“Let’s Transform Our Complacency and Fear into Resolve and Determination”

As my kids would say, “In the olden days,” when I was in the United States Navy, there were certain organizations with which we were told not to have any contact. I respected that admonition and never gave it another thought. One of those organizations was The John Birch Society.

Many years later, married and starting a family, it was brought to my attention that this particular organization was having a convention in a nearby city that was open to the public. I discussed it with my wife, reminding her of the caution I had received some years earlier. We decided that there was always something to be learned if we remained detached and critically evaluated whatever message might be forthcoming. It was in that spirit we ventured into their world. No, it had absolutely nothing to do with law enforcement officers dedicated to the conservation of the nation’s birch trees. It was clearly political.

We dutifully took our place in the back of the room on the outside chance that we might have to make a hasty retreat for the sake of protecting a sound mind and a reasonably intact body. When our eyes adjusted to the lighting, rather than seeing a hoard of neo-Nazis in brown shirts or card-carrying communists, they resembled us and many of our family and friends. They were dressed in casual clothes, many of whom were obviously from rural parts of the country. They were well groomed and quite friendly. None shouted slogans or raised closed fists. My antennae reminded me to be very careful lest my principles be corrupted or compromised, consigning me and my wife to eternal purgatory.

To be sure, their message was politically conservative which had little or no appeal to either of us, given our steadfast allegiance to causes all “liberal” and “progressive.” However, there was one subject that fascinated me. It was a discussion of an international secret organization of those who had the means, the desire and the will to, essentially, control the world. Their label was “Bilderbergs;” a world order that was in the business of furthering and protecting the massive wealth and power of the elites of, primarily, Europe. That bit of information was, in and of itself, rather daunting.

We left that gathering quite secure in the knowledge that we were firmly in the camp of some of America’s most enlightened and progressive citizens, with absolutely no interest in getting involved with this particular group. But we, also, knew that we should keep a watchful eye and ear out for anything having to do with the Bilderberg’s. I never gave it another thought until June 5, 2013 when I read an article about them, including a roster of their members. Much to my surprise, there was a plethora of familiar names from the ranks of the rich and powerful in Europe, plus a notable number of Americans from similar backgrounds.

I learned a long time ago that, when dealing with information that is emotionally charged and tinged with conspiracy theories, there are three fundamental questions that must be asked if one is to maintain a respectable posture of objectivity and a critical eye.

1. The first question: “Is this the truth?”
2. The second question: “Is this false?”
3. The third question: “Is it plausible?”

If the answer to either of the first two is “No” then be deeply concerned, or don’t let it clutter your mind or cloud your judgment. If, however, the answer to the third is “Yes” then it warrants keeping an open mind and critically evaluating anything tangential to the issue pending further information that might either corroborate or refute the fundamental premise.

Can you imagine my astonishment when I saw that the Bilderbergs were, indeed, still very much a part of our world order and seemed to have managed to keep much the same roster of members from the wealthy, powerful and influential that had been a part of that group many eons ago? Although the press attempted to reassure the reader that it was not a secret society and operated very much in the open, given the current and fragile state of world affairs, I could not help but contemplate as to whether or not this group of people might just have some serious concerns about current world economic affairs and social trends, in particular.

Of a more specific interest to me is why the following individuals were in attendance at all: (a) Former Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, (b) former Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, who figured prominently in and profited handsomely from deregulation of the financial industries by the Clinton Administation, (c) Former advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, (d) Bush-era neoconservative titan Richard Perle and, (e) the recently disgraced and retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus. Augmenting this roster of notables of concern were those listed as being from Ivy League schools, the Kennedy School of Government and Stanford University. Why was the focus only on these few private and wealthy institutions of higher learning? Why are those invited to attend only from western nations where the world’s wealth resides and is managed by either European or American interests, or both?

The smell test tells me there may well be a broader concern that just might involve the rumored and growing deterioration in the health of western economies and the possible upheaval that might erupt from the proletariat if they don’t get their ducks in order and, more importantly, don’t do everything they can to contain any uprisings from the masses in order to protect their ill-gotten wealth and its attendant power? Is this just coincidental or within the realm of probability? I leave that to you.

Permit me to pose a few pertinent questions to those who may be reading this.

1. Who among you honestly believe that we have a political, social and economic structure that operates from a base of integrity and a common concern for the well being of all the citizens of the United States of America?

2. Who among you believe that Wall Street Bankers and Financial Pundits, Oligarchs, Plutocrats and Corporate America have been treated in like manner by our political establishment as those who have fallen victim to “free trade agreements,” the housing bubble, the illusion of a growing and robust economy, a trail of broken promises when it comes to health care, social programs, treatment of the underprivileged and working class Americans that are on a par with the bottom of the population or, as I like to call them, affectionately, “the bottom feeders?”

3. Who among you can seriously dispel any notion that the working men and women, and their cousins living in abject poverty, have not been relegated to the status of “consumable resources” on the balance sheets of those who have amassed absolutely obscene and vulgar amounts of material resources, and who could only be the envy of those who have been ‘brain washed” into actually believing they give one hoot in hell about the welfare of the world, this nation and all who labor in its service?

If any of you seriously answered positively to any of those questions, then I have a wonderful computerized machine that converts manure into pure gold, and I am willing to sell it for a very good price. No reasonable offer will be rejected.

Moreover, can you even entertain the notion that all of the resources brought to bear on the population by the various forms of the “entertainment media,” and corporate broadcasting could possibly conceive of and implement the skills necessary in order to shape your every taste in every aspect of your lives, the end result being clearly ingrained biases in their favor? I can.

Pause for a moment and reflect on the massive growth of government and all the attendant technology they require that has gone exclusively to what is referred to as “homeland security,” and “keeping us safe from terrorists?” Can you imagine the massive amounts of money that have been made by some of our earliest Secretaries of Homeland Security and the created demand for their “skills” with companies engaged in the manufacture and distribution of every imaginable electronic device for monitoring just the passenger volume flowing through our airports? Compound that by the panacea of consulting jobs that have been part and parcel of that windfall, as well. Who said the “insiders” don’t take care of their own?

Frankly, I don’t buy into the notion that such a broad blanket of fear enveloped this nation as vastly and quickly as we are led to believe. I am rather more inclined to believe the fear factor was contrived and amplified by people in the Bush, Cheney and Obama Administrations. I dare say, if we could be privy to the body of knowledge in the repositories of information about government programs, we would find that some of the best experts in the business of “mind control,” and those who profit from them have been commandeered to assist in this effort just to keep the fear factor alive and well.

I don’t want to minimize the uncertainty of all that goes on in today’s world, but I, also, don’t want to over-react to the “bogey men” that might be nothing but the creative efforts of those who are sworn to scare the crap out of us at every opportunity. Let me ask you, in our saner and quieter moments, who in the world would honestly countenance the complete lockdown of a major city, such as Boston, looking for two fanatics about whom we had a pretty good fix in terms of numbers and the ability to do what they did? Does that really makes sense?

The massive amounts of our national resources that are siphoned off for “faux” security measures, and the malignant growth of security and defense industries in order to respond to those imagined threats would go a long way toward leveling the playing field and alleviating the suffering of millions of Americans. Think of the jobs that could be created, the numbers of unemployed who could be employed and the resultant benefits that would accrue to the people of this country by improved infrastructure, ecological friendly industries and education alone. If that isn’t sobering, I don’t know what it would take to get our attention.

If all this weren’t enough, we are now treated by the revelation of years of massive spying on the American people in pursuit of (you guessed it) stopping terrorism. Funny how little our elected officials claim to have known about all this. A mere oversight of seven or so years is nothing to get upset about, now is it?

Far too much of what we have not just a right, but moreover an obligation, to know about has been kept from us by self-appointed “keepers of the faith,” in the name of a national interest at our collective peril. Unless my mind deceives me, it seems to me that a chap by the name of Barack Obama, early in his ascendency to the Presidency, placed a passel of stock in the need for transparency in government. The question is rather straight forward, but I rather suspect the answers, for which we will wait for a protracted period, will be a long time coming.

We must stop sitting around quivering like a bunch of dogs passing peach seeds. We must eliminate the fear factor in our lives and demand ownership and transparency from our government. Enough of the monopoly of a two-party system. Enough of money in politics. Enough of lobbyists, and the entire spectrum of “business interests” of one sort or another that literally own and control our government and every agency thereof. Most importantly, enough of any control, whatsoever, of our news media. We simply must go back to independent ownership that lives up to the spirit of the Constitution – a free and unfettered press. Without that independence, the wolves will steal in under the tent, yet once again, only to create and perpetuate the same problems of bias and control we live with every day. Unless my memory fails me, it seems to me that the Preamble to the Constitution begins with “We the people …..” Not “We the banks; or “We the corporations or “We the oligarchs or “We the plutocrats or “We the lobbyists or “We the Defense Contractors.” Nor do I recall any wording or precedents which were adopted that would give those who have the most dominion over all of us, the greatest share of our shared wealth, however one may choose to define it.

If ever there was a time for the average American to cast off the numbing shackles on their minds, experience the wonders of being able to think for themselves and savor the magic of human interaction, the time is now. Cap it all off by claiming your ownership and control of the government that was created and nurtured by the blood of martyrs to serve the welfare and interests of all of us; and not just a select and self-appointed few.

This nation and all its resources, in the final analysis, belong to all of us, not the rapacious exploitation and destruction by those who perceive themselves the anointed ones by some mystical higher power, euphemistically labeled Wealth, Privilege and Power. It is time to put them in the dust bin of history where they all belong.

It is time to throw open the windows and breathe the fresh air given to us all by our Creator. It is time to rejoin the family of humanity that is still, to this very day, the most magnificent of all the creations in the entire universe.

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
June 8, 2013