As we cross the threshold of 1962 it may be of some advantage to turn and look back upon 1961, taking in the broad expanse of its 12 months in a comprehensive glance.
A sweeping view of 1961 will bring little of comfort or encouragement as we look upon the events which have taken place this last twelve months in the great theatre of the world.
The colossus of Russian Communism continues to stride back and fort upon this stage trampling ruthlessly upon whomsoever gets in its path. It has made a mockery of any attempt to bring about an approach to peace and conciliation, It has shown its absolute contempt for world opinion by the fashion in which it went ahead with the explosion of its superbomb and the consequent poisoning of the earth's air supply.
We have seen the United Nations, whose avowed aim is to restore peace to the world, bring bloodshed and havoc to the independent republic of Katanga for the purpose of forcing its reunion with the other Congolese provinces. The people of Katanga were not asked whether they wished such a reunion.
India, previously a declared peace-loving nation, callously invaded the six-hundred year old province of Portugal, Goa. India did not consult the United Nations. The United States approved of India's action. As we write, the new nation of Indonesia is preparing, with declared defiance of what the rest of the world might think, to take over Dutch New Guinea - again by force and violence.
On all sides there is a cynical flouting of the ancient rights of states and individuals, a breaking down of international morality. That so-called parliament of man, the United Nations has become a pawn of international politics. It has become the chief instrument in the ever-increasing pressure for, and trend to, the universal police state... And behind all these complex manoeuvers leading to the ultimate destruction of the individual's liberty and independence, there hovers the ever-present and sinister shadow of that great dictator, Finance. This dictatorship holds the human race in bondage, keeps two-thirds of the human race on the brink of literal starvation and the remainder of man living in a constant state of poverty, debt and insecurity.
Facing mankind, as it has for so many centuries, is that great paradox of want in the midst of plenty, of starvation with surpluses.
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Are we moving towards a final cataclysm? Is Western civilization, founded upon the principles of Christianity, to crumble and disappear?
We don't think it will.
It is true that Divine Providence alone will decide what is to become of a society that would remain free. Yet, if the Christian faces up to his responsibilities and shoulders his burden with complete faith in Providence; if he meets the challenge to his vocation as a Christian, God will not abandon him and right will ultimately triumph.
Do these sound like trite and hackneyed phrases? Yet they are true...
The Salvation of society, of the Christian civilization which places the rights of the individual and the family above all others, is primarily the task of the individual.
Governments — international, national, provincial and! local — consist of groups of men who claim to represent the individual. Whether, in fact they do, or whether they go along their way seeking only profit and power for themselves, depends upon whatever influence the individuals of society exert upon them.
Finance, international, national or local, again will act as it pleases, will continue on its way exercising complete economic dictatorship over men just as long as the individuals of society permit it to do so.
Dear reader: it is the purpose of this paper and the movement which it represents, just as it is the purpose of all Social Crediters the world over, to arouse the individual to the dangers which threaten him; to point them out specifically, to highlight them wheresoever in the world they may arise; it is the purpose of the Union of Electors and all other Social Credit publications to arouse the individual to the necessity of doing something to combat the world police state and the power behind it which is Finance. It is the purpose of Social Credit to put into your hands the solution to the problems which make such evils possible.
During the next twelve months, we and other social Credit organizations will strive to help you take your place as an active citizen who will exercise political pressure in your own milieu twelve months of the year; we shall try to teach you what the philosophy of Social Credit can accomplish in erecting a new civilization in which the individual will have security with liberty.
If you face up to the challenge, then you and the millions of other individuals about the world will ultimately vanquish the misery of want and the terror of despotism.
It is our wish to you for the New Year that in spite of the very grave situation in the world, you may find it in you to accept this challenge and work with others to the establishment of the new society.