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It’s Power and Goals
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Most people, including
Chamber Of Commerce members, would be astonished to learn the extent of
power that organization exerts over international , national, state and
local policies. It is common knowledge that the Chamber has lobbyists in
Washington and state legislatures, and that it is active in local
communities. These activities are no secret. They can be noticed by the
casual observer, and are expected by members. But there is a great deal
more which must be understood in order to gain a concept of the real
power of the Chamber of Commerce — not only over commerce, education,
religion, technology, industry, agriculture, transportation, medicine,
communication, labor and government. To understand this power we have to
look beyond the local communities to the Chamber’s national and
international activities, and to Chamber ties with other organizations,
both governmental and non-governmental.The Chamber Is
Many Organizations
The Chamber of Commerce is not one, but many organizations. There are
local Chambers of Commerce in thousands of communities. These are
blanketed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, and since 1920, an
International Chamber of Commerce. Once the United States Chamber of
Commerce was set up, individual Chambers of Commerce all over the
country were invited to join and allowed it to represent and inform
them. Such invitations are usually eagerly accepted. No one likes to be
left out, and most people like to feel they are part of a big, important
group. Local Chambers joined, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce leaders
were able to claim the right to make policy for many individual
Chambers.Gaining Power
The U.S. Chamber leaders suggested they had answers to many problems,
the most important being the final answer to the problem of war. There
is an almost-universal yearning for peace, so that was taken as good
news. The home town folks knew they could not solve the problem, or
enforce a universal acceptance. How wonderful, they thought, to be
associated with those who claimed they could. (It often seems that the
farther away from home policies are set on difficult problems, the
easier it is to assume that those who are making decisions have all the
right answers.) Home town common sense was abandoned for the sake of an
unsupported philosophical dream.The leaders of the U.S. and International Chambers must have known, even
as they made the promise, that they did not have the ability to deliver
on it, but they also knew that the mere promise would give them a hold
on the emotions of many members of local and national Chambers, and of
others who believed in universal solutions.Another problem Chamber leaders claimed to be able to solve was that of
hunger and poverty worldwide. The Chamber had one answer to both
problems: “rational” world trade. Allow the trade of the whole world to
be carried on under the Chamber’s “rational” direction, rather than
independently under the supervision of various governments; and the
world’s two most pressing problems would be solved. Two slogans were
popularized in order to gain backing for Chamber leadership: “World
peace through world trade,” and “More business in government and less
government in business.”A New
Organization
The Chamber sought to commercialize the world under its own direction.
To do this it needed to find ways to affect and bypass operating
policies of various states and nations. To change national policies, and
even laws, required popular support and collective action. An new type
of blanket organization was needed, one that could blanket not only
governments, but professions, unions, educational institutions, farms,
industries, sciences, religions and even families. An organization was
sought which could bring about the cooperation and commercialization of
all of these. A strong controllable international blanket organization
was needed.Coalition For
Change
By the 1930’s plans for the new blanket organization to serve the
Chamber’s purposes, the United Nations, were already well under way. The
Chamber had the cooperation of tax-exempt foundations, some of which,
such as the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace and the
Rockefeller Foundation, had been set up early in the century. Large
banks and trusts could see future profits for themselves if they
cooperated with the Chamber; and the cooperation of international
corporations was assumed, especially since Thomas J. Watson, President
of International Business Machines (IBM) was President of the
International Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Carnegie
Foundation for International Peace. University cooperation was no
problem because there were many close ties, financial and otherwise,
between the above groups and universities such as Harvard, Columbia,
etc. University policy planners, economists, and sociologists were also
eager to extend their influences and enlarge their campuses.Wartime
Planning
World War II aided, rather than hindered efforts to establish a
“national” international commercial system. Chamber representatives from
countries on both sides met and planned throughout the war. They were
deciding how the world’s resources ought to be controlled and divided
after the shooting was over, and how to set up the United Nations. The
United Nations organization could be used to gain governments’
compliance with the Chamber’s plans for a unified, controlled world
economy, and also the cooperation of various non-governmental
organizations.The
Organization Is Born
After the war was over, the system was ready to be put into operation.
Through the efforts of the Chamber coalition the United Nations was
born. And through the United Nations, the Chamber gained for the first
time in history, a permanent vehicle for prescribing policy for
governments. It is a crushing dominating type of power.Economic And
Social Council
How could the United Nations be used to increase Chamber of Commerce
power and help the Chamber throw its blanket over other activities? It
was done largely through what the Chamber regarded as the most important
element in the United Nations Charter: the setting up of the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC). Such a council was the one thing that had
been lacking in the old League of Nations. But when the United Nations
was set up, the Economic and Social Council opened the way for the
Chamber to have direct and continuous influence upon international
affairs, even though it was a non-governmental organization. The
Economic and Social Council was placed beside the Security Council.
George L. Ridgeway said in his Merchants of Peace: “…The world of
economic and social enlightenment beside the world of force…” The
important thing about the Economic and Social Council was that it made
provision to include representatives from non-governmental organizations
in its discussions. The Chamber of Commerce was immediately included as
one of the most important advisory organizations.Chamber Power
With ECOSOC
With the birth of the United Nations, the Chamber had a vehicle subject
to its influence, which could gather under its blanket not only
governmental, but all types of professional and other non-governmental
organizations. This put the Chamber of Commerce at the center of policy
making for every governmental and non-governmental organization that is
in any way associated with, or dominated by the United Nations.Including representatives from non-governmental organizations in its
deliberations may seem on the surface to be a way for the Economic and
Social Council to learn the needs and wishes of the people, and to allow
them to participate in policymaking decisions., but this is not the
case. What most people do not understand is that the United Nations is
not an open forum, offering opportunities for unlimited discussion on
public matters. It is a goal-centered vehicle, dedicated to
accomplishing the purpose for which it was founded: that of putting
control of all the world’s political, social and economic activities
under one Chamber of Commerce-dominated blanket.Goal-Centering
Means Behavior Controlling
Because the United Nations is goal-centered, it is also a behavior
controlling organization. Chamber coalition leaders know that those who
set the goals for others control the behavior of others. Those who
participate in the United Nations must support UN goals. Participants
must dedicate themselves, their efforts, their personalities, and their
resources to the United Nations. They must give up their individuality.
The United Nations does not exist for the sake of individuals. From the
United Nations point of view, individuals and groups exist for the sake
of the United Nations. It is an organization of organizations, dealing
only with groups. It works through groups – those groups which gain
consultative status and which are recognized as worthy of participation
in the Economic and Social Council.Consultative
Status
To gain consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
organizations must:1) Make application to the Economic and Social Council’s Committee on
Non-governmental Organizations.
2) Be willing to submit reports on its own operations and activities to
the Economic and Social Council on a regular basis.
3) Be eligible for one of the categories set up for participation.Categories Of
Participation
Non-governmental organizations having consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council are divided into three classifications:Category I is for those organizations, such as the International Chamber
of Commerce, that are closely involved in the economic and social life
of the areas they represent, and which are said to have marked and
sustained contributions to make to the achievements and objectives of
the United Nations.Category II is for those organizations, internationally known, having
special competence in and specifically concerned with only a few of the
fields of activity covered by the Council.The Roster is for those organizations able to make occasional and useful
contributions to the Council’s work. In 1979, the most recent edition of
the United Nations Yearbook which is available , 30 international
organizations were listed in Category l; 206 organizations were listed
in Category ll, and 357 organzations were on the Roster.Organizations
Included
Some of the organizations having status with the Economic and Social
Council are organizations which have been in existence long before the
United Nations was born. Others seem to have been concocted for the
purpose of organizing people to serve the United Nations. The following
were listed in 1979 in Category l, the most important Category:
International Alliance of Women – Equal Rights, Equal Responsibilities;
International Association of French-Speaking Parliamentarians,
International Chamber of Commerce, International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions; International Cooperative Alliance; International Council
of Voluntary Agencies; International Council of Women; International
Council on Social Welfare, International Federation of Agricultural
Producers; International Federation of Business and Professional Women;
International Organization for Standardization; International
Organization of Consumers Unions; International Organization of
Employers; International Planned Planned Parenthood Federation;
International Social Security Association; International Union of Local
Authorities; International Youth and Student Movement for the United
Nations; Inter-Parliamentary Union; League of Red Cross Societies;
Muslim World League; Organization of African Trade Union Unity; United
Towns Organization; Women’s International Democratic Federation; World
Assembly of Youth; World Confederation of Labor; World Federation of
Democratic Youth; World Federation of Trade Unions; World Federation of
United Nations Associations; World Muslim Congress; World Veterans
Federation.Indirect
Influence
One of the advantages the Chamber of Commerce is able to realize through
United Nations is the advantage of anonymity. Policies it promotes do
not have to bear the Chamber of Commerce label. They can be presented to
governments as United Nations’ policies. When the United States and
local Chambers of Commerce support these policies, few of the local
Chambers or their members are aware of the vital links between the
Chamber and the United Nations, or that much of the legislation United
Nations representatives suggest to national and state legislatures was
actually originally brought to the United Nations by the Chamber of
Commerce. The steps in the process that can be followed are:(1) Planners, perhaps at a university or Chamber-supported think tank,
develop legislation.
(2) The Chamber of Commerce accepts the legislation as in keeping with
its goals.
(3) The Chamber of Commerce suggests it to the Economic and Social
Council.
(4) The Economic and Social Council promotes it through the United
Nations.
(5) The United Nations pressures someone in each national or state
government to introduce the legislation in that area’s legislature.
(6) The United States Chamber (and Chambers in other countries) suggest
and/or pressure local Chambers to support the legislation.
(7) The National League of Cities, National Municipal League, U.S.
Conference of Mayors, Association of Counties, National Governors’
Conference, International City Managers’ Association, Advisory
Commission on Inter-Governmental Relations, Urban Action Clearinghouse,
International Labor Organization, etc….add their weight.
(8) Local Chamber officials get instruction on how to “educate” their
members to favor the policy or legislation.
(9) Chambers’ paid lobbyists pressure legislatures for passage.
(10) Local Chambers work in communities for more support.
(11) Federal legislation is passed.
(12) Enabling legislation at state and other levels is passed.Few members of local Chambers are aware of any but the last three or
four steps. Even among those who know that local Chambers take positions
on legislation, there are few among the members who know what position
the Chamber lobbyists actually take on specific legislation.
Chamber-Supported Legislation And Policies
The Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber coalition have supported much
legislation which has not only been extremely costly, but which has
served to transfer power, responsibility and resources from independent
nations, local communities, local businesses, and private professions to
the universal system coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce coalition.
It has supported measures harmful to many of its own members. The
following are some of the measures the Chamber of Commerce has supported
to aid in the transfer of power from individuals and independent
governments, groups, businesses and professions to the Chamber-advocated
management system:(1) Creation of the United Nations.
(2) Creation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development.
(3) Regional government or “New Federalism.”
(4) Medicare (Commercialization of medical professions.)
(5) Postal reorganization.
(6) Organized Crime Control Act.
(7) Contracting for school services with private industry.
(8) Voucher system for education.
(9) Management and human relations techniques for handling personnel in
industry.
(10) Health care planning councils.
(11) Prepaid medical practice (HMOs).
(12) Federal land use planning.
(13) Federally-imposed career education.
(14) Equal Rights Amendment.
(15) Cross-town busing for desegregation.These and many other measures have been, or will be, extremely costly.
Yet, when the Chamber of Commerce calls for decreases in federal
spending and speaks out about the costly federal bureaucracy, its
sincerity is seldom questioned. Its goals and power are not well enough
known and understood.Use Of This
Document
A single document, such as this, may not affect that Chamber of Commerce
power, nor diminish the crushing effect of its system to a noticeable
degree. But it may encourage some citizens, government officials,
professionals, and perhaps even Chamber of Commerce members to look more
closely, investigate more diligently, direct their own actions more
intelligently, and respond more aggressively against efforts to diminish
their personal responsibility and confound their independent judgment.Major Sources:
Merchants of Peace – The History of the International Chamber of
Commerce by George L. Ridgeway, Little Brown & Co., 1938, 1959.
Washington Report – Weekly newsletter published by the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States. Issues from 1968-79. Think –
International Business Machines’ in-house publication. Issues from
1937-1970. The United Nations Yearbook, 1979——————————————————————————–
© Erica Carle – All Rights Reserved
Other articles by the same author:
The Chamber of Commerce
– Part 2: Blanket over the worldThe Intelligent
Student’s Guide to the New World Order
Erica Carle is an independent researcher and writer. She has a B.S.
degree from the University of Wisconsin. She has been involved in radio
and television writing and production, and has also taught math and
composition at the private school her children attended in Brookfield,
Wisconsin. For ten years she wrote a weekly column, “Truth In Education”
for WISCONSIN REPORT, and served as Education Editor for that
publication. Her books are available through Education Service Council,
P. O. Box 271, Elm Grove, Wisconsin 53122.
GIVE US THE YOUNG–$5 Plus $2.00 P&H
WHY THINGS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE–$16 PLUS $4.00 P&H
BOTH BOOKS — $25 Total E-Mail EricaCarle@aol.com
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