Our friend D*** S*********** sent us this document which he acquired during his student days. Neither he nor the GOS can swear to its authenticity - its use of language is crude and we've tidied up some odd spellings and punctuation - but if it is genuine it certainly rings a bell or two in the light of recent world history …
Report from Iron Mountain
In 1963 an American Professor of Sociology was informed that he had been selected to serve on a commission whose objective was "To determine, realistically and accurately, the nature of the problems that would confront the United States if and when a condition of permanent peace should arrive, and to draft a programme for dealing with this contingency."
The report was produced in early 1966, and was immediately suppressed by the government committee responsible as being too unsavoury for public release.
After a period of doubt the professor has broken his silence on his own account. This following passage is a prècis of the final section of the report.
"War fulfils certain functions essential to the stability of our society, and until other ways of fulfilling them are developed, the war system must be maintained - and improved in effectiveness. Lasting peace, while not theoretically impossible, is probably unattainable. Even if it could be achieved, it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of a stable society to achieve it."
A. Nature of War (i.e. functions). Non-military functions of war are:
1) Economic: War is the only known proven system for stabilising and controlling national economies.
2) Political : The possibility of war is the foundation of stable government. It is the basis for acceptance of political authority. It enables society to maintain class systems. No governmental ruling group has survived the certainty of future peace.
3) Sociological: War provides the machinery through which the violent destructive motivational forces that govern human behaviour have been expressed and translated into pro-social purposes. It is a socially cohesive factor for national survival.
4) Ecological : The main historic devices for balancing food & population.
5) Scientific : The fundamental motive for scientific progress.
B. Substitutes for the functions of war : Criteria
The above functions must be fulfilled if social systems (as we know them) are to survive. Therefore substitute institutions must be found to fulfil these functions. These substitute institutions must satisfy certain criteria: technically feasible, politically acceptable, and potentially credible to society.
1) Economic :
a) Any substitute for war will have to require money spent on non-productive purposes on the scale of present military expenditure.
b) It must be subject to arbitrary political control.
2) Political: A viable alternative to war politically must present an external menace to each society sufficient to require the organisation and acceptance of political authority.
3) Sociological:
a) Institutions must be developed to control anti-social motivations
b) It must generate a threat and fear of personal destruction to secure adherence to social values that are acknowledged to be greater than the value of individual human life.
4) Ecological : Any substitute for war must maintain present living standards in the West at least.
6) Scientific : A substitute must necessitate scientific development.
Substitutes for the functions of War : Models
1) Economic :
a) Comprehensive social welfare system for the improvements of the general conditions of life.
b) Open ended space programme aimed at impossible targets.
c) Ultra-elaborate disarmament inspection system.
2) Political :
a) Omnipotent international police force.
b) Extra-terrestrial menace.
c) Global environmental pollution.
d) Fictitious alternative enemies.
3) Sociological; Control Function
a) Variants on the peace corps model.
b) Modern sophisticated form of slavery.
Motivational Function
a) Environmental pollution.
b) New religions or myths.
4) Ecological : Comprehensive programme of applied eugenics.
5) Scientific : Secondary requirements of space research, social welfare, and/or eugenics programme.
General Conclusions
1) Although the economic function of war can be replaced, the political and social cannot.
2) Although in the short term it is safer to choose peace rather than war, in the long run the reverse is true.
3) The war system cannot be allowed to disappear until we know what the replacement will be, and that it will work.
4) The government should plan for two contingencies:
a) The possibility of lasting peace.
b) Successful continuation of the war system.
The GOS says: See? Told you so …
If anyone recognises this document or knows anything about it, please let us know.
The truth revealed
A*** F******** has unearthed these two internet references,
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/iron.html
http://www.prouty.org/lewin.html
which explain the provenance of the document. So it was all a hoax after all - shame. Thanks, A***
The GOS says: OK then, but if this was a hoax perpetrated in the late 1960s and revealed in the 1970s, how come so many of its predictions appear to have come true in the last twenty years? Is it a case of "Many a true word spoken in jest …"? Or are Americans just very predictable?
either on this site or on the World Wide Web.
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