A Shock Heard 'Round the World
The entire British Imperial plan to ram through the fascist Lisbon Treaty ran into a brick wall in Ireland on June 12, where the "no" vote won the referendum by 53.4% to 46.6%. With a heavier voter turnout than expected (over 50 percent), all but 8 of the country's 43 voting districts voted against the treaty. Even more significant, the treaty was overwhelmingly defeated in urban working class and rural areas, where the "no" vote reached 60-65%, and more.
What was delivered was a brutal shock to an oligarchy gone mad with its own arrogance. The Irish people from the lower 80 percent of income brackets came out to make known their utter rejection of the plan for a Europeanwide dictatorship. And with that rejection, they have opened up a flank internationally, to destroy the globalized British Empire.
What's the significance of this vote for the United States? It contains lessons that are absolutely crucial, as well as throwing the same oligarchy that is out to destroy the U.S. off balance, at a critical time of decision.
As Lyndon LaRouche put it, the crucial fact about the Irish referendum is the fact that it was the lower-income stratum of the population, the forgotten men and women from the working class and low-income farming class, who played the decisive role. LaRouche has continuously stressed that the only competent approach to reversing the degeneration that British ideological and financial domination have imposed on the United States, and other nations, is to mobilize people from the lower 80% of income brackets. It is this stratum, for example, which Hillary Clinton effectively aroused in the latter part of her primary campaign, bringing her to the point of a popular-vote victory over Barack Obama. History is changed not by back-room deals, but by mass organizing, galvanizing and educating masses of people into action through leadership with the right ideas.
But Hillary ended up losing, you might reply. Ah, but, in the wake of the Irish vote—not to mention the onrushing financial and economic breakdown crisis—you should think again. The election campaign in the United States, even the candidate selection process, is far from over. The lower 80%, if they are not demoralized by the virtual coup d'etat over the nomination carried out by the Soros-controlled Democratic Party leadership, can still wield the decisive blow.
Indeed, the European oligarchy was convinced that it had the Irish referendum in the bag as well. Almost all the powers-that-be in that nation had come out in support of the Lisbon Treaty, and even the anti-EU farmers union had ultimately come around to accepting a deal in exchange for nominal support. But the parties who opposed the obliteration of sovereignty for their nation, especially the Sinn Fein, took a mass organizing approach, with leaflets, posters, and the like. They created enough motion and excitement that people did not accept what the press told them was "inevitable"; they came out to vote.
It is also crucial to understand the catalytic leadership role that was played by the LaRouche movement in delivering this "no" to imperialism. In mid-February, Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued a clarion call of mobilization against the Lisbon Treaty. At that time, it was clear that virtually everyone believed its ratification could not be stopped, especially since Ireland was the only nation which had to have a referendum.
But Zepp-LaRouche refused to accept what others call "reality," since it meant the creation of a fascist superstate, as a precursor to global war and destruction. She launched an intensive process of organizing which spread all over Europe, by Internet and elsewise, encouraging other opponents to come forward, and the discouraged to fight. In a very real sense, the Irish vote is her personal victory, as well as one for democracy.
The Irish "no" should evoke a memory of what Lyndon LaRouche wrote last week about the temporary defeat of Hillary Clinton: the oligarchy is not all-powerful. It is faced with its own existential crisis, brought on by the bankruptcy of its own policies, and the opposition which those policies have created. Armed wih LaRouche's ideas, that opposition has a precious opportunity to defeat that oligarchy. As LaRouche said then, that's the only thing worthwhile fighting for.