news b– broadcast almost. So it is my commentary that there is a “Dump Carter” mentality in the ruling class circles. It was that his popularity was at the all-time low, they said a few days ago, at 39 percent. Only 39 percent feel he is doing a good job. Today they announced that it’s 36 percent.
Strong reaction called for against oppression of the– (Pause) (sighs) of the dissidents, as they term them in the Soviet Union, continues to be heard on the news, on the hour every hour. These dissidents have been charged by the Soviet Union with illegal crimes. The Lithuanian just sentenced with violence, an attempt to subvert the Soviet government in Lithuania, that has been integrated into the Soviet Union. Then, there were [Natan] Sharansky, who faces sentencing today, charged with illegal acts against the state, and giving state secrets to US newsmen, but USA insist on calling these people just dissent– dissidents.
And of course you know how much trouble Secretary of State C– appointee, President– presidential appointee Andrew Young as ambassador to the UN is in. He has received a censure from Jody Powell, the principal secretary from the president.
The first attempt at impeachment has failed in the Congress, but it was done quickly, and there is speculation that a new one will be started. However, 82 Congressmen voted against him in this first emergency session, and not all of his comments had been brought to light. It has been brought to light that he said in this cocktail party, when he was probably drinking a bit heavily, and thus allowed the threshold of his conscience to be freed for a moment, he stated that the Cuban and Soviet presence– presence in Africa had been lied about, then he corrected it and said, greatly over exaggerated. He is trying to apologize to the USA in every way possible. He says the Soviet Union doesn’t have as much political and religious freedom as USA, which of course is a joke, in that no one can be a socialist and survive in USA or get anywhere at all, and religion– religious freedom is not (laughs) particularly relevant, in that religion all supports the existing monetary system, and it’s doubtful and dubious whether you have religious freedom if anyone tries to practice the golden rule or the socialism that was taught on the day of Pentecost. So that again is a misnomer. And if the religion happens to propagate conservative views that don’t go along with the mind control of the US establishment, even like Sun [Myung] Moon and certainly, Peoples Temple, socialism, out of the way, or Scientology that dared to speak about the influence of the Nazis in USA and the Customs Department and the International Police, the police of every nation in the capitalist world and all the police in USA. They’re being blistered night and day. Any group that does not fit into the establishment as far as religion does not have freedom in USA. In fact, all religions are in better stay– uh, status in the Soviet Union, in that the government will provide the ministers their wage so that offerings w– don’t have to be taken and the people can funnel more of their time and monies into helping the programs of the government. And they can still assist with their church. Religion is greatly unencumbered and free.
Now the problem with politics in the Soviet Union, they’re not going to, of course, have someone propagate that capitalism is the best way of life, although there are many in the Supreme Soviet that have argued that you have to have some initiative– uh, free enterprise initiative, in farming who are members of the Soviet government. So there is room for disagreement, ‘cause the Soviets say that some people have not overridden incentive, that they have to have some motive besides working for the collective good, which is bad commentary on human beings, but understandable. Understandable, indeed.
In USA, no one of any repute who is a socialist gets anywhere in public life. The media does not carry their comments, they never get elected to an office, there’s no socialist in the i– in the government at all, anyplace in the governments of the states, municipalities, and certainly none in the Congress and none in the Senate.
But Mr. Andrew Young, Ambassador, Uncle Tom, who’s been trying very hard to stay alive, keep his ship from sinking, has gone all out of his way to try to apologize for his statement that there were hundreds, yes, even thousands of political prisoners in United States. From yesterday, when he said the jails were filled with these who were mostly people of color, black and Indian, he’s now qualified it to say that he really meant and really said that they were in jail because of economic conditions, and that USA has not worked out entirely its problems of economics, that people who are poor end up being prisoners. But you see, it– it’s hogwash for a man to say something decent and then try to water it down in such a horrible fashion, and I doubt if it’s going to do him much good, as Secretary of State [Henry] Kissinger is calling for him, he said that he is– statements were grossly irresponsible, out of line, and he should resign, if he can’t keep his trap shut, and he’s being hit from the right wing in USA, fiercely. It’s not over, not by any means, according to Guyana Broadcasting Studios and all the radio broadcast of the socialist world that I’ve picked up and of course the usual capitalist outlets, the BBC, Voice of America, Voice of the Armed Services, NBC, CBS and ABC, all feel he’s in for a real tough sledding. Mr. Carter is in West Germany at this time, and so we do not know what uh, his reactions will be. There is speculation that he may wait until further on in his administration to dump him, but most people speculate that they– he will have to dump Andrew Young, the only black person in high government levels left.
White collar crime in Hollywood. The entertainment industry is going under some kind of a new inquiry – I hope it’s not a witch-hunt – but we’re hearing much about it. The Warner Brothers executive has been fined (small laugh) five hundred dollars. It’s the uh, most ridiculous thing. Several others have lost their jobs at lower levels, probably those would be controversial people, but the executive at Warner Brothers had fraudulently signed uh, I don’t know these Hollywood actors, but some leading actor, the name went over my mind– went– went right over my head– (stumbles over words) really forged forty thousand dollars of his checks. But uh, the investigators in this crime commission to study white collar crime in the film industry only fined him five hundred dollars. Now of course, if they’re studying white collar crime in the entertainment industry, it is a form of repression, because they’d be studying white crime in the corporations, the big corporations that rule America if they really wanted to get at white collar crime, that’s– white collar crime is a phrase speaking of business crime. It’s another uh, point to attempt to intimidate the Hollywood movie industry, to keep them in line so they won’t give too many films that might cause America to think.
Spain. Dozens and dozens of bodies are being gone over by re– relatives who are in trauma and shock, as they try to identify the charred remains uh, at a camp resort site. Over 300 are dead as a gasoline truck went off the road and uh, exploded in a campground. Could have been prevented by just a few dollars of work, because of the damage that caused the truck to go off the road and explode. But capitalism always looks after its own interest, and the oil companies that was carrying the gas, Texaco, they are not so concerned about human life, as we know.
Crime increases in Great Britain. It’s risen 16 percent in the last two months, even in the semirural areas. Crime increase in the United States is also growing by slightly less – 12 percent in the last two months – but that’s a frightening increase in crime. We remember crime, it was bad enough when we left, some of us a year ago.
Japanese has had a plague of gang wars. A rival godfather mobster is seeking revenge in a gang war, death squads for revenge have been set up as a mobster leader was killed, the Japanese gangster leaders, who, as a new phenemona, Japan never had gangsters until they allied themselves with USA and modeled after the Hollywood varieties of life and culture that USA practice in their decadence, it seems like we’re almost at the same stage as Rome was when it finally fell, we certainly are paralleling in USA the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Anyway, this gangster’s ashes was eaten in a– some kind of ridiculous ritualistic horrid public ceremony, and after taking his ashes, they all pledged themselves to go out and f– find his murderers. And so there’ve been about 22 confrontations of gangs in the major cities in Japan, a real gang– gangster war.
Bonn, Germany. Uh, Carter and [Helmut] Schmidt are meeting. I will give you background on Germany today, because in this important conference in Germany will be decided so much, (sighs) uh, so much, the– it’s a meeting, a summit meeting of all the capitalist nations to try to plug up the hole of the dike that’s just about to shipwreck capitalism, because of the trade war, uh, balance of payments, Japan having a greater surplus, nations developing in the capitalist bloc competition against their own henchmen allies, and they’re going to have to stick together if capitalism is to survive, but Japan putting up protectionist policies so that they will have– they’ll sell more of their things than they’ll have to buy, that their imports will be less than their exports. USA is in a bind, they’re having to export– uh, to import more than they are able to sell, having to buy more than they sell, and that’s bad news. So, Bonn, West Germany, is taking on great significance. Prime Minister Schmidt, right wing prime minister of the neo-fascist regime of West Germany, an unnatural division that was set up by US and its allies after World War II, made a slip of the tongue and said that uh, no more pictures, gentlemen, you’ll be able to see Mr. Carter and I standing and sitting and lying. A red-faced Mr. Carter spoke back quickly, no, we will be– you– you will see us telling the truth. Mr. Schmidt uh– (clicks tongue) They must be doing a hell of a lot of lying, uh, (short laugh) or he– he may have been trying to say lying down, but it was– be quite a bit out of place to have said that in that uh, hardly do news cameras come in and see one while they’re lying down in bed.
Anyway, uh, this is a newsy day, not all of it necessarily important news. But we’ll give you a little local news.
Georgetown is conducting free skin clinics. We ought to check through the radio to find out the doctors that are doing that. We could get some beneficial uh, tri– knowledge from that. They’re conducting them throughout Georgetown, medical staff is doing that free.
The Jap– The Chinese and uh, (pause) the Guyanese have uh, uh, formed an agreement that China will build another factory to assist in tile-making here in Guyana. The Chinese have signed an agreement with Trini– Trinidad and Tobago to buy 5000 tons of asphalt. Chinese delegation is going through the Caribbean, making trade agreements. Of course, Guyana is a non-aligned nation. Has to, in that it doesn’t have a nuclear umbrella over it. It has trade agreements with the Soviet Union, and trade agreements with the East German Democratic Republic of Germany, which is doing more, that modern socialist state, it’s doing more to help Guyana than any other socialist country except the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. They’ve signed several agreements. The People’s Republic of China, nationalistic in its foreign policy, terribly so, a renegade, even though it has good things domestically in terms of socialism, its foreign policy stinks, but it has signed agreements for clay and brick and a number of other trade agreements inside Guyana.
It was a brave act for the Prime Minister [Forbes Burnham] to go to the Soviet Union in the face of US pressure. No news has been uh, given on the International Monetary Fund, that Guyana would accept aid as long as there’s not strings attached to its economy, because IMF normally requires, as they have in the socialist country of Jamaica, that money be– any aid be hinged to the right of uh, capitalists to develop resources. One thing Guyana has a great advantage, it has 90 percent of its own resources, its land, its major means of production and distribution in its own control. Prime Minister’s been very wise in that regard. And Guyana’s been holding out that they will not have their money devalued. Jamaica’s dollar had to be devalued 30 percent in order for International Monetary Fund to assist them. An Ambassador [Laurence Mann] who goes with [Paula Adams] one of our young ladies from Guyana informed us through that channel that IMF USA membership has strongly resisted any aid to Guyana, but that there may be some breakthrough that some other members, European nations are taking a more independent course in reference to Guyana. Strangely enough. So let’s hope that the contradictions of capitalism will continue and thus defuse the immense amount of tension in the world that could lead to nuclear war.
Prime Minister Burnham has set up an investigation team, three-man commission, headed by our attorney, Sir Lionel Luckhoo, who is the famous attorney in Guyana, who’s never lost a murder case, and he’s had about 223, he’s never lost one. They are doing an investigation of the electric company to see that the people responsible for the blackouts are found and to find out what was done, why, if there was any act of subversion against Guyana. One interim report has been given to the prime minister, and there’s also a public probe being conducted by city hall for Georgetown, independent of the national government three-man commission headed by Sir Lionel Luckhoo, our attorney.
Prominent jurist Derrick Boston who had been in– a judge in Guyana for years, until he retired two years ago to go to Papua, New– Papua – uh, Papua, New G– New Guinea to be a uh, professor administrator there. All of Guyana’s paying tribute because of his sudden death. He left Guyana in 1975 for New Guinea. Chief Justice [Harold] Bollers, who’s very good friend of ours, who’s met with Marceline [Jones], invited her to a special party, came to our headquarters in Georgetown frequently, he’s the chief of all the court system here, talked about the achievements of this great judge, Derrick Boston, and the vast amount of research he did to bring about some of the constitutional law reforms that we will see, said Justice Bollers, in the new constitution. (Pause) He left Guyana uh, in some controversy. It was not clear what that controversy was.
Guyana local authorities discuss their role under the new constitution that they’re shaping up to be able to give new uh, services, quicker services, to the people of Guyana. Under the new constitution, all stigma has been taken over– off of illegitimacy, any child born out of wedlock cannot be referred to in any records or in public about being illegitimate. That’s certainly a healthy breakthrough. If anyone refers to a child’s illegitimacy, it can be a basis for slander, and in some cases, criminal action.
A new day case– day– day care center’s built in New Re– Amsterdam, Guyana, to be run by the Guyana National Services, whose commander [Clarence Price] is very friendly to us and said that many of their services is being modeled after Peoples Temple, because his assistance commander, Burnham, a relative of the prime minister, visited here with a delegation from GNS and was highly impressed, and they keep telling us that they’re employing a number of our own saving methods, and how to utilize things, not to waste, how to be careful about keeping your properties clean, a number of things, how we utilize everything, don’t waste anything. But we still do, and we want live up to that praise. We’re also being invited by the commander, Sharon Amos and Debbie Touchette, to go through some of their chicken farms and view what they’re doing with chickens. They seem to be having some success.
A new governmental program is being arranged for teachers to be trained in the arts and dances.
China will be sharing oil technology also with Trinidad and with Guyana. Let’s hope that uh, Guyana finds oil. That would certainly be helpful. There’ll be an increasing trade between China and all the Caribbean. Trinidad is sending four-man team to CARICOM meeting. That is the economic cooperative commission of all the Caribbean communities, including Guyana. It’ll be held in socialist Jamaica. China is not making any kind of political overtures, not making any kind of indictments about the Soviet Union, it seems to be purely economic, as GBS says, they’re not making any kind of demands on alliances or allegiance to Chinese policy. And uh, GBS said yesterday that indeed Guyana will be true to the liberation of black Africa, no matter who is for it or against it.
Zaire and Angola are arranging talks to normalize relations, which is a defusing in that area, ‘cause it looked like for a while that Angola was going to come under direct attack by US lackeys, the Belgians and the French and those in Zaire. But apparently they have deemed that they do not have enough strength with all of the fires that are brewing across the world. Angola’s demands for a meeting to normalize relations on the border has been granted, and there will be– uh, it’ll be an uneasy kind of relationship, said Guyana Broadcasting Studio, because Angola has accused Zaire of the most heinous practices against its people. But nonetheless, Zaire has agreed to meetings and negotiation.
Jimmy Carter still is – I hear in news in the background – silent on Andrew Young, other than he has been censured by Carter’s personal secretary. Young is still trying to say that all of his remarks are taken out of context, and he goes short of everything but saying that it might be because he’s black. He’s defused his whole argument now, just watered it down. It’ll do him no good in the long run, because he will be dumped. No question about it, he will be dumped.
The Australian Prime Minister, Labor prime minister, defeated by the Liberal Party. Prime Minister Whitcomb [phonetic, could be (erroneous) reference to Gough Whitlam]. Brilliant intellectual politician, he made some very progressive constitutional decisions. The Labor Party was considered the most left in Australia – that means undoubtedly a move to the right – he had introduced health guarantees, medical guarantees to all the people, social welfare programs, when people are unemployed or sick, he had increased the rights of the black aborigines and had given special funds for their housing, education. This is a sad moment in Australia to see the Labor Party go down, but it’s been defeated by a Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party is more conservative. We do not have time to go into Australia. Perhaps we might. That’s a significant blow in the Pacific, we may mention the little bit of Germany at the close because of the important summit meeting there, and then– and then, if I have time, Australia.
Police in Cleveland, Ohio, are ignoring court orders as they have gone on strike as of midnight last night, Guyana time. Other unions are cooperating and will not cross their picket lines. Crime broke out all over various sectors of Cleveland, Ohio in every neighborhood, people are just up in hand [arms] about it, but of course police get by with a lot of things. There’s a fireman set all kinds of fires in Memphis, Tennessee. It’ll be difficult if police and fire people start a lot of strikes, and on the very close of that announcement, comes the announcement that a strike is being considered also, of firemen and police in Louisville, Kentucky. Now if you have much of that, you’re going to have– (short laugh) If police start striking, you can bet that the Army will take over in USA. It may be isolated, I’m not making any projections, but uh, it’s quite a ballyhoo, it’s been brought out on Voice of America in international news and even mentioned on BBC, so that– BBC’s talking about it right now. So that is uh– it concerns them. It concerns the establishment, the ruling order.
A uh, few more congressmen who are on their way out of office or out of office, four more, including [Edward J.] Patten of New Jersey, [John] McFall, another gentleman, I did not catch where, will be uh– are indicted for accepting bribes from this K– the CIA, the KCIA, the fascist corrupt regime of South Korea.
Washington Post carries a intense article, in-depth article showing that Elvis Presley was an informant for the FBI in his day, while he was alive, before he died, no doubt guilt-ridden, conscience stricken, he had some sensitivity to blacks, he was in trouble with the establishment of the Memphis community, a complex person. He had a charitable nature, but he was evidently an informant for the FBI because of some outrage against the Beatles and things they had done to him personally. That’s dreadful, when people react to people on a personal level. Vindictiveness, vendettas, have no place in any person of refinement, certainly not socialist or any humanitarian. The Beatles of course were asked to be informed on by Elvis Presley – and others no doubt, it’ll come to light, were informing on them – because they had taken very unpopular stands against the war. They were not socialists, the Beatles are not socialist.
There’s a new craze now amongst some English singers, I don’t know their names, their practice is just to spit at the people and tell them how much they hate them, and they’re just sweeping America in popularity, with sounds and uh, s– music noises that are according to even the Voice of America dangerous to the ears and damaging to the senses.
Barry Goldwater says the Soviet Union should be denied all computers that they need now in trade agreements and wheat because of their treatment of the Zionist dissidents. Goldwater is part Jewish, as you know, and he’s a arch-conservative. Recently linked himself with Mafia in Arizona, his brother [Bob] was involved with murder, and charged so, people working directly for Goldwater were charged with the murder that blew up [Don Bolles] a Phoenix, Arizona newspaperman who was getting at the bottom of Mafia problems, and all the investigations of the Mafia sort of fell through after that.
Aircraft carrier, one of the leading US aircraft carriers and its accompanying nuclear cruisers are going into the Indian Ocean. It shows, said BBC, a get-tough policy of USA and is probably meant to accompany Mr. Carter going to Bonn, Germany– West Germany to get some attention on US power. The Soviet Union in its broadcast had just two words for it: Crazy recklessness. Crazy recklessness.
This seems to be– Oh, well, I see a bit more news.
Ford Motor Company President, who was the father of the Mustang, had been 32 years with Ford, given his life’s blood to Ford Motor Company, but it– see, he wasn’t one of the ruling class, he was an executive that did the biddings, a manager that did the biddings of the ruling masters, he was an obedient servant, who even come up with the creation of the Mustang, but he’s fired, and much is being made about it, Lee (struggles with name “Iacocca”), I guess it is, (more struggle). The entire board of Ford Motor Company has decided unanimously to fire him, and leave him with very few benefits.
Sharansky will be sentenced sometime today, as I said. [Alexander] Ginzburg has received eight years for his activities against the Soviet government.
[Cyrus] Vanceis on his way to meet at the important economic summit conference with Carter in Bonn.
Now we’ll give you just a little bit of background about Germany, so you can understand where this summit meeting that may mean the difference– (covers mike for moment) where the difference in capitalism’s future may be decided.
Where is Germany on your map? In the heart of north central Europe. Before the division into East and West in 1945, when Germany was unnaturally carved up, when popularity for communism, socialism was strong, Germany shared borders with Denmark then, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Swede– Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union. That’s how big it was.
How was it created? Originally, I mean, Germany, before it was divided into East Germany, which is now a modern socialist state, and West Germany, which is a neo-fascist state that takes it– pride in saying that it is the true inheritor of [Adolf] Hitler’s Third Reich. Any nation that would brag about such shows a fascist mentality. It was created when native tribes wandered largely– native tribes wandering about largely at will before 400 and 800 years AD, after the death of Jesus, until Charlemagne– C-h-a-r-l-e-m-a-g-n-e – Charlemagne unified several tribes with his own Franks – capital F-r-a-n-k-s. This federation eventually came to be known at the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, the First Reich. R-e-i-c-h. Hitler called his the last Reich, for the Third Reich. For the next thousand years, Germanic peoples were organized in kingdoms and duch– duchies – d-u-c-h-i-e-s – loosely controlled by an emperor – e-m-p-e-r-o-r – most notably those from the Hapsburg – capital H-a-p-s-b-u-r-g-a– b-u-r-g, rather – dynasty.
Between 1740 and 1790, the state of Prussia grew phenomenally under King Frederick II. When Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the two German-speaking states of Prussia and Austria vied – competed, that is – for control of the remaining states. Under the skillful leadership of its chancellor, Otto von Bismarck– capital B-i-s-m-a-r-c-k – Prussia decisively won the allegiance of member German states when it defeated France in the war of 1870 through 1871. The Second German Reich – R-e-i-c-h – was proclaimed in 1871, with the Germanic competitor state of Austria excluded then from the union.
The second Reich lasted until 1918, when Germany was defeated badly in World War I, in the first real struggle between major capitalist powers. Hitler founded– Adolf Hitler founded the Third Reich in 1933, when he took over by force – though he was elected, the establishment just made him popular through the newspapers, the radio, and he was elected by a vast 90 percent majority – Hitler claiming it too would last a thousand years. But of course we know it collapsed in 1945, ‘cause [Winston] Churchill and USA – Churchill was the prime minister of Britain – the US and British capitalists had set up Hitler to take care of the Jews, who they did not like, and the communists, in the new first revolution, the Marxist revolution in the Soviet Union in 1917.
But Hitler had his own ambitions. That’s one of the contradictions that finally destroys capitalism. He wanted more power than they meant for him to have. So that’s why the war came about. When Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, the victorious World War II allies occupied Germany according to plans largely determined at the February 1945 conference at Yalta – Y-a-l-t-a – and reaffirmed at the Potsdam – P-o-t-s-d-a-m – meeting the following July.
The Federal Republic of Germany – that’s West Germany, which is very fascistic – was proclaimed in May 1949. That was USA-controlled territory. (tape edit) –of Germany, West Germany was proclaimed in May 1949 from the lands occupied by US, its allies, France, Britain. Full independence was granted by the allies in 1955, but economically, of course, it’s with the capitalist system. In retaliation to the establishment of West Germany, which they felt was an unnatural state, the Soviet Union allowed its sector of Germany to become independent, to call itself the German Democratic Republic in October 1949. They had hoped – the Soviets had hoped – that there would be a integration or reunification of Germany. Five years later, in nineteen forty– 54, the Soviet Union issued a proclamation constituting East Germany a sovereign free republic.
East Germany. Size: 41,748 square miles. Much less than beautiful Guyana, which is 83,000 square miles. It’s somewhat larger than Ohio, East Germany is. Population though, much more drastic: 17,900,000. It’s– fact now, over 18 million. And yet half the size of Guyana. It has less than a million population, so Guyana has a great, rich and bright future for its people. Of the East German nation, the breakdown is 98 and a half percent are German, one and a half percent are Sorb – S-o-r-b – 81 percent are Protestant, mostly Lutheran, 12 percent are Roman Catholic, seven percent are made up of other kinds of religions.
Who rules? The Volkskammer – capital V-o-l-k-s-k-a-m-m-e-r – or the Peoples Chamber, which is unicameral. It has 434 members elected by universal suffrage for four-year terms. In addition, there are 66 non-voting representatives from East Berlin. The chamber elects the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the National Defense Council, and the judges of the Supreme Court. The Council of State consists of a chairman, six deputy chairmen, 16 members and a secretary. It has the authority to issue decrees and decisions which have the force of law, and it may interpret laws. The East German Communist Party, known as the Socialist Unity Party, is the ruling party of Germany. And that would be enough explanation I would think of the process of government of East Germany. There are a competition for offices, but all people have to have a socialist philosophy, as is of course the case in major capitalist countries. They require any person in their government to be capitalistic.
West Germany. Size is 96,094 square miles, almost twice the size of East Germany, which is socialist and has established some trade agreements lately, when our Prime Minister went on his world tour and worked out some good trade agreements with the Eastern bloc. It is then slightly larger than Guyana, which is 83,000 square miles. West Germany is the size of Oregon. The population is 62 million, much larger population, so Guyana has much more opportunities to feed its people, if we’re all resourceful, that’s why we want to do as much as we can with the goal of the Prime Minister and the Peoples National Congress, to feed and clothe and house all of the people of Guyana. It’s a very fertile nation, a rich potential agricultural nation, to be able to be one of the bright spots in the world picture. So, West Germany is overcrowded, as most nations of the earth are, 62 million in an area slightly larger than Guyana. Of their population, 98.7 percent are German, less than half percent Italian, and only nine-tenths a percent made up of other races and nationalities. There are two million foreign workers, primarily from Greece, Turkey, Italy and Yugoslavia. There’s a great deal of prejudice being demonstrated, according to West German press, against these workers, and demands are being made that they be sent back. Prejudice, unfortunately, is not unique to any nation. Forty-nine percent of the West Germans are Protestant, whereas 44 percent are Roman Catholic. Much stronger Catholic re– representation in West Germany than in East Germany. Six point four percent belong to other religions.
Who rules? The Federal Parliament, which is bicameral consisting of the Federal Diet – D-i-e-t – or the Bundestag – capital B-u-n-d-e-s-t-a-g – and the Federal Council Bundesrat – B-u-n-d-e-s-r-a-t. Members of the Diet are elected for a four-year term, members of the council are deputies of the governments in their respective states or Lander, Lander – capital L-a-n-d-e-r . The Office of the President is insignificant compared to that of the Chancellor, who is chosen by members of the majority party in the federal Diet.
The equivalent of the US Supreme Court is broken down into a series of Supreme Courts for different case categories. For constitutional and jurisdictional questions, the court is in Karlsru– Karlsruhe – K-a-r-l-s-r-u-h-e. For labor problems, in Kassel – capital K-a-s-s-e-l. For fiscal monetary matters, in Munich – capital M-u-n-i-c-h, where the great tragedy of Atlof– Adolf Hitler was born.
Who really rules? Since the departure of Konrad Adenauer – capital A-d-e-n-a-u-e-r – the first and continuous chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from its inception in 1949 to 1963, a coalition of forces has controlled Germany. During the Adenauer period, it was indeed Chancellor Adenauer who ruled. The Germans have always like strong personal authortarian [authoritarian] rulers. And that’s been one of their dangerous phenomenas. And Adenauer was such a man. Since then, the coalition has wielded power. Big business and finance are strong partners in the coalition. Labor unions are relatively weak and undemanding. Agriculture is a larger partner in the coalition than the principle of one-man-one-vote would call for. But the Germans tolerate this in part because they subconsciously think back to the post-World War II days when there was nothing to eat. A great many Germans are overweight, indicating perhaps that big appetites permit the small agricultural minority to have strong rule in the administration.
No other country in the world has harbored such thorough militarism, nor fielded such splendid armies, except perhaps France under Napoleon. Nor one such sweeping military campaigns. Nor created such genocide, that took seven million people of minorities, socialist opposition under Adolf Hitler. Nor has any other country ever suffered such total defeat. Germany lost both of the world’s two global wars, but unlike the majority of her conquerors, it arose each time, apparently mightier after defeat than before, reconquering economically the countries which it could not defeat militarily. Germany has a special banking arm of the government which enforces a policy of equalization of burdens. Accordingly, if someone had his house destroyed during the war, he was entitled to credit for rebuilding. Those whose structures were spared had to pay a special tax to establish capital for those who needed to rebuild.
The first interstate highway system in the world was the German Autobahn – capital A-u-t-o-b-a-h-n – a four lane roadway system started by Hitler in the mid-1930s as a work relief program for the jobless, as long as they were not we of color or Jews. Its ostensible purpose was a public motorized traffic network, but its real purpose was the rapid movement of arms and armies for Germany’s military expansionism. The Pennsylvania Turnpike planners studied the Autobahn before introducing the same type of highway system in USA– USA.
In 1933, there were 530,000 Jews in Germany. In 1946, the figure stood at only 80,000, of which the great majority have since emigrated, so that there are only 30,000 left in Germany. Most of those leave– live in East Germany, where the East Germans have made certain concessions, economic concessions and repayments for damages done to Jews under the Hitler Administration.
Thus ends the commentary of a nation, as we try to study a few nations each week, of course putting our own study of our beloved Guyana first and foremost, but we like to equip ourselves in the study of geography and history and what different countries are doing, what their economic system represents, and some of the cultural and historical backgrounds.
Thus ends the commentary for the noon hour.