Now that the islanders had discovered how imperfect their “democracy” was they became determined to discover the exact cause of the situation and do their best to change things. Other so-called democracies appeared to have the same difficulties and issues and it made sense to seek further information from other islands and countries.
There were many different stories of corruption, deceit and evil-doings which encompassed almost every area of society as well as every age-group and race and culture. In some cases the communities had a political structure based on party politics, yet it seemed that despite a few minor differences the result was always the same: The people did not have a say in what occurred in the country. They chose between party leaders who were put forward but in actual fact these people weren’t socialist or democratic or conservative – they were simply politicians, who appeared to be having their strings pulled by unseen and unknown parties. They were in fact puppets.
This was difficult to digest. The people had all believed that they lived in democratic countries and yet it was obvious that politicians took their orders from shadowy, unseen figures. It seemed that democracy was a real misnomer for the situation that had developed. The people of the Isle of the Ancient King wanted to know more: Who were the controllers and why did they want to control things?
There were many different theories about this. Some of their neighbours told them that these people had been working against humanity for centuries – or longer. Some felt it had something to do with the origins of the bible. Some felt it was based on pure evil and the results of this. Maybe they were all right but it was difficult to prove anything – other than one simple fact: Whatever was going on came down to two things. Profit and control.
Yes, profit was apparently a major reason behind everything that troubled the islanders. Whether it was a drive to ensure all the community consumed as many pharmaceuticals (vaccines, antidepressants etc) as possible or the CCTV (apparently quite unnecessary expense) or the adherence to rules devised by other islands about health and safety etc., one thing was obvious – the result was large profits for some companies and consultants.
The residents reasoned that if they were being told that so many measures were essential and had to be implemented then a certain amount of control was essential. The islanders had naively joined various international groups which appeared to be operating for the benefit of others throughout the world. Yet on consideration it seemed that these groups were actually the source of controlling legislation which resulted in capital expenditure and the beneficiaries were large international corporations, banks etc.
Further investigation resulted in more discoveries. It seemed that some shadowy banking families had been controlling things for centuries. This had been achieved through deceit, underhandedness and corruption. The bankers had obtained control of the printing of money and had succeeded in ensuring that governments paid them for the money they printed.
The people also discovered that some were losing their homes as a result of losing their jobs. The cause of the lack of work was the downturn created by the people having ensured that the banks were given money when they were in danger of crashing. The irony didn’t escape them. The banks had managed their money so badly that the banks were in danger of collapse. The people helped them and the repercussions of this were austerity measures which resulted in job losses. Were the banks then so kind-hearted about the plight of the unemployed who could no longer repay money that was made out of thin air? No, of course not. They took charge of the property and sold it. Whew! That took some digesting as well.
There were many reports that some of the bankers had callously funded both sides in wars of the past – ensuring a win-win situation for the bankers. The “victorious” country being obliged to pay the losers debts. It all came down to profit.
The biggest island had changed its tax agreement with the Isle of the Ancient King leaving the Ilittle island with much less money and this necessitated cuts in services. The biggest island had to make savings because of payments they had made to save the bankers.
Of course some said that the tax agreement might have been too generous all along. However, others felt that there is no such thing as free lunch and that the generous tax agreement had been negotiated and that the politicians on the little island had agreed to something unknown in order to gain the tax advantage. Others wondered if the opaque situation with the high level talks between the two islands had played any part in negotiations. Could it be that the Isle of the Ancient King had compromised its autonomy to gain some extra money?
Whatever the reasons for the present situation the fact remained that bankers were secretly controlling national and international affairs to ensure profits and further control.
In an effort to uncover the extent of the deception the islanders began to look further and further into matters which had been previously taken for granted. Imagine their concern when they were told that even the courts were not what they appeared to be. It seemed that a system of control had been superimposed on the traditional law. They were told that they needed to learn much more about this in order to free themselves from the controlling empire that the bankers had built up. If they were to liberate themselves they would have to determine if a court was lawful – or not.
How could the islanders determine the lawfulness of a court?
To be continued