4.3 The Age of Finance

Undoubtedly, money becoming a power of societal command is an important development. In the absence of a thorough analysis of this phenomenon, society cannot be completely understood. Money is a value that allows mobility in economic life. What it is and the way in which it attained such a position make it the most serious societal phenomenon that needs to be understood. It cannot be denied that this instrument carries an awful amount of dirt with it. But which historical and societal factors have led to the attainment of such a position? What does it really accomplish within society? Who are the individuals and groups that gain or lose because of it? Can one do without it and what could be put in its place? There are more questions that can be asked.

Money as instrument of exchange (that is, as the instrument of a simple process) can be understood well. Nevertheless, one should still be careful. What is being exchanged? Can money be a tool that provides a fair measurement of the value of two things to be exchanged? It is clear from the start that the question entails many difficulties. Let us assume that we are exchanging apples and pears-quite a simple transaction. Let’s say that we exchange one apple for two pears and presume that money functions in this transaction. We may ask why it is not a one for one exchange or a one for three. Our answer may entail the inclusion of labor-value. But other questions may follow: What is it that gives value to the labor? Thus, it becomes clear that money can hardly ensure a fair measurement in transactions. What gave money its power and reputation is, most probably, the fact that it offered new options. It is useless to look for dimensions such as justice, value, and labor in the foundations of money. Money acts as a mediator so that transactions can be done with ease. But the mediator we are faced with is making a big mess: instead of playing its assigned role it takes on other roles. In my opinion this mediator was used to ease things confined to a certain time and space. Consequently, it spread over time and place although it was never meant as such. This is an incident of grave misuse. The society may have resisted against such a widespread use but there was nothing that could stop it now. How did it attain such a position? Let us continue to probe into it. Although it is not so meaningful to initiate economy with exchange, exchange itself is an important economic factor. Two things exchanged are called goods or commodities. For a long time, society did not know any value other than the use value, and it did not find it morally appropriate to exchange things. Society adhered to a system called the gift economy. Produced or obtained objects of value would be given as gifts to those they valued. The gift culture denotes honoring the other. Anyone to be honored would be given a gift. This meant that those who were precious were honored and their value proven. The remaining objects would then be used in daily life. Accumulation of things was also not appreciated. Human societies were able to live this way, that is, without exchanging goods, for tens of thousands of years. Society’s consciousness and morals could not consent to the exchange of goods or exchanging goods for money. This was because they did not think that there could be an equivalent for the value they produced. To them, thinking like this would be morally wrong; possibly their common sense or moral consciousness would even consider this to be fraudulent. If the threshold of exchange is the threshold of economy, such a start to economy cannot be considered a good one because it ran contrary to tradition. It may be a hypothesis to consider exchange as the fundamental value of economic relations. However. i believe it would be wrong not to consider other hypotheses as well. It is possible to scientize economy with factors other than exchange. Or, rather, it can be other forms of exchange where the exchange is not reliant on a mediator such as money but on consensus. In theory and in practice different and creative forms of exchange should be developed. A more important issue than exchange is how products are turned into goods. Commodification is described as the exchange of use value. Commodity appeared for the first time at about the start of civilization. Commodity was the fundamental factor behind the acceptance of trade. A product becoming a commodity coincides with the initial owner parting with it. Acceptance of parting with the product is the start of the product becoming a commodity. And if someone else obtains it in exchange for something else, then the process of commodification is completed. Let’s think of a gazelle and a goat being exchanged after being looked after for many years. No one can ever prove that such an exchange is a fair and just one. This is due both to the amount of labor put into their care and the goat and gazelle being two different things. This analogy should make clear the paradox in the reason for exchange.

If we now return to the issue of money on the basis of seeing these contradictions, we will perhaps be more aware of its deceptiveness. It is important to better understand another point when studying societies: Societal phenomena are not the same as physical phenomena. Under the conditions of this world, two hydrogen atoms combined with one oxygen atom will always form the water molecule. It can never form any other chemical structure. Society, on the other hand, is a package of phenomena constructed by the human being. Although there are many obscurities involved with it, the human can change what it has constructed and make new constructions. Hence, we seem to end up with this rule: Societal realities are constructed realities. They are not natural or god-created realities. Money can easily be said to be a constructed reality. Exchange and commodities are also social realities that are constructed and not natural or god-created.

The biggest sin of positivism is placing social realities in the same category as physical realities. If we equate societal phenomena with constant realities, we will be paving the way for societal paradigms containing serious flaws. Understanding this makes it impossible not to see the drawbacks of viewing economy from such a positivist point of view. Similarly. if you see nationalism as an expression of objective reality, you will end up in the same position as Hitler and Stalin who are from a philosophical point of view the same (albeit they arrived at these positions from different angles). Neither of them, nor any of the other positivists and vulgar materialists, can escape rendering the realities they accept within the society the value of absolute phenomenon. So, another factor that makes the issue of money so delicate stems from the positivist approach to society: to assume that money is completely real. Therefore, commodities changing hands through the mediation of money gradually gives rise to the perception that money is real.

Our topic is not how money entered the economy alongside exchange and how it developed in the course of history. But we have to understand that money gradually established itself as an indispensable part of the economy, thus increasing the drawbacks inherent in itself. If we compare the underlying paradox in one instance of exchange alone, we will understand the undesirable situation money leads to when it gains limitless exchange power. Money has become the embodiment of thousands of contradictions. As money made its way through economy, society gradually arrived at the age of finance. But without understanding the gravity of the situation claiming to understand society would be false. What makes the situation so serious is the fact that money has reached its most sophisticated era yet, together with the enormous contradictions inherent in itself. It is like appointing a tyrant with a poor record as the commander in chief of a very big army. The momentary acceptance of money by some in the society elevates the temporary status of this suspicious instrument to that of a god, giving into its grip the most effective power of command.

It would be really interesting to examine the historical development of money. King Croesus of Lydia is said to have issued the first gold coin in history. He is said to have lived in the city of Sardis, present day Manisa, Turkey, where the search for gold is still creating problems. Croesus also experienced many problems as a result of his hunt for riches. We know from the hundreds of different coins that have been found that the use of money was widespread during the Persian and Greco-Roman Civilizations. Together commodities, exchange, and monetarization rapidly developed and thus seized the prime position in the economy. Money became something that you could neither do with nor without.

In the Islamic Civilization, the rial attained as esteemed a position as the sultans. The throne of money was quite robust in the cities and the Jewish money agents became especially important. The Jewish and Armenian money agents and merchants established a money and trade monopoly route parallel to that of the trade routes between Europe and India. This route of capital, in parallel with political domination, was very powerful. The sultans and the emirs were made dependent on them. These agents’ influence in Europe and Asia increased continuously, a fact that might have contributed to the increasing reaction of the communities towards the Jews and Armenians as peoples. When researching the Jewish and Armenian pogroms one should also research this issue.

Toward the middle of the thirteenth century, the Italian towns took over the leading position in money and trade from the Islamic world. Especially Venice, Genoa, and Florence came into being as the miracle of money and trade. Until the sixteenth century, these towns led Europe in all aspects. They not only brought about the unfolding of the Renaissance, they also were the architects of a monetary revolution. Although the precursors to this change came from the Islamic world, these towns made enormous contributions: they developed and institutionalized all of the indispensable financial instruments of modernity such as banks, bonds, paper money, credit, and accountancy. These developments played a crucial role in the history of money, constituting a revolution in the development of market and trade. Thus, the speed of commodification and monetarization was a manifold increase. They were milestones in the development of the rule of money.

Society was gradually prepared for the domination of these instruments. From the outset, they were presented as nothing more than tools for a simple technical transaction. The banks were going to be the places where money would be accumulated. Bonds were pieces of paper that corresponded to money. Paper money was in a way like a bond. It was light and made transactions smoother and faster. Credit was the money lent to customers who were short of money in return for an appropriate interest rate. This sped things up and prevented waiting around with nothing to do. Those interested would take the credit and continue with their work and make the payment of the debt with the profits attained. Accountancy enabled one to clarify the profit and deficit, as well as inventory of the income and expenses for the work done.; It reflected the financial situation of the individual or firm. These financial inventions were simple revolutions with great consequences. Cities such as Seville, Lisbon, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Lyon, Antwerp, and Paris quickly passed on Italy’s products of revolution to their own countries and it spread and expanded over the continent.

Above, I gave an overview of how, with the onset of the sixteenth century, the Netherlands and England were able to turn into a general capitalistic revolution the revolutions that were achieved for the first time in agriculture, then in trade and later in industry. Capital, capitalist, and capitalism were the first steps toward money’s sultanate. Each, who had skipped all these steps, were a true king: Naked kings. The Age of Trade owed its profits that grew with its high speed to monetarization and monetary instruments. The rule of money advanced silently but profoundly. It did not just try to attain a kingdom for itself but tried to become divine without, for the first time, hiding behind a mask; by openly showing its true self. The Industrial Age owes much to the Age of Trade and the great opportunities that it passed on. Without the existence of marketization, urbanization, commodification, and the concentration of trade in society the Industrial Revolution would not have been possible. And none of these processes would have been achieved without money. The increased speed of monetarization and the flow of money gave it a role similar to that of blood circulation in the body. If it was interrupted even just for a moment the organs could no longer function. This would mean their death.

An analysis of the relationship between the factory and worker will clarify things. It is not possible for the factory to function on the labor of the old slave, peasant, or serf. Becoming a worker without breaking your ties with the master, seigneur, and the land is impossible. The state of becoming a complete worker can only occur if an absolute wage is obtained. Wage is not a value that can be paid in the absence of money. Hence, the worker is doomed to depend on money. Money has reached a position from where it can put the new slave under its own absolute domination without the need for master or seigneur. This was a huge step towards assuming total power. The newly formed industrial society was the first big societal form confronted with the hegemony of money. None of the other civilizational societies had known such domination by money. With the arrival of the industrial society money has become a culture. Things obtain meaning only in relation to money. Although money leads to many great dreams, if there is no money no great project can be started. Each and every family, from the rural settlements to the urban dwellings, is aware of the absolute necessity of money in order to buy a pair of shoes for a child, to be able to turn on the light in the house. There was no plan or endeavor that would not be taken up in order to acquire it. Everyone was compelled to offer whatever was necessary to please their new god in order to obtain money.

From the outset, people have believed what they are selling is labor, the sacred value. This is the most typical delusion created by money. What is sold off in return for money is not only labor itself. To be able to work you need a healthy body: to have a healthy body you need an endless list of things including, and especially, the woman. On top of this, labor is needed to acquire skill. In the absence of skill, labor would not be bought. This in turn needed the craftsman and the shop assistant who were also based on thousands of years of work experience and the laborers of their times. Hence, a simple wage-a bit more than what was needed to be sustained-meant all these sacred values were being sold off. History and society were being sold off. This was how the human being was instrumentalized. No other societal god had ever before established such domination over its subjects.

Breaking its ties with gold, silver, and other precious metals was another important milestone in the history of money. This big revolution-the black money revolution-occurred in the 1970. From then on, money became totally “free.” The initial step towards this freedom was secured by the Italian cities by linking money to instruments such as paper tokens, bonds and credit. The second big revolution was achieved when the US dollar officially freed itself from its to gold and silver.

This is how the age of finance was officially entered. This is what lies behind the historical development called the third big globalization move. The first big globalization move of capitalism was the continental colonization and semi-colonization of the Age of Trade in the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. Its second big globalization movement was the imperialism move of the Industrial Age, resulting in a period of wars based on class and nationality. It is indisputable that one of the master builders of this period that continued for about four hundred years was money. It may not be wrong to call the sum of all these periods the Age of Money. Capitalist modernity’s great god is the nation-state (Zeus-Jupiter), its power and war god (Ares-Mars) is money, which is the rising new god of the modern era, a god that has no antecedent in economy or history: The god that suppresses all the other gods and establishes its own hegemony!

The main characteristic of the age of finance is that of the institution of money (with all its instruments) obtaining the position of leadership. It has placed the industrial and trade monopolies under its complete control. It made the state, as a monopoly, (especially the nation-state) thoroughly dependent on itself. It also took total control of the fundamental layers of the economy, such as usage (that is, the consumer), production, and exchange platforms. The means used to accomplish this is a comprehensive list of instruments such as the IMF, World Bank, the World Trade Organization; all the central banks of the world, global banks, various credit bonds, markets, and the stock exchanges, bonds and notes, consumer cards, interest rates, and exchange rates. Because of these institutions, money has acquired ghostly presence. Put differently: money has instated itself in the position of the old hierarchical ruler of the patriarchal family. These institutions play the role of its offspring. Hence, all these institutions have money as their forefather.

These institutions form a terrible network amongst themselves. They are extremely organized. They know each other’s every detail. They influence one another. They move money on the basis of short, medium, and long terms. The respective financial instruments for these are fashionably called “hot money,” “bonds and notes,” and “long term bonds”, but the names and terms may change. They are the fastest realized societal construction. The most important means of payment is the US dollar and the Euro. Although the system is still being improved, it can be considered complete. How, then, is profit (the main goal). realized in this new system?

All the relations and conflicts of the economic. social. and political worlds were transferred to this new virtual system. Even the ideological. academic, and other cultural areas became its prey. A closer look at this truth may increase our ability to make sense of it. What does it mean to have the dollar (while the Euro is held in reserve) as the fundamental unit of book keeping? What relationships and conflicts –and hence alliances and wars-are reflected by the areas in which the dollar is accumulated, the exchange rates between currencies, activities in the bonds, notes, and equity markets, and by the changes in interest rates and prices? Could it not be that the Third World War, which is so often talked about, is taking place within this unreal, virtual world? Is it not possible that the wars fought in the actual world are simply their manifestations?

It is widely accepted that after the Second World War the United States became the hegemonic power. The global influence of the dollar as monetary unit is the consequence of this hegemony. Interestingly enough, the dollar threw off its dependency on gold just as this hegemony had reached its peak. This clearly reflects its status as world hegemon: responsible and accountable to no one. It is widely known that the United States has released billions of dollars in the world which have no value since the 1980’s. This is terrible and means that the United States has made billions of dollars each year just by letting the mint work. Never before, in no other age or location, has money been able to advance itself this much. Has there ever been any other tool than this phenomenon that explains how money itself is the hegemon? If we keep in mind that all the nation-states are in debt (the most heavily indebted, interestingly enough, is the United States itself), we can increase our understanding of why money is the absolute hegemon. The agitation caused around the world by the money speculations orchestrated by the US Central Bank (by manipulation of the interest rate, and price reductions and escalations) also explains how well the financial system has adapted. There is an abundance of facts proving the power of money.

The connection between crises and the system is even more striking. Crises resulting from chain reactions in Asia, Russia, and Latin America are purely monetary occurrences that are reflected in the real economy only much later. in the past. a crisis would start in the real world and then spread to the monetary world; the crisis of the financial age is just the reverse. When the crisis finally appears in the real world, the hegemons of the finance world end it, not allowing it to worsen, but not before pulling the relevant countries into line! The example of Russia is enlightening. The USSR officially broke up in 1991 and the financial crisis it was put into gradually worsened. The crisis was made to peak in 1998.

I was in Moscow at the time, due to developments following my departure from Damascus. The Russian officials told me to leave the country urgently and that they would do anything to ensure that this happened. Even the Chief of Intelligence told me, “If it were six months later, everything would have been much easier and we would not have treated you this way.” Yes, the 1998 crisis had taken control of Russia as was admitted first hand by the competent authorities. I remember it all very well: this operation was executed by the then Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, and the United States Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. They came to Moscow in a hurry and managed to get me thrown out of Russia in return for ten billion dollars. An agreement with the IMF was signed to this end. There was also the Blue Stream agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in return for my deportation. This agreement was another condition put forward by Russia despite opposition from the USA. As Russia was drawn deeper into the neoliberal policies of the system’s hegemon, it was able to gradually recover from its paralyzed state and to be integrated into the system. This was how a counterrevolution took place in the age of virtual and financial counterrevolutions!

Analyzing how the age of finance rules the real world will be highly instructive. We have often emphasized that money’s ability to rule the real economic world is linked to its rise to command power. Those projects that serve the hegemon’s main policies are given top priority. How should the world economy be designed with respect to the age of finance? What region should focus on which goods? What would its share be? How should the fundamental policies of the countries be arranged; their economic and social structuring be renewed? How should they pay their debts and use their resources? Moreover, how can what the system calls “rebellious” or “mobster” countries and economies be brought into line? How can the former USSR block (the Warsaw Pact countries). China, and the so-called Third World countries be integrated into the hegemonic system? How should relations with Israel be arranged?

On the whole, a project that is put before a country, firm, state, or individual will fall within the parameters of what the party concerned can adapt to, so that they will fall in line with the general criteria of the new financial age and its neoliberal policies. Investments related to these projects are bound to many political and military conditions. Only after such an agreement is reached will the necessary finance or monetary instruments be provided. Those who do not comply are brought to the point of bankruptcy as a result of the imposed crisis. In fact, the age of finance is in essence the age of conditional lending.

This is how the system works. Even these short descriptions show that capitalism is not economy in the age of finance. Not only are these paper games not economy, they themselves provide the proof that they are non-economic impositions. The monopoly in fact attains its maximum profits through these paper instruments. What clearer evidence can there be that this system is anti-economy? The profits attained in the financial system and age have been obtained for almost free of charge when compared with the trade and industrial age. In return for small coupons everyone is drawn into being involved in profit, and thus is made a partner in crime; the system survives, it is even stronger than before. The age of finance is even more non-economy than industrialism. It is a form of society and its culture.

It is clear that we face a highly monopolized monetary system. This is such a supermonopolization phase that where even states (including the United States as a state) are being dissolved into it. This system has attained a position of power where it controls, develops, breaks-down, and reinstates all the processes of power. This is the essence of the new globalization. The age of communication does not, as may be thought, characterize globalization. Its essence is the entwinement of economy and politics-or political monopoly- to an unprecedented level. This denotes all local, national, political, and economic willpowers coming under the control of the global powers of the super-monopolies. This is a new situation and it requires our focused attention.

The effect of money on the societal reality is purely for the purpose of conquering. The goal is to create a monetary and virtual society. Capitalization of society can most effectively be obtained by allowing it to participate in profits through instruments such as bonds, repurchase agreements, debentures, and shares. As a result, society, but especially the middle class, is integrated with the financial world. In return for a small profit they are turned into a force to defend the system. Their reflexes against the system are significantly weakened. Through the creation of consumerist society, consumer credit, microcredit, and many other varieties of project credits there is an attempt to seize tight control of society. The method is simple. First of all, by imposing a crisis, a new unemployed world is added to the already existing world of unemployed. The collapse of the middle class is engineered and they are forced to ask for mercy, once again. Hunger and poverty are imposed to the point of starvation. Turmoil and chaos deepen and, later, in return for the acceptance of some conditions, credit is given to reconstruct the society.

In the past, efforts were made to transform societies through revolutions and enlightening cultural movements. Present-day financial methods will (or try to) attain any desired result through a more complete, minutely planned, no-risk approach. There are endless renewed efforts to construct homogenization on a global scale and to create a mass-like, herd-like society so that not the slightest objection will be raised against the system. In a way, these social projects are substitutions for the old revolutions and utopias; there is no longer a need for revolutions and utopias. Everything can be pinned down to a project and, besides, the prospective financiers will be ready and willing. This must be what they call the countersociety, simulacrum society, virtual society, or a single-minded society. Are the things imposed on us not part of a project for the realization of fascism on a global scale, but with a new mask? There is thus a need to define and recognize all aspects of the society of the financial age.

The political and state policies of the financial age are partly contradictory to that of the Industrial Age. Industrialism mainly focused on policies of nationalism and the nation-state, and endeavored to create the required monopolies. However, in View of its need to become global, the age of finance sees these monopolies as obstacles. Capitalism that has become a world-system cannot support the nation-state monopoly to the end of time. The nationstate monopolies that have a tendency to keep to themselves become obstacles to the monopolies, which wish to move on a global scale. The financial age can only increase its profits if it is able to use its tools on a global scale. The nation-state poses a serious obstacle to this. It will either adjust to this new situation or be destroyed. North Korea, Libya, Syria, Iran, and Iraq were able to protect their existence only after they accepted such a modification. When Iraq later declined to accept it, it incurred the wrath of the financial age. A new country must then be constructed: it cannot be destroyed completely. Countries such as Brazil, Turkey, Argentine, China, India, and Russia are profound in their commitment to nation-statism. Hence, they are at the top of the list of countries that must be disciplined by the imposition of crises and subsequently be re-integrated into the system.

More importantly, the nation-state prevents the development of exhaustive globalization. Globalization requires states that will make do with a smaller scale, with limited and subordinate power instead of local political units of the nation-state type. It attempts to transform medium size states with the help of local units. The paradox between the nationstate and the globalization of the financial age may continue for a while, also because the limited anti-capitalist elements within them necessitate this. Rectifying the profound failures caused especially by the nation-state, but by the classical state in general, is attempted with a buffer system that is called civil society but one that does not fully represent civil society in its essence. Relieving the predicament of liberalism’s nation-state is attempted by draining civil society of its democratic content. Civil society is the political arena over which the classical and the democratic civilizations have quarreled over most often. The democratization of civil society is a question of principle and hence it falls under democratic politics. It is one of our fundamental duties to analyze how it can be done and to work towards its achievement.

Ideologically, some main issues and questions arising from the financial age include: the clash of civilizations, radicalism, terrorism, the reconstruction of the state, globalism, and the elevation of religion. The thesis on the clash of civilizations is important from two aspects. It may be expected that the system will impose on the entire world the civilization to which its hegemonic power belongs. But. contrary to what is believed and is projected. there is no white. Anglo-Saxon. Christian civilization. The fact that the socialist civilization attempted to be created by real socialism could not display qualities that surpassed capitalist modernity caused its re-integration into the system. This allowed the world to overcome an apparent civilization crisis. Hence, the clash between the two blocks is now seen not as a clash between two civilizations but between the two hegemonic powers (representing the same modernity), especially after the disintegration of the USSR and China’s capitalist development.

On the other hand, the Islamic world is an area of an ancient civilization, and also represents a kind of regional nationalism. If we add the conflict with Israel to this, we can see how the problem of civilizations is brought to a head. During all three stages of the Age of Capitalism, the Middle East could not be integrated into the system. The nation-state brought the civilization question to an impasse instead of resolving it. The escalation of religious nationalism in Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran together with the intense use of violence and the ongoing consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian question has increased the parameters of the debate on civilization. This is the intra-civilizational dimension of the problem. Another dimension is the desire of the people of the region, the mosaic societies, to protect their existence and defend their cultural identity, and to rid themselves of the fascist state, which is a mixture of the despotic and the nation-state. In a way, it reflects the clash between the democratic civilization, which is potentially very strong, and the classical despotic civilization on a regional scale. Clearly, with additional issues such as petrol and water, we can talk about serious civilizational clashes in the Middle East.

Radicalism is, in its essence, a nation-statist reaction to the globalism of the financial age. It comes to the fore as ideological and political movements with religious and racist traits aiming to further introvert the nation-state. Many such examples can be found in every region. There are those with a religious color, be it Islamic, Christian, Hindu, or African animist, and those with right-wing nationalist and racist elements, present in every nationstate. Often they overlap. They represent a more reactionary form of localism against globalism. On the other hand, local, democratic, cultural, feminist movements and the New Left come together (albeit insufficiently so) at platforms such as the World Social Forum demonstrating the strength to discuss democratic civilization. Terrorism is most probably a provocative movement of the system itself. There are strong indications that this is an instrument deliberately used to legitimize the rule of the financial age. Al-Qaida, for example, is still a mystery.

Indeed, the age of finance itself has strong terroristic qualities. The social relationships that have been damaged by money are themselves a question of terrorism. There is no terror that can be as effective as the hegemony of money that alienates society from its most profound ties. Most of the activities undertaken by the system to construct and sustain its existence in all economic, societal, and political areas form a part of unprecedented terror. It tries to disguise this huge terror it inflicts with the help of provocative elements. The realization of making money out of money on a large scale and outside of the boundaries of the real economy is in fact the strong and crafty man establishing himself as a system to rule society. The robberies of the forty thieves are nothing compared to the robberies of the financial age monopoly. Robberies on such a huge scale can only occur in a system of total terror. Therefore, the phenomenon called the communication age can only be required to disguise the terror of finance. Maybe the concept of media terror will be more meaningful in this context. In short, the system itself is the biggest terrorist of all times.

The elevation –or boost– of religion only makes sense in relation to covering and concealing things. The system’s way of exploitation requires a supreme legitimization power, such as that of religion. The process of excluding society from production, initiated to meet the needs of society, has reached its peak with the age of finance, ensuing mass unemployment. Periods that cannot be explained scientifically can only be cushioned with the help of religion: this is exactly what has happened. It is not the religious culture that is suppressed but the renewed religionization. When an age becomes conservative it plunges into such ideological reality. Thus, rentier economy, the herd-like mentality, clash of civilizations, terror and religious conservatism ensure that society is tightly bound. The system of iron cage, of mass surveillance: when it cannot totally control society, such new ideological factors are articulated and implemented.

At first, the age of finance seems to be capitalism’s strongest era, but all its characteristics really represent a collapse. This indicates that the system has exhausted its ability to perpetuate itself. The more devoid of meaning an age becomes, the greater is its need to become conservative. This need is not due to its strengths but to its weaknesses. Production is a fundamental activity that a human being and society cannot do without. However, the age of finance is the admission that this cannot be provided. A system that cannot realize production is a system with no work. This is exactly what has happened. The system, which is so much in conflict with work and production, has only one chance for survival, and that is terror. Indeed, this is what is really happening, accompanied by propaganda, distortions, and provocations.

In the 1980s, a wave of terror was initiated by Reagan and Thatcher, the heads of state of the two hegemonic powers, the United States and Great Britain, by their respective attacks on Nicaragua and the Argentine forces in the Falkland Islands. Those who came to power in Pakistan and Turkey through coups d‘état were their closest supporters. Latin America was totally terrorized. The arms race that continued in the form of the so-called “Star Wars” deterred Russia from attempting to become a hegemonic power. The Deng Xiaoping reforms in China were nothing but concessions to the system. The result was the end of the concessions attained by the national liberation struggles and welfare states. Instead, everywhere the winds of terror of the financial age began to blow. Clinton continued this implementation through effective, albeit mild, policies.

The Middle East was the only place that was not completely conquered. Instead, it was turned into an area where the problems stemming from civilization, radicalism, terror, and religion have become a Gordian knot. If the system does not wish to deteriorate it has to complete its conquest in one way or another. In addition, there is the vital question of oil. Oil is the sector from which the age of finance has derived the most value, and it is generally believed that the dire need for oil will continue for another century. The conflict between Israel and the Arabs has been hanging over the system like the sword of Damocles. Shi’ite Iran continues to pose a great danger to the system.

The Middle East is a web of problems inherited from England and France. In fact, in this region the First World War has not yet been brought to conclusion. Coups, rebellions, civil and guerrilla wars are all indications of this unconcluded stage. Borders drawn with a ruler just to increase the problems. One could have expected that because of these problems the United States would work on a project for the region. If it wasn’t for the Cold War, the USSR, Latin America, and problems with Europe, it would have indeed been compelled to intervene in the region long ago. With the onset of 19905, the problem areas mentioned above were partly solved in accordance with the system. But the problems associated with Middle East became more intense. Either the USA had to give up totally or had to intervene. If it were to give up, the oil and Israel would be lost and Iran would have the opportunity to become a hegemonic power. And then, of course, there was the threat of Saddam Hussein’s ambition to become the Bismarck of the Arabs.

The Age of Trade was accompanied by terrible wars of plunder of the colonies. The Industrial Age brought two big world wars, internal class struggles, and national liberation struggles. The financial capital, on the other hand, has turned into a power battle of the society against society. This very last representative of the civilizational monopolies may wind up at the bottom of this structural chaos if the Middle East is totally lost. Indeed, this is nearly the case. The chances of the system for success now to a large extent lie with developments in the region. That is why a Third World War, with its unique characteristics, goes on in this region. Later developments will confirm this.

I believe the critical and strategic relationship of this period with what happened to me will be understood more clearly later. Indeed, the issue is already gradually becoming more clear. Apparently, during the two meetings between the most influential leader of Syria, Hafez Al-Assad, and the most influential leader of the United States, Bill Clinton, half the time was spent talking about me. I clearly brought the situation to a standstill. A long term strategic role in the Greater Middle East Project was given to the Kurds. The Kurds and Kurdistan would be used as battering rams in the resolution of the problems experienced by the financial capital in the region. At different times, Armenians and others (Helens, Assyrians, and even lews. Arabs. and Palestinians) have been used to the same end. The Kurdish stick may have a resolving effect when dealing with those powers that are pro status quo and excessively pro nation-state, that are foiling attempts at solving problems originating with the system, and do not stop dreaming of becoming the regional hegemon.

It is now clear that such a plan has been in preparation since the 1970s. It seems that I got involved in it as an unforeseen element that has brought things to a standstill. I was either going to do as I was told and become their soldier or I would be disposed of. My character was not suitable for being a soldier of the system. Understandably, I was seen to be the first and the easiest element to get rid of. The First World War started when the Austrian heir to the throne was killed by a Serbian militant. But the war went on in the Middle East and it would continue more intensely, but now as a Third World War. This time, quite contrary to the occurrences of the past, I would be the victim-the outcome of a plan devised by all the organized forces of the system. Here the similarities and repetition of history through renewal are quite striking. In my defense during my court case in the Athens Court of Appeals, I said “Just as Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus with the help of the gods Athena, Hades, and Ares, I have been chained to the rocks of Imrali Island by their human descendants.” It seems, though, that my statement was not quite complete.

With this analysis of mine it will be better understood that I have been chained by a real god. This small offspring of god, that grew strong in the secrecy of the Cloisters of history and later came into money, emerged in the Capitalist Age to stand openly before society. It has achieved such a level of acceptance that all the other gods of former ages have vanished. The kings were dragged to the floor and their heads cut off. It has imposed the bloodiest times and the most profound exploitation on the humanity. It has polluted under and above ground. It has really destroyed the human race and, even worse, uncountable varieties and numbers of living beings.

The divinity ascribed to money has given birth to a phenomenon more dreadful than a “real” god. If I have been able to describe, at least partly, the system it rests upon and what it entails, the happiness I will get out of this may be my exclusive reward. Spinoza said, “To understand is to be free.” I, too, believe that there is no freedom other than this. To become as free as I can understand is my strength in life. The main god of the age of finance united with all its supporters and accomplices to chain me to the rocks of lmrali. But in return, it has found those that have lit the torch of freedom opposing itself. They are located at the Zagros and Taurus mountains where all the sacred gods and goddesses of history have had their thrones, and their torch of freedom shall never be extinguished.

Apollo is the god of light and defense. I quite like him. Dionysus is the mountain god of wine, love, and joy. I also like the culture he embodies. They are both versions of more ancient gods with Zagros and Taurus roots that have spilled over to Anatolia. They clearly represent the identity of peoples that have been filtered over thousands of years. Light and joy are the most beautiful expressions of life. I am also trying to understand the two ancient gods of our region, Gudea and El-Léh.2 I would really like to know why they have consented to leave our peoples in pain with no light and defense against Money-Lah-the Money God. As a lovestruck child of the region, I am happy to have not abandoned our peoples to the mercy of the devious, crooked, and barren Money God. I believe that my friends and the communities they belong to shall always be happy with me.

Notes Section 4

1. In Anti-Duehring, Engels describes the modern state like this: “The modern state, no matter what its form, is essentially a capitalist machine, the state of the capitalists, the ideal personification of the total national capital.”

2. In Arabic. El-Lah (allah) actually means the-God. th is related to the Hebrew word El, God.