The Green Book: Part Three

          Muammar Al Qathafi

            THE GREEN BOOK

              Part Three

                  The

              SOCIAL BASIS

                 of the

         Third Universal Theory

Chapter One

        THE SOCIAL BASIS OF THE
         THIRD UNIVERSAL THEORY


  The social, i.e. national, factor is the
driving force of human history. The
social bond which binds together each
human group, from the family through
the tribe to the nation, is the basis for
the movement of history.
  Heroes in history are persons who
have made sacrifices for causes. But
for what causes? They have made
sacrifices for others. But which

others? They are those who have a
relationship with them. The relation-
ship between an individual and a group
is a social relationship, i.e. the re-
lationship between the members of a
nation. For nations are founded on
nationalism. Those causes, therefore,
are national causes and national re-
lationship is the social relationship.
The social relationship is derived from
society, i.e. the relationship between
the members of a society, just as
nationalism is derived from the nation,
i.e. the relationship between the mem-

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bers of a nation. The social relation-
ship is, accordingly, the national re-
lationship and the national relationship
is the social relationship. For the group
is a nation and the nation is a group
even if they differ in number, leaving
aside the extended definition of the
group which means the provisional
group regardless of the national rela-
tions of its members. What is meant by
the group here is the group which is
permanent by virtue of its own nation-
al relations.
  Besides, historical movements are
mass movements, i.e. group move-
ments for its own interests ... for its
independence from a different group.
Each group has its own social struc-
ture which binds it together. Group
movements are always movements for
independence in order that subjugated
or oppressed groups may attain self-
realisation. As for the struggle for
power, it occurs within the group itself
down to the family level, as expounded
in Part One of the Green Book, which
deals with the Political Basis of the
Third Universal Theory. A group
movement is a nation's movement for

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its own interests. By virtue of its na-
tional structure, each group has com-
mon social needs which must be collec-
tively satisfied. These needs are in no
way individualistic. They are collec-
tive needs, rights, demands, or objec-
tives of a nation which is bound by a
single nationalism. That is why these
movements are called national move-
ments. Contemporary national libera-
tion movements are themselves social
movements. They will not come to an
end before every group is liberated
from the domination of another group,
i.e. the world is now passing through
one of the regular cycles of the move-
ment of history, namely, the national
struggle in support of nationalism.
  In the world of man, this is the
historical reality, as it is a social real-
ity. That means that the national strug-
gle -- the social struggle --  is the basis
of the movement of history, because it
is stronger than all other factors since
it is the origin ... the basis ... it is in
the nature of the human group ... the
nature of the nation. It is the nature of
life itself. Other animals, apart from
man, live in groups. Indeed, the group

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is the basis for the survival of all
groups within the animal kingdom. So
nationalism is the basis for the surviv-
al of nations.
  Nations whose nationalism is des-
troyed are subject to ruin. Minorities,
which are one of the main political
problems in the world, are the outcome
of a social cause. They are nations
whose nationalism has been destroyed
and torn apart. The social factor is,
therefore, a factor of life ... a factor of
survival. It is the nation's natural in-
nate momentum for survival.
  Nationalism in the world of man and
group instinct in the animal kingdom
are like gravity in the domain of min-
eral and celestial bodies. If the mass of
the sun were smashed so that it lost its
gravity, the gases would blow away
and its unity would no longer exist.
Accordingly, the unity is the basis for
its survival. The factor of unity in any
group is a social factor, i.e. national-
ism. For this reason a group struggles
for its own national unity, because its
survival lies in that.
  The national factor, which is the
social bond, works automatically to

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impel the nation towards survival, in
the same way that the gravity of an
object works to keep it as one mass
around the nucleus. The diffusion and
dispersion of atoms in the atomic bomb
are the result of the explosion of the
nucleus which is the focus of gravita-
tion for the atoms around it. When the
factor of unity in those components is
broken into pieces and gravity is lost,
every atom is dispersed. This is the
nature of matter. It is an established
law of nature. To disregard it or collide
with it is damaging to life. Thus man's
life is damaged when he begins to
disregard nationalism ... the social
factor ... the gravity of the group ...
the secret of its survival. There is no
rival to the social factor in influencing
the unity of one group except the reli-
gious factor, which may divide the
national group or unite groups with
different nationalisms. However, the
social factor will eventually gain sway.
This has been the case throughout the
ages. Originally, each nation had one
religion. This was harmony. In fact,
however, differences arose which be-
came a genuine cause of conflict and

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instability in the life of the peoples
throughout the ages.
  The sound rule is that every nation
should have a religion. The contrary to
that is the abnormal. Such an abnor-
mality creates an unsound situation
which becomes a real cause for dis-
putes within a national group. There is
no other solution but to be in harmony
with the natural rule that each nation
has one religion. When the social factor
is compatible with the religious factor,
harmony is achieved and the life of
groups becomes stable and strong and
develops soundly.
  Marriage is a process that exercises
negative and positive effects on the
social factor though both man and
woman are free to accept whom they
want and reject whom they do not want
as a natural rule of freedom. Marriage
within a group, by its very nature,
strengthens its unity and brings about
collective growth in conformity with
the social factor.

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Chapter 2   Table of Contents