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Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. (born September 8, 1922 as Lynn Marcus) is an American political figure, and a perennial candidate for President of the United States. While he associates himself with the Democratic Party, he has never been that party's nominee for office and he is not accepted within the mainstream or fringes of the party. He is a candidate for 2004 US Presidential Election.

His political views are extremely controversial and are characterized by his belief in a number of complex conspiracy theories, involving global plots to establish a frightening New World Order, involving such figures as the British Royal Family (especially the Duke of Edinburgh) and George H.W. Bush and other circles of International Bankers engaging in what he has characterized as a 'synarchist' political movement of the oligarchy. His opponents on the political conservative right have characterized him as a fascist and a communist, his opponents on the political liberal and socialist left have characterized him as a fascist, Bonapartist, and a right populist.

Early Marxist career

LaRouche began his career within the Marxist left. He was a member of the (Trotskyist) Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1948 until 1965. In 1965, he left the SWP and was briefly associated with Tim Wohlforth's American Committee of the Fourth International and then Jim Robertson's Spartacist League. Both groups had recently left the Socialist Worker's Party over the issue of Cuba and Castro.

LaRouche then declared the Fourth International to be bankrupt and left the Trotskyist factions of the Marxist-Socialist movement. This was not unusual for people to do at the time, as the post WWII era created much confusion and factionalism within the Trotskyist movement due to the success of Stalinism. Gradually, LaRouche moved into the allegedly opportunist and rightward drifting elements within the New Left, calling for a 5th International.

LaRouche was involved in the highly activist and volantarist "vanguard" element in 20th century "Leninist" Marxism, which is considered by other Marxist schools as anything ranging from a slight defect to a complete and total break with Marxism - given Marxism's self proclaimed historical grounding as an egalitarian worker's movement.

LaRouche's beliefs were similar to Trotsky's: vanguardist, but opposed in principle to Stalinism. LaRouche considers himself, and has proclaimed publicly, to possess superior mental capacities that make him the best qualified to lead, claiming that he is at the peak of his mental prowess at the age of 81. This put him at odds with Wolforth and Robertson. Notably, Wolforth and Robertson had the same falling out for the same reasons, as is typical of the leadership of most Trotskyist organizations past and present.

It was here that LaRouche, whose name at the time was Lyn Marcus, was impressed and shaped by the notion that history is made by great men, Leaders of Men, and not by the struggle of contending classes as Marx had said. Though this was never stated in any of the Trotskyist's works, since Trotskyism considers itself to be Marxism, LaRouche was shaped by how these organizations existed in fact. He was influenced into thinking that he was in fact the great man who could save history because he subscribed to the belief that the individual Trotsky could have had the power to set the USSR on a historical journey completely alien to what we know of and consider to be 'Stalinism'.

NCLC

After these entanglements, he formed his own National Committee of Labor Committees, recruiting members from the collapsing New Left. The NCLC was very strongly catastrophist claiming that economic crisis was on the immediate horizon. For this reason, the NCLC had to build a leadership to prepare for the onrushing crisis. This led them to act in a very sectarian fashion towards rival leftist groups. This culminated in Operation Mop Up in which the NCLC decided to eliminate the Communist Party by attacking their meetings. After this, no one regarded the NCLC as a legitimate part of the left. This is because there is an understanding among the various factions of the Marxist-Socialist movement and among radical leftists in general that organized violence is prohibited between them.

LaRouche distanced himself from the left, and claimed that his new socio-political movement transcends all traditional categories of left (socialist/liberal) and right (nationalist/hierarchical/conservative).

In addition, most left groups have formally characterized his movement and ideology as fascist or neo-fascist. This is because his ideas and movement follow closely in form with what some call a fascist litmus test. These include, firstly, organized physical attacks on left groups, in particular the Socialist Worker's Party (of which he was a member for several decades) and the Communist Party.

Financial base

LaRouche's financial base of support, outside of many five and ten dollar contributions gathered by LaRouche organizers in public places like schools and shopping areas, comes from smaller proprietors and family businesses. Some from this social class feel uniquely pressured from both above and below - above by the multinational corporations and international bankers, who have more capital and strength - squeezing mom and pop operations out of business. From this, we understand the special attention that LaRouche has paid to Walmart, and pandering their propaganda to appeal to those most likely to despise Walmart. Walmart, along with large trusts and banks, represent ruin to the small proprietors, these mom and pop operations.

From below, this class of small proprietors and producers also is threatened by the propertyless mob, the many, the masses who also threaten small business owners because these masses often demand the same wages and benefits that only the large multinational firms can afford to pay (like the auto industry or other industrial sectors).

Theory of elites

LaRouche has publicly outlined a strategy to eventually garner support from the large and wealthy domestic industrialist firms, what Larouche considers the base of the 'physical economy' (see more on physical economy below). LaRouche divides the powerful and wealthy groupings of the elite into two categories - industrialists and userers. Banking and usury are considered by LaRouche two of the causes of social ills, holding back the progress and rational decisions of the industrialists. Examples of industrialist firms would be General Motors or General Electric, whereas examples of usurers would be J.P Morgan or the Rothchilds, Chase Manhattan Bank, or any family or grouping of bankers, investors, stock traders, in any sort of consortium.

LaRouche has also attempted to create a mass or popular movement from below which would push LaRouche into the position of being considered someone to take seriously, someone the industrialist side of the bourgeoisie would embrace and get behind in their struggle against their debtors (usurers).

Simultaneously, LaRouche would have the power and authority to check any other mass or popular movements which would hostile to the entire elite - both industrial firms and usury firms.

His philosophy (which he claims is not an ideology) is premised upon what some may call an idealization of the European Civilization of the 15th and 16th centuries, in particular the Renaissance, and states that he holds itself to be opposed to the Enlightenment Rationalists of the 18th century, as well as the modern socialisms of the 19th and 20th century.

LaRouche is opposed to racism and his political organization is ethnically diverse.

Cult

Some, including numerous former members, have stated that the LaRouche organization is a cult. Many families have attempted interventions and in a few cases, youth who associated with the LaRouche group have disappeared and are still missing. The LaRouche organization is said to be primarily recruited out of the personality types associated with political cults; lonely older people, alienated younger people. What takes shape in the organization is that there are two types; leaders (intellectuals, talkers) and followers (believers, listeners). LaRouche's approach to the intellectuals has been to invent a theory and method which would captivate their minds and set them upon a course of thinking and viewing the world which can only confirm the statements and ideas of LaRouche. LaRouche creates an ideology primarily out of those philosophers who had little if anythng to do with the intellectual roots of classical fascism (e.g nietchze, social-darwinism) but also those who had little to do with, or historically farther removed from, the intellectual roots of marxism - which LaRouche had reinvented himself as a staunch opponent.

LaRouche's ideas are intended to be palatable and friendly to the American sensibility and are not stated to be upon the ideas of Nietchze, Hitler, or Marx, but rather based on Alexander Hamilton, Plato, Gauss, and others.

In his theory, classical fascism is the apparent right wing thrust of what he calls a synarchist (literally, 'against anarchy') movement of International Bankers, and socialism/marxism/liberalism is it's left wing. Therefore, any other world leader, mass movement, or individual activist, could be accused by LaRouche of being a patsy or co-conspirator for either the left socialist or right fascist wing of the International Bankers conspiracy. This would mean that he alone, and this he states publicly, stands as the only legitimate opposition 'from among the people'.

"Propaganda"

The propaganda of LaRouche is often both anti-capitalist and patriotic or nationalist, appealing to those layers of society, mostly, as mentioned above, small proprietors, but also the unemployed, students, and wage workers. The political organization they are allied with in Russia are the Nationalists, and in Italy LaRouche has the "Italian Solidarity Movement", MSI. However, their end goal, they claim, is to save 'real' capitalism, to salvage and rescue that sector of the owning class which makes actual goods, industrialists (as opposed to money markets, speculation, and banking, which create no actual wealth). This economic form is called by LaRouche 'Hamiltonian economics' or 'Federalism', but historically it has been called 'state-capitalism' by Lenin and Keynes or 'coporatism' by Mussolini. The State - LaRouche in the White House - would take over and expropriate - what fascists call nationalize, what socialists call socialize, what LaRouche calls 'federalize' - the banks and userers and other 'parasitic' layers, waging total war on all "infections and diseases" which ail the "physical economy". Basically, he will divide the owning class between those who he will expropriate 'federalize' (bankers), and those who will support him and share in the spoils (industrialists).

The complex domain

The germ of all his publicly stated political views since his reinvention as an anti-communist, is an understanding of what he terms "the complex domain". By this, scientists such as Carl Friedrich Gauss and Bernhard Riemann mean the domain of the universal physical principles, or natural laws, pertaining to both science and art, the interaction of which with man's sense organs produces the apparent, but paradoxical sensible universe. The resolution of such paradoxes by the method of creative hypothesis and proof-of-principle experiment, is the source of all knowledge.

From this platonic understanding, LaRouche identifies the only true political conflict, as that between oligarchism, which declares man a kind of domesticable herd animal, and government based on the general welfare, which declares him made in the mental image of the Creator. In the latter, the only efficient agenda is the development of mankind's characteristic faculty for discovering, transmitting, and employing universal physical principles.

Criminal Record

In December of 1988, LaRouche was convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud in regards to the methods used by his organization to solicit approximately $34 million in loans. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in Minnesota, though he was given a early release in 1993 after serving five years. He ran his 1992 electoral campaign from prison. Prominent radical political figure and former statesman, Ramsey Clark, has helped to try to clear LaRouche's name, arguing that investigators and political opponents had gone overboard in their accusations.

External links

• Lyndon LaRouche 2004 Presidential campaign
• Lyndon LaRouche: Fascism Wrapped in an American Flag
• Executive Intelligence Review: LaRouche Publications
• Lyndon LaRouche's Long Campaign (Newsday article on LaRouche's record of eight consecutive Presidential campaigns)
• World LaRouche Youth Movement