SCHILLER INSTITUTE CONFERENCE
The New Silk Road: Mankind
Is the Only Creative Species!
This week, we begin full coverage of the 30th anniversary conference of the Schiller Institute, in Frankfurt, Germany Oct. 18-19, titled, “The New Silk Road and China’s Lunar Program: Mankind Is the Only Creative Species!” In this installment, we publish the speeches from the first panel, titled, “The New Silk Road Is Transforming the Planet.”
The theme of the conference was established by Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her keynote speech, “A New Era of Mankind,” at the start of Panel I, in which she laid out in stark terms, the triple threat that faces mankind today: the spreading Ebola epidemic, which, it could be said, is a marker for the collapse of civilization into a New Dark Age; the expanding incursions of the barbaric ISIS terrorism in Southwest Asia, and beyond; and the disintegration of the global financial system, which, she said, is going to be much worse than the crash of 2008. But, she declared, since all of these disasters are man-made, there are also remedies that can be found.
One of the speakers at the conference, Jason Ross, of the LaRouche Scientific Team, who addressed the final panel, presented a summary of the conference on the LaRouche PAC weekly webcast Oct. 24. He characterized the impact of the proceedings on audience and speakers alike:
“The overall direction—development around an uplifted view of mankind—existed as an overall social-sense at the conference. It was beyond the individual presentations. It developed a life of its own, which I think is the mark of a very fruitful dialogue and a fruitful conference. The quality of discussion wasn’t passing around rote incantations of the accepted formulas; it was an actual discussion of something real; people meant what they said. It was a human discussion, in which creativity expressed itself. It was a human conference!”
Conference organizer Elke Fimmen, in the EIR’s weekly Internet radio LaRouche Show, amplified Ross’s assessment, calling the two-day event “universal history in action.”
One Road, One Belt
Following Zepp-LaRouche, Prof. Shi Ze, from the Chinese Institute of International Studies, discussed how innovative thinking about the “One Road, One Belt” concept of the New Silk Road, should be applied to international affairs. Technological and scientific advancements, he said, must be applied in an even manner, and without striving for hegemony, or for spheres of influence, or for interference in the sovereignty of other nations. Development should strengthen the equality of a multi-polar world.
Next, Dr. Fatemeh Hashemi, the president of the Women’s Solidarity Association of Tehran, spoke about the role of Iran, both historically as part of the Old Silk Road, as well as the potential for Iran to play a significant part in the New Silk Road today.
From India, Jayshree Sengupta, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, reviewed the rapid emergence of the BRICS, whose members represent 46% of world population, 18% of world trade, and 26% of world landmass. The BRICS, she said, seek a multi-polar world, rather than dominance by the developed nations.
Economist Natalia Vitrenko, chairwoman of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, discussed the economic and strategic crises confronting her nation, noting that despite Ukraine’s wonderful climate, and its famous black-earth soil, because of its obedience to the IMF since the end of the Soviet Union, it is now heading into the abyss.
Vitrenko stunned the audience with her first-hand, graphic reports of the way neo-Nazism is taking over Ukraine. Only with a determined effort by both Europe and Russia, she said, can Ukraine be rescued from the neo-Nazi parties that have taken over in Kiev, with the backing of the IMF/World Bank vultures.
The final speaker on the panel was Ali Rastbeen, founder and president of the Paris Academy of Geopolitics, who spoke on “A Vision of the Future of Eurasia.”
Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’
While it is impossible to adequately convey the beauty of the musical performances and the impact they had on the audience, in a print publication, Ross’s description gave a good sense of it:
“The event overall had begun with a musical introduction, and at the conclusion of the first day, we were treated to, and challenged by, a wonderful presentation of [excerpts from] Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. It was conducted by Sergej Strid of the Schiller Institute, with a small orchestra, soloists, choruses from a very international group among all of these—the soloists, the orchestra, and the choruses.
“Fidelio is the story of the rescue of the imprisoned Florestan, who had been jailed for speaking truth to power, by his heroic wife, Leonore, who dresses up as a man under the name ‘Fidelio,’ to get access to the prison. It is based on the true story of the imprisonment of Marquis de Lafayette, and of his wife Adrienne’s work to free him.
“The [impact of] this performance, in the context of a serious conference on the future of mankind, rather than as an evening of entertainment for overdressed people who paid too much for tickets, was very, very powerful. It was met with a tremendous, sustained ovation. It’s really difficult to try to describe music, so you can hear it for yourself on the website.”
In fact, videos of the entire conference are available on the website.
In upcoming issues, we will be covering Panels II-IV:
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II: The Future of Europe—Translantic Collapse of Alliance of Sovereign Republics?;
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III: The New Silk Road and the New Paradigm for Mankind; and
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IV: Science Drivers for a New Economic Miracle and the Commons Aims of Mankind.
