Showing posts with label Book-Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book-Club. Show all posts
The Prophecy of Sion
Please be aware if you are looking for a book full of legal loopholes, historical facts or a book that is grammatically perfect then this is not the book for you. My words are simple, my words are my words and are not perfect prose. This is a fictitious story that starts in Egypt with a pharaoh called Akhenaten. Please enjoy.
Cypher.
1 A positive start or a positive end, a negative start or a negative end
2 A rock that can or cannot be relied upon
3 A concept that may or may not be sacred
4 The catalyst that causes change +/-
5 Meaningful or meaningless discipline
6 Earthly power +/-
7 The artist striving for or has found completion
8 Destiny +/-
9 The sum of all things
Prologue
This story is about a man called Sion; pronounced shun. You may know this man by another name, but at this time this needs not to be said. This man has existed at least nine times through the ages – in fact, once every thousand years, born forty six years before the end of each millennium. This story is about the last three and the one who exists now. And so he lives again. Waiting patiently for the time to come when all can be reset and all can go back to how it should be. So the story goes....
"When humanity set forth on its path to self destruction, at least we were wise enough to build in a failsafe - that would simply allow us to remember what we have forgotten, by forgetting what we have remembered." sion
Jump to whatever chapter you would like to read.
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Chapter 1
The sun was shining high in the sky when Akhenaten woke beside his chief wife Nefertiti - who was still sleeping peacefully. This day was like no other. And even though the sun shone bright Akhenaten woke troubled as he now did on nearly every morning. He gently exited the bed trying not to disturb or wake his beautiful wife. He pulled on a gown and strolled towards the window to take in the fresh morning air and to bask in the sunlight that shone through the opening. This man was the pharaoh of all Egypt - its king - but nonetheless this was a very troubled man, riddled with guilt that was destroying him from the inside out. Akhenaten knew all was not well in his kingdom and the daily struggles he had with the priests of the temple and the families were becoming tiring. He had known for a long time that they had used him as a young adult. They had used him to pursue an intent that was so dark, that no light could enter it. This was the darkness of desire and lust, the addiction of materialism and status, and of course the blindness of greed. In pursuit of this, he had destroyed anyone who dare get in his way – and he had done this many times.
He knew he had been deceived. And he now knew by this being done, that the ‘intent’ was permanent, for this period. This resulted in the people of his land living daily under the dark spells of the priests. And by night they cowered in fear wondering what more the gods would ask of them, for very little more could be given. The fact they were in perpetual slavery to priests and the socially dominant families – 12 in all – broke Akhen’s heart. The fact he was meant to be part of this and the fact he was only there to maintain this, only added to the perpetual pain that was slowly destroying him – for he knew that the blame for this fell at his feet and no one else’s - and this was something he was finding harder to live with every day. He had for a long time realised that something needed to be done, but he knew in his heart it was not for him to do. His dearest friend had told him so many times that he must let things be. “All must happen as it is meant to” and he would “know what to do when the time was right” – not being told, but asked. She would say to him. But this did not help him, this only perpetuated his anguish. Wanting now to correct this very temporal problem – being given spiritual solutions did not appease his powerful mind, it only achieved in giving it a bigger stick to beat him with. Another issue that caused Akhenaten much sorrow was the knowing that the method that had been used to create this situation was not accessible any longer. It had been stolen. Akhenaten thought it had been stolen by the priests on behalf of the families, when in fact it was actually an order that had stolen it who knew everything must run its course. But in times of solace when he felt emotionally stronger he had a knowing and this comforted him. He could not determine where this knowing came from and to be honest he did not care, just being satisfied that it happened - even though it was not a frequent occurrence. In these times he would sit comforted by the fact that all that needed to be done would be done, it was just a matter of time. But for the rest of his existence, he spent his life in deep sorrow, agonising and stressing, trying to figure out how to correct all that had been done - and this was the never ending game his mind played on him. He was torn apart with torment, tortured by all he had done and all he could not do now - and to be very honest he could not say which was worse. For the most of the time he suffered in silence, until it became too much to bare. And then the lion would roar not concerned with who heard or witnessed these out bursts. For when the lion was unrestrained there was no holding it back and with this no violence would be offered against another living thing, although this was very hard to control – but the frustration sometimes caused violence against inanimate objects, but this was only because his mind demanded retribution.
Akhenaten could only confide in his closest friend, as the eyes and the ears of the priests - on behalf of the families - were everywhere and this led to a very lonely existence. Granted he had his beautiful wife and children, but his mind took no pleasure from this, unless of course he was being the all powerful king, which in reality was nothing more than a farce. He was playing the part to keep the status quo happy, as he knew that the families would have no problem in getting rid of him, if they so chose – and of course his family too. They controlled the armies, the priests and had the people fearing these elements to such an extent, that they would never rise against them. Even though it was quite evident that the controlled outnumbered the controllers 100’s to 1. Even if he was to try and raise the people against the hierarchy himself, the people would crush him first. As they believed he was the instigator and the maintainer.... and this was true. And that truth was what ate away at this man. But nonetheless he was going to try, no matter what the outcome was – he had to find some form of redemption, well, that is what his mind kept telling him. He had realised some time ago that he was just a front man who had been coerced from a very early age to desire the finer things in life, as they were labelled. He had realised a short while previous - only a matter of years – this was not the way things were meant to be and that the true finer things in life were something far different from what he had been taught to require and demand. He had realised that status, position and material wealth to name but a few were not the finer things in life, they were prisons. Prisons that stopped him being that, which he truly was. This troubled him. This pained him. He realised that he was wearing a mask playing a character in a play that seemed like a nightmare. A dream he just could not wake from. A play containing acts, laws and legislation which were instruments of torture being forced upon what they called the inferiors – the people who were lesser than them. But in times of solace he had this knowing that nothing was greater than him, but on the same hand nothing was less than him, even though his mind would try to deny this fact to justify the need for all the fore mentioned. The people didn’t just suffer physical torture, but mental torture as well, delivered by coercive religious techniques practiced and honed to perfection by the priests daily in the temple – for this is what it was to control the law, for in essence it was about controlling the wealth. What Akhenaten had realised was the fact that the priests and the families believed they were this mask, this persona. What Akhenaten didn’t know was that many others shared the same feelings and views and this was something he was to become aware of very soon. The families and the priests believed they really were the character in the play! They were so far removed from what and who they truly were. Removed to a point that the true them did not exist anymore – and this resulted from the fact that they actually believed they a right to do this. All that existed in them was this social mask the mind had created for them to wear, to be the character their minds desired them act out – a personality. They believed they had the right to do anything to anyone they so wished, as they didn’t just create the law, they believed they were the law and in being so were above it - and in doing this any form of morality had been removed to the point of none existence within them.
From a child Akhenaten had been well educated and versed in the ways of social dominance, politics and command structure and in this - his later years admitted that he was – even though it burdened him to do so. But in all honesty this was to help him come to a realisation later in life that would help beyond anything that could have. He was a good student until he began his thirteenth year always studying hard and his obedience always pleased the priests. He was punctual and well mannered and listened intently, unaware that his mind was being programmed by pre-given information so he could become what they needed him to be and act the way they needed him to act coerced by delusion. But from this age Akhenaton started to ask questions and talk about subjects that started to concern the priests – but at the same time intrigued them, intrigued them in a way like never before. The priests spoke to his father inquiring why his son had suddenly started to do this regarding subjects he should know nothing of. There was a suspicion that Amentohep himself was giving his son information, talking about subjects that were forbidden to talk about, unless it was within certain circles - but this information must never leave that circle, these were the rules. The problem the priests had to contend with was the fact that Amentohep himself would not have access to this information, for it was imperative that the pharaoh never has knowledge of such things – otherwise the deception would be blown and the front man would realise he is nothing more than a mascot, which would lead to a very dangerous situation – especially if the pharaoh was backed by the will of the people. But the fact still remained the boy knew things and where had this knowledge come from?
Obviously the priests were wary of Akhenaten’s father as being a member of the ruling families – and one of the sacred families of twelve – at that time he still wielded a great deal of power and a lot more than his son would ever wield. Knowing this the priests would always conduct themselves with extreme caution when asking anything of this man, especially when it was about one of his beloved son’s. But nonetheless the questions were needed to be asked, even though they dare not ask what they truly wanted to directly, they would indirectly. What intrigued the priests the most was this boy was talking about something he could not possibly know about, for it was only known by a very few at that time – or so it would seem. Of course one of these would not have been Akhenaton’s own farther, as it was presumed that he knew nothing. Or did he? And was he sworn to secrecy and his silence was bought by wealth, position and standing and the promise of a great building that reached to the sky to satisfy his ego. As a testament to the great life he had led – basically a pharaoh’s life, the maintainer of slavery. Was he really this naive to be fooled by such false elements of elevation? Leading to a delusion of grandeur at the highest level, that allowed for a god like existence for those who had completely succumbed to the coercive protocols. Did the lower echelons’ of the priest hood have no knowledge of this fact, a secret only known by those who occupied the top positions? Had Akhenaten’s farther succumbed to the coercion as many before him had? I suppose no one will ever know except Amentohep himself, a secret that he most certainly took to the grave to protect his own immediate family. Was it the fact that the priests who taught his son’s and had questioned him about such matters, were not just lowly priests, but masters in disguise. Masters who had reached a higher degree, employed as a safe guard to maintain whoever was to take the throne next, would be subjected to the highest level of coercion to ensure a continuance in the deception that the throne stood for – never allowing it to go back to what it should stand for.
The families maintained that in the doctrine delivered by the priests, it was absolutely essential that whoever was to be the front man (pharaoh) should be kept in the dark as much as possible regarding his true position. And must always receive the highest level of coercion to ensure this happens. Daily if needs be. This didn’t always work though. Then the level of coercion had to be increased and so did the level of bribes to counteract the problem. Even though the families were feared as though they were gods, there were those who knew far too much for their own good - or at least for the good of the families - and knew they certainly were not gods. These were the members within the lower ranks of the families who wanted their turn at the top slots. By telling the pharaoh the truth, they believed they would then in turn be in the pharaoh’s favour. And in being so, would naturally rise in status if the pharaoh did manage to take back control of the armies and the situation. Although many who uttered such words did so as false threats, the families weren’t to know this and nor dare they take that chance. So to counteract this, nothing or no one would be allowed to undermine the coercion process, so inevitably, many hands were crossed with gold and silver - or many were lifted in status to insure the process ran smoothly. So that, all that was needed to be done, was done and remained that way - seemingly effortlessly. Although on the contrary it was often not the case. For most of time the bribes or lift in status would suffice. Simply quenching the thirst for power and of course the increase in standing in the society that was lusted after by those individuals desiring such. Even though the families had the ultimate deterrent as a recourse to call upon if all else failed, in most cases they were very reluctant to use this resource. The families knew the threats would not only come from members of their own quarters and knew that threats would also rise from the ranks of the armies and of course the priest hood itself. They realised it was far better to grease the cogs of the machine they relied upon that were most needed, rather than replace them – basically them being an unwanted necessity. In fact a despised necessity, but nonetheless a necessity they could not be without. They knew that much time was always wasted in training the new recruit to accept the next level of indoctrination, that at first was not needed to be delivered, for them to become a basic cog. Time they could ill afford if the machine was to run smoothly and efficiently. So it was always more effective to use the power of bribes. To simply create a trough for them to eat from, reassuring the participant they would never be found out for eating from the trough. Many being taken to a point of no return through their sexual carnal lusts and any other levels of depravity they craved for, then the ultimate means of control could be used through blackmail. This method was and had been used on every pharaoh and Akhenaten had not escaped this process either, in fact he had suffered more coercion than any other pharaoh before him.
At the age of thirteen Akhenaten started to really impress the priests with his acquired knowledge and understanding, even though at times he heavily questioned the priests over subjects they dare not speak of. They were so pleased in the fact that he accepted that he was of noble blood. In being this they could see that he accepted that he was better than everyone else – one of the main focuses of the doctrine. The priests realised that the coercion was working. There was little choice for Akhen. When you have been repeatedly told something for a length of time over and over again, sooner or later you will believe it – whether it be true or not. This was the prime purpose of the coercion delivered by the priests. To get whoever they were teaching to except there word above all others and to except that their words were the words of the one creator Temu himself. And in being so, that the indoctranie would never dare to disobey anything the priests told them to do or believe in and of course never dare to question. Even though Akhenaten did question, the priests started to treat him with a different kind of respect, simply because of the impression he had left upon the them. It was very obvious that the boy held the priests in very high a steam as they did him, even though they would never allow this to get in the way of what was needed to be achieved. He became a model student and was starting to show an ever increasing disrespect for the inferiors, which was a priority. The boy showed strong will and his intent was so strong that he always got what he demanded even if that was not gained by direct means. The boy seemed to have a way with words unlike anything they had ever seen. They had even witnessed on numerous occasions this boy entrance one of the priests using nothing more than they were using - the power of suggestion and had to step in and remove the priest in question, replacing them for another. It was soon to become very obvious that there was something very special about this boy and especially about the way he spoke and how he used words. It was very obvious as well to the priests who taught Akhenaten, that his use of the power of suggestion was far greater than anyone within the temple could achieve - even though there was a disbelief amongst the arrogant higher members of the temple who dismissed such suggestions. But the priests who had witnessed what this boy could do knew this arrogance oh so well - although they would not admit it - as they suffered from the same infliction, but they could not dismiss what they had witnessed with their own eyes or heard with their own ears. But regardless of this it was very apparent that this boy talked of things he could not possibly know of and the burning question was how did he know? Another strange occurrence was that Akhenaten would only ever talk about such things with the priests and was adamant about this - even though the priests could not be sure of this fact, they had no choice but to accept it. But one fact did re-assure them; because to be honest to anyone else living within the societies rules and conformity, the words Akhenaten spoke would be the words of someone suffering from madness, a lunatic and something of this strange nature would surely have been reported and dealt with, even if he was the kings son.
Many times they asked of him “how do you know such things” and the boy who would be king answered “I do not know, all I can tell you is they seem like memories”. The boy spoke like this many times and talked of all manner of subjects and occurrences. They witnessed a change in the boy when this happened. His voice would slow and deepen and he spoke very precisely without wavering. A positive absoluteness that was humble, but at the same assertive, just not in an arrogant way, delivered as though it was a perspective and nothing more and sometimes strangely including humour. But the strangest occurrence was after such event the boy would remember nothing about what he had spoke of, as if he had never uttered the words. Many times he spoke of a plant called hemp and that machines would be built and powered from this plant, but he spoke of how this would end many years later never to be talked about. He described why this would be done, so that wealth and control could be kept by the few, as long as the use of this plant was suppressed - especially its medicinal properties. He spoke of a device he called a coil that could produce energy as if it could produce lightening and from this device machines and devices could be powered, even producing light to allow you to see in the darkest of places. Again he said at a later date this technology would be suppressed so the few could charge the rest for using what it created. Many of the priests were puzzled by these suggestions, all except one called Iktus, who knew that what the boy talked about already existed, but he was sworn to secrecy, never to utter a word about the knowledge of such things. Akhenaten spoke of stone and how it could trap the energy that a human body transmits, funneling it though to a central point to amplify intent, a bad intent that would be lost one day only to be replaced by another concept. He spoke of how this concept would manifest in time to become systems of control via dead speak and the written word in things called books – and how one specific book would be wrote on the pretense that it was for the greater good, but in reality it would be filled with a commercial construct only a few would truly understand for the benefit of those who truly understood it. Even though the members of the lower priest hood had knowledge of some of the subjects the boy spoke of, as Akhenaten spoke the priests would be captivated by the boys words and truly astounded. Unless he had been told, what he talked about defied logic, because he just could not know about the things they knew of and what of the rest?
He spoke of how these buildings would be built and why they would be built – starting small and increasing in size till they were astronomical in proportion and precision. Many times he talked of how they would be constructed, from what materials and where they would be built. How at a later date there construction would puzzle people and it would be presumed that there was outside interference and help from the stars, because it would be presumed that humanity would not be advanced enough at this time to build such feats of engineering. For the history of such events would be lied about and wrote in a certain way. Not being a true account of events, but more like an account that would only suggest certain things were possible. To maintain a belief system that was very much relied upon. He spoke of how these buildings would demonstrate the epitome of ego, as all temples would in future dates. Filled with such treasures that people would believe were important as they lived their lives deluded by material wealth. That there purpose was to be used as the burial grounds of the great pharaohs, when the reality was there purpose was far from that – even though the pharaohs would believe they were and at a later date loss leaders would be found to suggest such a use for these buildings. He spoke of the light from the sun being concentrated into a beam of light that could cut, etch and carve even the strongest of stones, all bar one and this one statement – even though two of the priests present that day knew not what the boy was talking about - was the one statement that the priest called Iktus had been waiting for. Iktus had been waiting for this boy of only thirteen years to speak of this stone, as he knew this was the most closely guarded secret in of all Egypt? Before Iktus could stop Akhenaten he went on to explain also about a prophecy that came with the stone that he said was called the Prophesy of Sion and at this point the Iktus stopped all conversations about such a matter and told Akhenaten to be silent. A conversation of this magnitude could only be conducted in private and not in public, even if it was only two priests listening, because only the very few would be privileged enough to hear these words and only when Iktus decided it was appropriate.
Later that evening the two priests who had overheard what Akhenaten had said that afternoon were asked to go to the first house of the temple to meet with Iktus. They were intercepted along the way in a darkened area that was on the path from the priest’s dormitories to the first house. There they were met by four soldiers who followed the orders they had received and hacked the two priest’s death. Iktus was now to be present at all lessons that Akhenaten was to receive and if anyone over heard what this boy uttered, they too, would meet with the same fate.
Please click here to read Chapter 2
The Impossible Alternative
This article is the introduction to the anthology What Comes After Money? Essays from Reality Sandwich on Transforming Currency and Community, edited by Daniel Pinchbeck and Ken Jordan, just released by EVOLVER EDITIONS/North Atlantic Books. Contributors include economist Bernard Leitaer, media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, musician Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky), theoretical physicist Amit Goswami, Larry Harvey (founder of Burning Man), and alternative historian Peter Lamborn Wilson.
The money game ... We are all forced to play it, whether we like it or not. A few leap across the Monopoly board with great gusto, building or toppling companies, gobbling up futures on resources and minerals, speculating on currencies. Some market new cultural products -- images, memes, books, lines of software code, musical jingles -- as their gambits and dice throws in the global casino. Others, dealt a worse hand, play a more brutal version of the game in the back alleys of third world cities, begging for baksheesh, selling their sex for a meager sum, sending their children to work in factories or collect bits of nickel and aluminum from toxic trash heaps. Simply by virtue of being born into this single global system, this omni-oppressive world order, we are all conscripted into a relentless contest, a ceaseless tumult.
Ever since the mangling of his ideas led to horrific dictatorships and genocidal regimes over the last century, the philosopher Karl Marx has been out of fashion, neglected and suppressed. This is understandable but unfortunate, as many of his insights into the mythic dimensions of money and the workings of capital deserve reconsideration. In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx describes money as "the visible divinity" in our capitalist world: "By possessing the property of buying everything, by possessing the property of appropriating all objects, money is thus the object of eminent possession. The universality of its property is the omnipotence of its being. It therefore functions as almighty being. Money is the pimp between man's need and the object, between his life and his means of life. But that which mediates my life for me, also mediates the existence of other people for me. For me it is the other person." Since birth, we have been trained like performing seals to accept the spiteful conjuror's trick that transmutes any and all qualities into quantities-into bigger or smaller piles of cash. Seemingly without an alternative, most of us accept a system in which everything and everyone has its price, and beneath every celebration lies a cynical calculation.
Hypnotized by our culture, most people believe that our current form of money is the only rational way to exchange value -- that a debt-based currency, detached from any tangible asset, is something as organic and inevitable as carbon molecules, ice, or photosynthesis. We forget that money, in its current form, is just a tool. Humans created money to perform certain functions and satisfy certain needs. But just as engineers and computer programmers drop cruder, out-of-date tools and pick up better ones as soon as they become available, we might also switch to more sophisticated instruments for transferring goods and services that function more efficiently and equitably. We could implement new mechanisms and platforms for exchanging value that we have designed to prevent the destructive social and ecological feedback loops produced by our current financial system. As an operating system for society, money needs a major upgrade. This upgrade will not just happen on its own; we need to apply our intelligence and creativity to make it happen.
This requires an act of will, and a leap of faith, from many of us. Personally, I grew up with an artistic New York background and, until a few years ago, I never gave much thought to economics, considering it incredibly boring, useless, and the opposite of anything cool. About five years ago, I began to comprehend that the underlying logic of our economic system was inciting a systemic crash -- that our model of endless growth on a finite planet was bringing about mass species extinction, mass pollution, and was somehow linked to a nihilistic value system that mortgaged the future of the planet for the instant gratification of the lucky few. When we launched our web magazine Reality Sandwich, we made alternative approaches to our economy one of our areas of focus, and a priority. First appearing in Reality Sandwich, the essays included in this book present a range of perspectives on the problems endemic to our current financial system, and propose tangible ways to change it. For those who are not used to this type of discussion, it takes a while to familiarize yourself with the issues and the terminology, but the effort is worth it, as the subject is of critical importance.
Over the last half-century, the mainstream culture institutionalized hipster rebellion and integrated it within the corporate mainstream, which constantly instructs us to "Just Do It," "Think Different," "FCUK," and the like. Corporations took our innate impulse toward dissent and our desire for meaningful change, and transmuted them into effective sales tools for their products. The new counterculture, which I believe Reality Sandwich represents, goes beyond easily assimilated gestures of rebellion to interrogate and analyze the underpinnings of our current destructive social order. We believe it is no longer enough to propose alternatives -- we need to implement them, instead of waiting around, expecting that someone else is going to do it for us. For this reason, along with Reality Sandwich, we launched a social network, Evolver.net, which provides the organizing hub for what we call the Evolver Social Movement. The ESM brings together local communities that share a vision of how society could be transformed under a global umbrella, and promotes initiatives in permaculture, public performance, local currencies, and viable alternatives in many areas. Evolver actively seeks to collaborate with other movements and organizations that employ DIY tactics to revitalize civil society, such as Transition Town, the Zeitgeist Movement, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Burners Without Borders, et cetera. We propose that reimagining and reinventing society through conscious collaboration is the avant-garde art form of our time.
While rarely discussed in the mainstream media, an awakening is currently underway: More and more people are coming to realize that what we use as money is not some natural force or omnipotent being, but a magic spell. This spell is maintained by the oracles and high priests of finance from their well-guarded temples -- the banks and treasuries -- where they alchemically transmute little bits of paper or blips of data into valuable artifacts, using occult symbol, incantation, and numerical abracadabra. Indeed, what the financial sorcerers fear more than anything is a collective loss of faith in the abstruse and arcane instruments they use to bind the great human mob in invisible chains of debt, servitude, and scarcity.
The political philosopher Antonio Negri demystified "capital" by defining it, simply, as a "social relation." What does this mean? When a billionaire walks into the room, everyone reacts as though the intangible assets circulating as data streams in his investment portfolio are as real as the armor that Tony Stark puts on when he becomes Iron Man. These streams of virtual data permit the tycoon to control servants, private security forces, mansions, yachts, Picassos, and whatnot. In actual fact, the extraordinary superpowers ascribed to such a personage exist only in the mind.
If a sudden pulse of solar radiation wiped out our hard drives, everyone would quickly see that stored capital was merely a cultural convention, a belief system. The billionaire would lose all of his perceived superpowers and, like an incredible shrinking magnate, retract back to modest size. The vast apparatus of contemporary media and the sleek glass architecture of corporate skyscrapers are designed to reinforce unquestioning obedience and faith in this belief system of capitalism, which gives the privileged few the power of life and death over the multitudinous many.
Antiglobalization activists often proclaim that another world is possible. They declare their faith that the current, tragically unjust orchestration of capital is not the only way we can organize our planetary community, even at our current level of size and complexity. Most people find it almost impossible to imagine a systemic alternative. This seeming impossibility of envisioning and then constructing a viable alternative is an illusion. The corporate media constantly imprints and indoctrinates us into unquestioning belief that the way it is now is the only way it can be. The system keeps our consciousness trapped within a particular set of beliefs, a certain frequency of awareness and closed framing of our reality. The media ignores the alternatives that already exist, and constantly amps up people's fear of losing what little they have. For those who see beyond these prison walls, it is not enough to insist upon the possibility of another world. We need to understand how we can construct the alternative, and then work together to bring it about.
There was a time before our current monetary system existed, and there will be a time after it is gone. We can look, without sentimentality or nostalgia, at the practices of premodern indigenous cultures that didn't need lawyers, accountants, Swiss bank accounts, or land that could be owned. These cultures organized themselves around gift exchange rather than financial transaction. For indigenous people in Australia or South America, power is not something that can be hoarded; power can only be expressed in the living present, through ceremony, initiation, and action. As anthropologist Pierre Clastres discusses in Society Against the State, the tribal chief is generally the one who owns the least, as he gains respect by giving away everything that comes to him to maintain harmony and balance among his people. His generosity is a source of power. These cultures may provide keys for us, models to make use of as we go forward, reinventing our institutions and technologies so they support long-range prosperity for everyone on earth.
When the Thai baht suddenly ceases to function, when the Mexico peso bites the dust, these devastating traumas have nothing to do with the productivity of the local lands or the skills of the people. Neither their houses and farms nor the machines in their factories suddenly molt or liquefy; the abstract data flows manipulated by the financial elites are all that shift. For some reason, we have vested a small coterie of avaricious speculators with the ability to dismantle a nation's economy in a matter of hours, as they follow flickering tugs of fear and greed.
Our current monoculture of money enforces aggressive, competitive, and unsustainable patterns of behavior by creating artificial scarcity. When you get a loan from a bank, the bank gives you the principle, but does not create the interest. Therefore, you are forced to go out into society and compete against everyone else to bring back the interest that accrues. Publicly traded corporations, similarly, are forced to maximize profits to satisfy their shareholders, and therefore must use the most expedient methods to create revenue, even when this means sabotaging environmental safeguards or depriving local communities of their fair share. "Free market" capitalism guarantees there will be big winners, and bigger losers. The biggest loser, alas, is the earth itself. As long as our technological powers increase within a system of domination and exploitation, more catastrophes like the Gulf oil spill and the Chernobyl and Bhopal disasters are essentially guaranteed. As technology becomes more powerful, these calamities will only get more horrifying, until the rotting foundations of our social order are exposed and addressed.
Our currency is not a neutral tool, but a crystallized belief system. "Money" is an expression of ideology, the blinkered reasoning or "irrational rationality" that mortgages the present moment for a future payoff that never arrives. In the interim, the laboring multitudes grind it out, hour by hour, day by day. As we reconsider the meaning of money and the true nature of value, our society will also reconceive our approach to work; eventually, we will change our ideas of what progress means, and even our relationship to time. Once "time" is no longer "money," we may transform the way we choose to live in time.
Many progressives and social crusaders argue that unemployment is a major social problem. They call for more jobs, "green jobs," or guaranteed employment. This focus on employment is also a misconception based on a limited reasoning. In actual fact, it is not unemployment but work that is the problem. Deep down, nobody wants a job to occupy his or her time. We want a mission that inspires us.
As the design scientist Buckminster Fuller noted, most of the work that our society creates produces no real benefit for the earth, and in fact subtracts from it. Most of the work we do requires pointless expenditures of energy and makes more waste. Rather than having people drive to jobs and use up endless Styrofoam containers and toner cartridges, it would be cheaper -- in the real terms of the vitality and thrive-ability of the earth -- to subsidize them to remain in their home communities, support them to grow their own food, foster permaculture projects to increase biodiversity, and encourage them to educate themselves and their children, to make art and perform ritual if they felt so inclined, and to generally celebrate the sacred mystery of being with a minimum of interference.
Without idealizing the past, we know that many indigenous people did not "work" in the way we now understand it. Colonialists were outraged that native peoples only spent a few hours a day doing those activities necessary to support life, such as hunting and gathering, building their temporary habitats, and so on. While zealous application of the Protestant ethic brought the benefits of Western medicine and technology to the human community, it also had the unfortunate result of turning our world from a garden into a gulag.
The human-devised concept that "time is money" has created a wasteland of boredom and nihilism where many of us are forced, as the critic Lewis Mumford cunningly observed, to look into the mirror each morning and ask ourselves what part of our personality we can sell today. Given such a system, some of the most successful manipulators are those natural sociopaths who feel no compunction about thieving from the masses to line their own pockets -- think the "smartest guys in the room" from the bygone Enron days; or complacent CEOs like Tony Hayward of BP, happy to attend yachting races while his company's activities terminated entire undersea ecosystems; or all the "masters of the universe" not yet exposed, let alone brought to justice. Modern capitalism makes sociopathic behavior humdrum and routine. What else can we make of a corporation like Walmart, which takes out secret life insurance policies on its harassed and humiliated employees, utilizing statistical "quant" analysis to cash in on their aggravated death rates?
Our current economic system is institutionalized psychopathology, a parasitic virus, and its perpetuation would likely lead to the termination of the human experiment in an accelerating series of catastrophes, as climate change accelerates and the exploitation of resources and technological domination of nature intensify. The alternative is extremely difficult to imagine, until we realize it. Albert Einstein once noted that a problem is never solved by the same level of consciousness that created it, but can be superseded once a new level of consciousness is attained. We rapidly approach an exciting threshold where breakdown and breakthrough could happen almost simultaneously.
The good bad news is that we are witnessing the collapse of the current financial order, a bit like watching a multi-car collision take place in sickening slow motion. While vast amounts of intangible finance capital continue to amass, the real assets of the earth are in rapid decline, and this growing gap between the abstract and the real is bringing on an inevitable crash, one in which the delusions of finance capital can no longer be maintained. The global system has revealed itself as a massive Ponzi scheme, a debt pyramid, and we are reaching that thrilling, terrifying precipice where maintaining the fiction is no longer possible.
Nobody has ever been in this situation before. What happens next is anyone's guess, but a few alternatives seem most plausible. Over the last decades, wealth has been concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. According to a recent study, fewer than seven hundred billionaires have a combined net worth of more than $2 trillion. At the same time, an estimated 2.8 billion people survive on less than $2 a day, and 1.2 billion live on less than $1. Here in the United States, fewer than 7,500 individuals out of 300 million control "almost three-quarters of the nation's industrial (nonfinancial) assets, almost two-thirds of all banking assets, and more than three-quarters of all insurance assets," notes political scientist Thomas Dye in Who's Running America? Members of this small group can be found in the top tiers of the most exclusive law firms, investment banks, federal government posts, and military commands, where they can control the herd.
As the superstructure of the financial system melts down, it is unlikely that this small coterie of the world's financial elite will choose, in a great heartfelt conversion, to democratize wealth and share resources equitably. They will, more likely, seek to grasp onto their privilege and keep their stranglehold over resources, potentially creating an increasingly authoritarian state apparatus in which the divide between the haves and have-nots becomes ever greater. As social pressure builds, draconian restrictions based on trumped-up fears of terrorists, immigrants, and other bogeymen may supplant democratic freedoms. The corporate oligarchy has spent decades mastering techniques of getting uninformed and ignorant people to act against their own best interests, and will continue to foster stupefaction and mob rule. As increasing constraints are placed on us, as security forces patrol the perimeter and drone helicopters circle overhead, as basic necessities like drinking water are sold back to us, as hyperinflation leaves only a few megabanks still standing, we will be told -- over and over again -- that this culture is still the greatest thing ever, that the evil others are to blame, and that it is all being done for our own good.
The other option is the one discussed, from various angles, in the essays collected in this book: the prospect that the rapidly deepening, globally systemic, economic-ecological collapse will provide the necessary ground for a mass awakening, and for the reinvention of our economic system in accord with a design science that follows nature's operating principles. As the economist Bernard Lietaer has noted, what we require is a shift from a fragile monoculture based on one form of money to a diversified offering of many currency tools, providing a variety of ways for human beings to exchange value. The current form of Yang currency that supports masculine competition and aggression must be complemented, perhaps superseded, by Yin currencies that foster collaboration and cooperation.
More fundamental than any new currency is the shift in awareness, the change of consciousness, necessary before a truly equitable global society can emerge. This change is already occurring on many levels, some visible and some subliminal, throughout our increasingly interconnected world. We are developing a thoroughly evolutionary perspective, one that sees human cultures, relationships, and social systems as expressions of an evolution of life and of a consciousness that is perpetually ongoing. We are not passive observers of this process, but active participants. We are the coming-into-consciousness of the Gaian mind, and our actions and intentions-as individuals and communities-determine the trajectory of our future culture.
From this evolutionary viewpoint, we can see the development of capitalism over the last few hundred years as a necessary phase, but not a final endpoint, toward the inception of a planetary community. Capitalism drove technological innovation and a melding of the world's cultures, but kept us locked in an adolescent state of mind. Communications technologies such as the internet have now linked humanity into a global tribe, able to communicate instantaneously and experience simultaneously. The intensifying economic and ecological meltdown is akin to the process that occurs when a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly: There is, first of all, a disintegration of the caterpillar form and the emergence of imaginal cells that direct the process of transmutation into a new form of life. To the old system, this appears as danger, as death, but to the new emergent form, it is necessary as an aspect of the birthing process.
We are inexorably moving toward the realization of humanity as a unified being, a singular organism, meshed with the delicate planetary ecology that nurtures us. As Bruce Lipton and Steven Bhaerman discuss in their book Spontaneous Evolution, the cells in the human body have developed to work together in perfect symbiosis, sharing resources equitably. You don't find one cell hoarding masses of energy while another cell is left utterly deprived and gasping. If individual humans are akin to cells in a greater Gaian organism, we could similarly reach a point at which sufficient energy is provided to all, for everyone's benefit, to ensure the effective functioning of the whole.
The essays in What Comes After Money? are thought experiments that explore our current economic predicament and reveal the path to a new economy, biospherically balanced and equitably attuned. For many people, the idea that our global capitalist system could make a quantum jump into a new systemic paradigm will initially seem impossible and outlandish. However, human culture can change with remarkable speed when necessary. Before 1989, among all the highly paid think tank analysts and political specialists, nobody predicted that the Berlin Wall would be taken down, piece by piece, through a euphoric civilian uprising, while the military stood down-that East would reunite with West without nuclear conflict or vast loss of life. This happened because, on a secret and subliminal level, the consciousness of people operating under that old oppressive order could no longer tolerate a barricade created by ideology and maintained through domination. Today, Wall Street and its "banksta" allies in foreign capitals control the movements of capital and the destiny of people and nations. Is it possible that a civil society upsurge could tear this conceptual barricade down as well? If something like this were to take place, the best-case scenario would be that we would have a new paradigm, a working operating system for exchanging goods and services using different principles, ready for rollout before social chaos could lead to the imposing of authoritarian controls.
Personally, I agree with the visionary thinker José Argüelles, who proposes that time is not money: time is art. The next phase of human development should be one of conscious evolution and co-creative collaboration, when we recognize that society is, in itself, an art project. We have the power to use our intelligence and imagination to reinvent society's operating system so that it fulfills humanity's highest hopes and age-old aspirations. If we can develop and construct a new economic foundation that strikes a balance between the gift exchanges of the archaic past and our modern system of swift global transactions, we might manifest a magnificent art project, an ever-evolving social sculpture, together. Such an expression of our collective human genius will benefit our kin and our descendants, and support the greater web of life. Facing a crisis unleashed by human greed and ignorance, we have an extraordinary opportunity to bring about a new-or renewed-society that is far more comfortable, harmonic, relaxed, peaceful, and humane. My hope is that this book offers a set of helpful tools for thinking through this extraordinary process, and that it inspires you to collaborate on the great co-creative experiment that lies ahead.
De-Classified Document Admits Lee Harvey Oswald Was CIA
In one of the longest, if not the longest interviews she has ever done, Popeye of FederalJack.com interviewed Judyth Vary Baker, the girlfriend of Lee Harvey Oswald, who revealed startling details about the assassination of JFK, suspicious cancer research, virus causing polio vaccines, and much more.Judyth, once a promising student searching for a cure for cancer,ended up working with Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans on cancer research that was possibly sinister in nature.The information she provides on the JFK assassination and the real history of Lee Harvey Oswald is invaluable and should be spread throughout the world.
During the interview Judyth destroys the myth of the lone gunman assassination theory and speaks directly about who she believes are the real culprits in the JFK assassination.In her book, Me & Lee – How I came to know, love and lose Lee Harvey Oswald, Judyth proves, through extensive documentation, how she was involved with cancer research when recruited to work in New Orleans in 1963.She was hired, along with Oswald, by Reily Coffee Company as well as involved with the development of a biological weapon that Oswald was supposed to use to eliminate Fidel Castro.Judyth shows the evidence and relates – from her first-hand experience – all she knows about the Kennedy assassination, her love affair with Lee Oswald over the summer of ’63, her conversations with him as late as two days before JFK’s death, his role as a deep-
This in depth interview is one of a kind as Judyth will not be doing interviews in the foreseeable future.Please share this interview with your friends/family and send it to as many mainstream and alternative new outlets as possible.
21 Books The Ruling Elite Doesn't Want You to Read
Rick Gedeon
Activist Post
The sole purpose of COINTELPRO was to destroy individuals and groups perceived as threats to the status quo in the United States. COINTELPRO was “officially” ended in 1971—although it never really ended. After the 911 attacks, the government went at it again, but this time with a scared and more dumbed-down complicit public. Exactly forty-six days after the towers came crumbing down Bush signed the USA Patriot Act. This virtually eliminated restrictions on law enforcement agencies' ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records. What we used to consider illegal eavesdropping is now reclassified as something else -- an emergency. According to an official DOJ report, the use of “emergency”, warrantless requests to ISPs for customer communications content has skyrocketed over 400% in a single year. No outrage, no accountability. The majority of people are now more concerned about how to feed their families; civil liberties will just have to take a back seat until things improve.
The inequality and oppression in America now resembles that of a third world oligarchy. The only purpose of an oligarchy is to perpetuate oligarchic rule. Hence, "change" is not a choice, lest the rulers might be held to account for their crimes. Upward mobility is no longer attainable; the days of “hard work and dedication bringing success” are over. It would be a slap in the face to say that to the more than “317,000 waiters and waitresses (over 8,000 of which have a doctoral or professional degree), along with over 80,000 bartenders, and over 18,000 parking lot attendants” Americans who graduated from college. The cancer of nepotism and cronyism are the order of the day. It is mathematically impossible to hold a job while paying for exorbitant college tuition, unless of course you come from the fast-shrinking upper-middle class.
The majority of voters voted for Obama in 2008 because they wanted change. The word "change" did resonate in the hearts of Americans, but, unfortunately, the people were once again bamboozled. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Voting appears to be the least viable solution; the more productive path is to organize locally. The following list of books contains sources not often cited by mainstream media . . . and there is a reason for that. These books promote critical thinking, revisit the coverups of history, and promote individual empowerment. They should be read widely in order to raise awareness of the situation facing America today, so that we can take back what has been taken from us.
The descriptions of each book are generally sourced from their product sales points, and have been edited for brevity. In some cases where official product descriptions were not available, a summary of important points is offered. Each title is an embedded link where the book can be purchased.
These are the books that have been most instrumental in my research. I would love to learn what books you have found to be most helpful. Please share your thoughts and suggestions with others in the comments section below.
21. Propaganda
Media control and propaganda is how the rest of what is contained in the books that follows is ever made possible. Without belief in the orchestrated events of history, the tactics employed by the ruling elite could never work. This is an essential place to start to learn how human perception is altered so that a false reality can be created and accepted. Or, as Bernays himself said, “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”
High-tech spy gadgets, mind-reading machines, emerging artificial intelligence systems, and government projects seem as if they came right out of George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Mark Dice illustrates how what was once considered fiction has now become reality. Dice shows you the scary documentation that Big Brother is watching you, and is more powerful than you could imagine. Learn about mind reading machines, cybernetic organisms, neural interfaces, and more.
19. What I Saw That Day Israel's June 8 1967 Holocaust of US Servicemen Aboard the USS LIBERTY and its Aftermath
, Phillip Tourney
Personal eyewitness testimony of Phil Tourney, US Navy Petty Officer concerning Israel's 2 hour attack upon his ship USS LIBERTY on June 8, 1967 and the following cover-up by the US government.
18. The County Sheriff: America's Last Hope
, Sheriff Richard Mack
Sheriff Mack's latest book covers decades of research to prove once and for all that the sheriffs in this country are indeed the ultimate law authority in their respective jurisdictions. The sheriff absolutely has the power and responsiblity to defend his citizens against all enemies, including those from our own Federal Government.
17. Corporatism: The Secret Government of the New World Order
, Jeffrey Grupp
Corporations control all basic resources of the world, all the governments and institutions, and prevent us from solving humanity's problems. Their New World Order plan is the global 'prison planet' that Hitler was aiming for.
16. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
, John Perkins
An extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Perkins writes about the Enron-style of cooking the books to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies.
Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty, the former CIA operative known as 'X,' offers a history-shaking perspective on the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. His theories were the basis for Oliver Stone's controversial movie JFK. Prouty believed that Kennedy's death was a coup d'etat, and he backs this belief up with his knowledge of the security arrangements at Dallas and other tidbits that only a CIA insider would know.
14. Where Did the Towers Go? Evidence of Directed Free-energy Technology on 9/11
, Judy Wood and Eric Larsen
This book is a forensic analysis of what effectively is a crime scene. Ground Zero and the surrounding areas were photographed countless thousands of times, yet no one really assessed all of the phenomena found in these photographs. What is presented in this book is not a theory and it is not speculation. It is evidence. It is the body of empirical evidence that must be explained in order to determine what happened at Ground Zero.
13. Tragedy and Hope
, Carroll Quigley
1,359 pages of details about how the New World Order really works. A confession from one of the architects of the power elite and the structures they use to divide and conquer the planet.
12. None Dare Call it Conspiracy
, Gary Allen
This is the counterpart to Quigley's tome. At just 197 pages, Gary Allen distills the machinations of the political, banking, and elite think tanks into the most concise book ever written about how it is possible for a small group of puppet masters to direct world events and control entire populations.
11. American Assassination: The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone
, James H. Fetzer
Senator Paul Wellstone was, "the first 1960s radical elected to the U.S. Senate." In Senate Race 2002, the White House made defeating Wellstone priority #1. Karl Rove hand-picked arch Republican Norm Coleman to run against him. Despite massive funding, Coleman was trailing the popular Wellstone two weeks before election day. Then, tragedy struck. Ph.D. Professors James Fetzer and Don "Four Arrows" Jacobs present the harrowing truth. The weather didn’t bring down Senator Wellstone's plane.
, John Seymour
Packed with comprehensive information on all the practicals, from ploughing fields to milking cows, as well as new information on how to create an urban organic garden and harness natural energy. This full-colour edition of the illustrated classic is an engrossing read and a wonderful handbook for realists and dreamers alike.
9. Human Race Get Off Your Knees
, David Icke
The manipulation of the human race and the nature of reality are continually taken to the highest levels by David Icke. Very few researchers are willing to walk the paths David has. In this book, he brings back even more new startling information about the destiny of mankind.
8. The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions
, David Ray Griffin
Everyone who cares about the fate of American democracy will want to know something about what the pages of the report actually say. The Commission’s account, by popular reckoning, has made an impression with its heft, its footnotes, its portrayal of the confusion of that sobering day, its detail, its narrative finesse. Yet under the magnifying glass of David Ray Griffin, eminent theologian and author of The New Pearl Harbor, the report appears much shabbier. In fact, there are holes in the places where detail ought to be thickest. Griffin’s critique of the Kean-Zelikow report makes clear that our nation’s highest leaders have told tales that wear extremely thin when held up to the light of other eyewitness reports, research, and the dictates of common sense.
7. 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read, Jesse Ventura
The official spin on numerous government programs is flat-out bullsh*t, according to Jesse Ventura. Ventura proves it beyond any doubt with this incredible collection of actual government documents, including previously classified papers that were brought into the public domain by WikiLeaks. He scours through this treasure trove of documents to bring to light how we've been duped into wars we shouldn't be fighting, lied to about intelligence, fed hogwash about terrorism, and tricked into losing more and more of our civil liberties. In addition to providing original government data, Ventura explains what it really means.
6. Stranger Than Fiction
, Albert D. Pastore
The true story behind 9-11, delivered by a meticulous researcher. . . "Every news story about 9-11 that is contained in this book is true and easily verifiable," states author, Dr. Albert D. Pastore [a penname]. "My investigation represents 12 months of careful study, painstaking research, detailed analysis, source verification and logical deduction.
5. 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, First Edition
, Webster Griffin Tarpley
The thesis of Webster Tarpley's book has been enthusiastically received with its working model of the 9/11 plot - a rogue network of moles, patsies, and a commando cell in the privatised intelligence services, backed by corrupt political and corporate media elites. Buttressed by historical examples like the Baader-Meinhof Gang and the Gunpowder Plot, this model makes it clear how such a monstrous false-flag or self-terror exploit is possible even under a largely benign government.
4. Snitch Culture: How Citizens are Turned into the Eyes and Ears of the State
, Jim Redden
In this alarming exposé, investigative journalist Jim Redden examines how snooping has become so much a part of American culture that it is practically a family value, encouraged on billboards, television, and even in classrooms. From employees hired to spy on their coworkers to doctors forced to disclose medical information, the U.S. has developed a chilling network for monitoring its citizens. Worst of all, the information gathered - and widely disseminated - is often unreliable, solicited from paid and anonymous informants. This book was written in 2000 and is even more disturbing to witness in hindsight all that has come to pass both domestically and abroad as the War on Terror has been given carte blanche to use any means necessary to expand the power of the State. A citizen spy network is the hallmark of tyranny and Redden's book concisely presents its evolution even within democratic countries.
3. The Creature from Jekyll Island : A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, G. Edward Griffin
This is the classic expos̩ of the Fed that has become one of the best-selling books in its category of all time. Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story Рwhich it really is, but it's all true. This book is about the most blatant scam of history. It's all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Your world view will definitely change. Putting it quite simply, this may be the most important book on world affairs you will ever read.
2. War at Home: Covert action against U.S. activists and what we can do about it
, Brian Glick
This book was written in 1989 is provides thorough coverage and analysis of the FBI's COINTELPRO program which targeted political activists. Beyond the program itself is the cultural analysis which is more important than ever, as COINTELPRO 2.0 has been launched in the wake of the War on Terror. The methods used abroad in counterintelligence have come home to roost. The plan for what activists can do to protect themselves is more valuable than ever.
1. Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations
Iraq Veterans Against the War
“The only way this war is going to end is if the American people truly understand what we have done in their name.”—Kelly Dougherty, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier hearings, Iraq Veterans Against the War gathered veterans to expose war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images, and documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iraq Veterans Against the War argues that well-publicized incidents of American brutality like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha are not the isolated incidents perpetrated by “a few bad apples,” as many politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a pattern, the group says, of “an increasingly bloody occupation.” If we are ever to restore sanity to our foreign policy, we must have all of the facts. Empire America is bankrupting its citizens and leaving a legacy of shame. This is the single most important book in stripping away the naive and innocent version of war that the mainstream media fosters at the behest of the American government.
Please don't forget to leave your favorite book in the comments section below and help others to wake up.
Rick Gedeon is graduate from USAF Air University, amateur historian, and anti-imperial/anti-police brutality activist. Rick Gedeon has traveled extensively throughout the US and Asia. A political marketer, routinely bringing together and forging alliances with different political organizations that share similar goals. He considers himself a Political Atheist and sympathizes with many Libertarian causes. He can be reached at rick_gedeon@hushmail.com
Skull and Bones - an Introduction
By Eric Samuelson, J.D.
This brief introduction to Skull and Bones is dedicated to those journalists in America who have both the courage and the ability to inform the public regarding what others may consider to be a taboo subject — a foreign-born secret society that has exported itself to this nation and may succeed in securing the highest office in the land for still another of its sworn initiates. The two main characters in this story so far are Antony C. Sutton and David Armstrong. The first is a scholar of the first order to began the definitive work on this subject and then vanished. The second came to Texas from California, became the editor of the most liberal Texas magazine, wrote a series of very insightful articles on the Bush family and then, like Sutton, was apparently muzzled.
INTRODUCTION
In May of 1994 a Texas Monthly story (p. 146) by Skip Hollandsworth, on George W. Bush, briefly stated: “Although he did not graduate Phi Beta Kappa as his father had, he did follow his father into the university’s Skull and Bones Club, a secret society for the males of prominent families.”
The majority of Bonesmen are from old-line Puritan families. They include the following families: Whitney, Lord, Phelps. Wadsworth, Allen, Bundy, Adams, Stimson, Taft, Gilman and Perkins. A second group of families in the Skull & Bones are: Harriman, Rockefeller, Payne, Davison, Pillsbury and Weyerhauser. The Order of Skull and Bones was once called the “Brotherhood of Death.”(1)
At any given time, only about 600 or so members of the Order are alive. Of that number only 150 (about one-quarter) take an active role in the society. It is estimated that a core of perhaps 20-30 families run the Order. Recent Bones inductees include a few blacks, gays, and even some foreign students. In 1991 Skull and Bones began to admit women members. Each initiate gets $15,000 and a grandfather clock. A neophyte’s name is changed to Knight so and so. The old Knights are known as Patriarchs. Outsiders are known as Gentiles and vandals. It meets annually — patriarchs only — on Deer Island in the St. Lawrence River.(2)
THE SECRECY OF BONES
“Initiates are sworn to secrecy. They are required to leave the room if The Order comes into discussion. They cannot — under oath — answer questions on The Order and its organization.”
– Antony C. Sutton(3)
The Senior secret societies at Yale, wrote Lymann Bogg, “never mention their names.”(4) Not even the inquisitive Pamela Churchill Harriman could get her third husband to talk about Bones: “(Averell) Harriman regularly went back to the tomb (the Bone’s Temple) on High Street, once even lamenting that his duties as chief negotiator at the Paris Peace Talks prevented him from attending a reunion. So complete was his trust in Bone’s code of secrecy that in conversations at annual dinners he spoke openly about national security affairs. He refused, however, to tell his family anything about Bones. Soon after she became Harriman’s third wife in 1971, Pamela Churchill Harriman received an odd letter addressing her by a name spelled in hieroglyphics. ‘Oh, that’s Bones,’ Harriman said. ‘I must tell you about that sometime. Uh, I mean I can’t tell you about that.’”(5)
UNIVERSITIES AS SPAWNING GROUNDS OF THREE DIFFERENT SECRET SOCIETIES
Between 1983-1986, the British-born conspiracy scholar Antony C. Sutton wrote a series of pamphlets about the Order of Skull & Bones. Sutton said that his series was “based on several sources, including contemporary ‘moles.’”(6) The short pamphlets were compiled into one volume and published as a book in 1986. Sutton noted that secret societies had been organized at three universities: “The Illuminati was founded at (the) University of Ingolstadt. The (Cecil Rhodes) Group was founded at All Souls College, Oxford University in England, and the Order was founded at Yale University in the United States.”(7) He noted: “The paradox is that institutions supposedly devoted to the search for truth and freedom have given birth to institutions devoted to world enslavement.”
BUT, WHAT’S WRONG WITH SECRET SOCIETIES?
Sutton’s “magnum opus” laid out his views regarding secret societies: “Secret political organizations can be-and have been-extremely dangerous to the social health and constitutional validity of a society. In a truly free society the exercise of political power must always be open and known.” (8) He then stated: “Moreover, organizations devoted to violent overthrow of political structures have always, by necessity, been secret organizations. Communist revolutionary cells are an obvious example. In fact, such revolutionary organizations can only function if their existence was secret.”(9) Further, said Sutton: “In brief, secrecy in matters political is historically associated with coercion. Furthermore, the existence of secrecy in organizations with political ambitions or with a history of political actions is always suspect. Freedom is always associated with open political action and discussion while coercion is always associated with secrecy.”(10)
A pamphlet on Bones described the walls of the tomb as “adorned with pictures of the founders of Bones at Yale and of the members of the Society in Germany when the Chapter was established here in 1832.”(11) Sutton asked: “Think about this: Skull and Bones is not American at all. It is a branch of a FOREIGN secret society.”(12) Sutton concluded that Skull and Bones “is a clear and obvious threat to constitutional freedom in the United States. Its secrecy, power and use of influence is greater by far than the masons, or any other semi-secret mutual or fraternal organization.”(13)
SUTTON COMPARED BONES TO THE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI
While critics concede that the Illuminati “was an actual group that existed from 1776 until 1785. . . ” it is also explained that: “Given the fact that Weishaupt’s ideas ran counter to the authoritarian, church-intertwined-with-state power structure, he was forced to keep his Illuminati secret and work through Masonic lodges. He was not successful.”(14)
Sutton made numerous tentative comparisons between the Illuminati and Bones. Each member, according to an 1876 anonymous satire, has an “inside name” and “these names bear a remarkable resemblance to those used by the Illuminati, e.g., Chilo, Eumenes, Glaucus, Pristicus and Arbaces.”(15) He added: “During its time, the Illuminati had widespread and influential membership. After suppression by the Bavarian Government in 1788 it was quiet for some years and then reportedly revived.”(16) Sutton promised that “in a subsequent book, we will trace the order to the Illuminati. . .”(17) Also, Sutton stated: “The significance of this study is that the methods and objectives (of the Illuminati) parallel those of the Order. In fact, infiltration of the Illuminati into New England is known and will be the topic of a forthcoming volume.”(18) He later wrote: “At this point we want to draw a comparison between the Order known as Skull and Bones and The Order known as Illuminati in 18th century Bavaria. This is not the time and place to draw final conclusions.”(19) Sutton noted that “It (Bones) was introduced into the United States by William Russell, later General William Russell, who brought a charter back from his student days in Germany.”(20) [So far a check of Russell's biographies has revealed no hint of a German education]. When the Skull and Bones “Temple” was raided in 1876 a card was found that read: “From the German Chapter. Presented by Patriarch D.C. Gilman of D. 50.”(21) The Yale Bones catalogs indicate that Skull and Bones began in the U.S. in the 3rd decade of the second period of the organization. The first decade of the second period would be 1800 with the first period being 1790-1800: “That places us in the time frame of the elimination of Illuminati by the Bavarian Elector.”(22)
Two years later Sutton, in 1988, wrote The Two Faces of George Bush. In this work he identified George W. Bush as a Bonesman like his soon-to-be President father. Sutton has not written further on the Order. At least one close associate claimed that Sutton became and remains “a fugitive in his own adopted country.”
EDITOR OF TEXAS OBSERVER, DAVID ARMSTRONG, LASTS EIGHT MONTHS
On March 22, 1991, a crusading journalist named David Armstrong became the editor of the Texas Observer. His career at the most liberal and outspoken Texas magazine lasted just over eight months. On April 5, 1991, he wrote an article entitled “The Great S&L Robbery: Spookbuster Pete Brewton Tells All.” On July 26, 1991 another article by Armstrong was entitled: “Oil in the Family.” On September 20, 1991, Armstrong wrote another piece entitled: “Global Entanglements.” The cover featured a cartoon of George “W” Bush with “Harken” on his head and CIA agents (spies) all around him.
On November 29, 1991 David Armstrong’s name appeared on the masthead of the Texas Observer for the last time. Armstrong deplored and described what he termed a trend of preemptive journalism: “Mainstream media have never demonstrated a keen interest in challenging the status quo. Contrary to the popular image of an independent and adversarial press, U.S. corporate media are, in fact, little more than lackeys for elite interests.”
Armstrong also blasted criticism of Stone’s JFK movie prior to the scenes even being shot. He criticized Times Harken coverage as “half-measures.” His last Texas Observer words were: “Time’s handling of the Harken story is just one more example of the disturbing trend toward preemptive journalism. The consequences of this practice are serious indeed, for it has the potential to not only diffuse and obscure information, but to prevent it from ever being debated in the public arena at all. Unlike the alternative press, mainstream sources are widely available and well indexed. For that reason, they are widely cited and help shape official history. Twenty years from now when George W. Bush is running for president, researchers and journalists interested in his business activities in Texas will likely turn to Time magazine and other mainstream sources of their information. But if they’re interested in reading the whole story, they’ll have to look elsewhere.”(23)
Thus ended David Armstrong’s editorship at the Texas Observer. It is believed that there was a last conversation between Armstrong and his publisher but no explanation was ever written that explained his departure to the Observer’s readership. Armstrong’s prophecy of a run for the presidency by George “W” Bush has now come true. But his pen is no longer telling more of the real Bush story.
Further Information on Skull & Bones
Background to the Skull and Bones
Everything You Wanted to Know About Skull and Bones
Rites of initiation
Skull and Bones Article from Esquire Magazine, September, 1977
New York Observer investigation
Bibliography
1. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 5 (1986).
2. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 5 (1986).
3. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 213 (1986).
4. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 186 (1986).
5. Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas, The Wise Men 82 (1986).
6. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 186 (1986).
7. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 80 (1986).
8. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 185 (1986).
9. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 185 (1986).
10. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 185 (1986).
11. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 188 (1986).
12. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 188 (1986).
13. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 186 (1986).
14. John George and Laird Wilcox, American Extremists 81 (1996).
15. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 189 (1986).
16. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 80 (1986).
17. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 77 (1986) (emphasis added).
18. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 80 (1986) (emphasis added).
19. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 212 (1986) (emphasis added).
20. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 212 (1986).
21. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 212 (1986).
22. Antony C. Sutton, America’s Secret Establishment 214 (1986).
23. David Armstrong, “Preemptive Journalism,” 12 Texas Observer (November 29, 1991). intro1.htm
For a hard copy of this book visitAntony Sutton.
Written by Eric Samuelson coded by Joe
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