COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JULIAN BAGGINI IN THE
GUARDIAN
“Is the Illuminati
running the world? Maybe it’s not such a mad idea
Questioning the hidden
power of elites – whether big pharma or secret societies – is really quite sane”
"Is the Illuminati running the world?"
I don't like using that word, “illuminati,” for the elites
because it's the word mostly used by a seriously unbalanced crowd on the
Internet.
But the simple truth is that, despite all our revolutions
and changes over centuries, money still rules everywhere in the West, and many
government institutions are dedicated to serving its interests.
The Deep State - very much a reality - is just the set of
powerful government agencies - security and military - working to protect and
promote the interests of our plutocrats and wealthy special interests.
A great part of government's serious work is on behalf of
these people, not on behalf of the average voter. Voters are given some things
so they will continue accepting the whole set-up, but only enough so they don't
go out and start revolutions or radical movements.
All the trappings of our Western democracies are just that,
trappings.
All of our "democracies" are structured to make
sure democratic values do not “get out of hand,” as seen from the viewpoint of
the wealthy and privileged.
A prime minister in Britain can rule a "majority"
government with the support of 35% of the people.
An American presidential election is like a marketing
contest between two brands of cola. No matter which you choose, what you get is
a container of dyed, sweet, fizzy water. Both parties are just subdivisions of
the American Imperial Party. America gets the best government money can buy,
the money being supplied by the wealthy and by special interests.
No one ever objects to meaningless wars - not an Obama, not
a Clinton, not a Pelosi, not a Biden, and certainly not any Republicans. And no
one ever consults the people before launching wars killing millions.
Horrible injustices and ghastly tyrants are tolerated
because they represent the interests of powerful lobbies.
Our press - which likes to proclaim integrity - only serves
the government of the day and the powerful interests which put it there. It
almost never even tries to explain what really is going on in places like
Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, etc - let alone Westminster or Washington.
So, we have an elaborate stage play or illusion of being
informed so that we can be voters in a democracy, but we mostly are not
informed - unless you make a great effort at informing yourself by comparing
sources but even then, much will be out of your reach.
Our elections are races between two collections of money,
money which comes from people who very much expect something back. The votes
are cast by voters who mostly have no idea of what is actually going on in
foreign or domestic affairs but who respond to a deluge of advertising,
slogans, ghost-written speeches, and photo-ops.
There is very much a Deep State. It remains rather in the
shadows so voters do not come to understand that things really haven't changed
immensely from the days of Louis XIV so far as who actually controls what.
