The Green Book by Muammar Gaddafi
The Green Book by Muammar Gaddafi is a surprisingly good read. It is by far the best book that I’ve ever read on how to run a country. I studied who Gaddafi was prior to his assassination and came to the conclusion that we were being lied to about him by the MSM. It distressed me greatly to see this great man being tortured in his final moments.
The following article about his book was written by Ashahed M. Muhammad and edited by me.
To read the pdf version of the book in parts one, two and three, click on the links about midway below.
About Muammar Gaddafi
He was often critical of Arab leaders, yet Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi never wavered in his call for Pan-Arab unity. Also, he never shied away from supporting revolutionary movements. In 2010 his term as chairman of the African Union ended. (Consistent with the policy of the AU, the term of the rotating chairmanship is limited to one-year.)
Consistent
Perhaps no other African leader was so identified with the move towards a United States of Africa than he. Although he was considered by some to be odd and unpredictable, in this area he showed remarkable consistency.
He called for an emergency African Summit of the Organisation of African Unity in September of 1999, which led to the formation of the organisation of the continental body called the African Union in Durban, South Africa in 2002. Many African leaders were very slow to move and many Western powers considered it unrealistic.
Fake News
Gaddafi’s consistency and determination actually reignited the movement towards the formation of a United States of Africa that would make Africa richer, stronger, and more peaceful. Despite his perceived eccentricities and incessant demonisation in the controlled media, “The Great Brother Leader of the Revolution” (as he was called by his people), remained a force on the global stage.
Because of the deliberately dishonest and even vile portrayals of the leader in the controlled media, not much was known regarding Gaddafi’s political thoughts and his guiding ideology. He was described in the media as a dictator, yet in “The Green Book”, Gaddafi outlined the actual governing foundation that undergirds the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. That foundation is The Third Universal Theory – which upon critical analysis – puts many so-called Western Democracies and Republics to shame.
Three Parts
“The Green Book” is broken up into three parts:
the green book part 1: Solution to the Problem of Democracy
the green book part 2: The Solution to the Economic Problem
the green book part 3: The Social Basis of the Third Universal Theory
Part One
Gaddafi said that political decisions in which one candidate is granted victory, simply because they obtained the highest percentage of the vote by the electorate, effectively “establishes a dictatorship in the seat of power garbed in the guise of democracy.” Especially when three or four losing candidates, whose votes combined would equal a higher total than the perceived winning candidate, split the vote.
He then took on the parliamentary governmental structure. The mere existence of such, Gaddafi said, “underlies the absence of the people, for democracy can only exist with the presence of the people, and not in the presence of representatives of the people. Parliaments have become a legal barrier between people and their right to exercise authority. They exclude the masses in order to prevent them from practicing politics, and monopolise the control of politics in their name.”
Power to the Elites
Proportional representation by political parties and coalitions, such as what exists in Israel and the United States, Gaddafi said, is “rubbish” which only delivers power to the elites of society, and not the masses.
“Under such systems, the people are prey fought over by the predators: instruments of government compete in their power struggle for the votes of the people whom they in turn neglect and exploit.”
Mud Slinging
He was also critical of politicians who used “mud-slinging tactics to discredit one another.”
“In order to rule, the opposition party must defeat the existing instrument of government. To do so, the opposition must undermine the government’s achievements and cast doubt on its plans, even if these plans were beneficial to society, to prove the incompetence of the current governing instrument. Consequently, the interests and programs of society become victims of the power struggle raging among the political parties.”
Bribery and Corruption
Watching partisan bickering occurring between the Democrats and Republicans in the American political system, it is hard to argue with his analysis. He also rightly noted that political parties can be bribed or corrupted by external and internal interests.
His solution was direct democracy through the establishment of “People’s Conferences” in which all society members participate in shaping policy. The masses select their administrative leaders who then represent the direct will of the people and are answerable directly to the people.
Part Two
In Part two of “The Green Book”, he dealt with economics, maintaining that, whether a worker received earnings from an individual business owner, or the state, “wage earners are but slaves to the masters who hire them,” Gaddafi wrote. “To claim that income from a state-controlled establishment is re-injected into society and thus benefits the workers, as opposed to income from a privately-owned establishment which benefits solely the owner, is a true statement only if the general welfare of the society and private well-being of the workers is taken into account.”
Taking on Communism
In this way, Gaddafi appeared to take on communism while simultaneously redefining socialism. Gaddafi’s solution was to abolish the wage system, which in his view, would “emancipate the human being.” A reversion to the natural law and relationship between workers and employers before stratification based on social class and status became widespread is recommended.
“The exploitation of man by man and the possession by some individuals of wealth exceeding personal needs are manifestations of departure from the natural rule. This signals the beginning of corruption and distortion in the life of the human community and is the beginning of the emergence of the exploitative society.”
Human Needs
In Gaddafi’s world, regarding housing, everyone would have adequate housing for themselves. Also, for their families. Plus, it should be their own and not the property of another. “A man or woman living in another person’s house in return for rent, or even without rent, is not free.”
Regarding income, “there are no wage earners, only partners.” Regarding vehicles, Gaddafi called them an “essential need for the individual and the family. Therefore “no person or party may own private means of transportation for the purposes of renting to others, because this represents controlling the needs of others.”
Likewise, land is no one’s private property. “Everyone has the right to exploit it for farming or grazing for the duration of his or her life and the lives of their heirs.”
His Views on Blacks
Some Black people may be offended by a portion of this book. Why? Because Gaddafi writes: “The Black race is at present is in a dire and backward social condition. This backwardness is working in the interest of numeric superiority of this race. It’s a result of the lack of birth control usage. This creates a large number children born out of wedlock.
This (he wrote), is going on while other races are “diminishing in number”. This is due to a variety of reasons that we all are aware of. To be offended by the fact that one forthrightly states the Black masses are in the worst shape economically, socially and politically as well as suffering all manner of health-related problems, indicates that one has bought into the “post-racial” society proffered by many Black and White liberals, as well as White apologists that represent the wishes of their White masters. Besides, in the section preceding the word written above, he writes of the tragedy of slavery and his prognostication is that, “Now it is the turn of the Black race to re-emerge. Black people will prevail in the world,” he writes.
If there was one recurring theme throughout “The Green Book” it was his emphasis on liberation.
Part Three
The conclusion of “The Green Book” brings to a close his explanation of the Third Universal Theory. This theory, Gaddafi says, is “a harbinger of the final deliverance of the masses. Deliverance from all the constraints of injustices, tyranny, exploitation, and political and economic subordination. It also heralds the advent of all people’s society. In this society all individuals are free and equal in authority, wealth and arms.”
No Enslavement
“The example of the new socialist society is to establish a happy society deriving its happiness from being free. Such a society is realised only through the fulfillment of the individual’s spiritual and material needs. This can only be achieved by liberating these needs from the control and manipulation of others. Satisfaction of needs should be realised without exploitation or enslavement of others.”
Whether they loved him or hated him, agreed or disagreed, historians will not be able to deny his impact. An impact that he had and continues to have on world affairs and revolutionary movements. Muammar Gaddafi’s legacy is an admirable one. He is remembered as a theoretician and a revolutionary who was always willing to provide inspiration, monetary, and military resources. He did this to aid those fighting for self-determination. That is a very honourable legacy to leave behind. Indeed more are needed like him in Africa and in the Arab world.
(Ashahed M. Muhammad is an author, researcher and the director of the Truth Establishment Institute.)
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