the case for conspiracy

[LMNO]

Cain, that was a great post.

I really need to read those 5GW docs you linked to. 

Do they mention anything about the use of satire?  I ask because a recent study was done (I heard it on NPR - that's the best citation I have) that tracked opinion polls with SNL political sketches, and when a certain political figure was mocked, their poll numbers plummeted.

Do I have this totally wrong, or would that be something like what you're talking about?

[Cain]

That could be useful.

One of the main problems with 5GW is how it blurs the line between war and politics quite readily, and this criticism has been made both by people trying to get to grips with the theory, as well as the more skeptical.  It could fit, as part of cultural operations against a target.

[Cain]

I gotta disagree with LMNO.

Of course, you cannot generalize about people in power.  However, it is fair to say that most people in power are ruthless, primarily in it for their own benefit (glory, money, unresolved daddy issues) first and for the general good second, and while willing to work with others where their interests coincide, will completely fuck you over the moment it is both expediant and possible to do so.

Some consider themselves as reluctant realists, acting pragmatically in a world they did not create.  Some see themselves as brilliant visionaries, wanting to create their vision of the world in order to inscribe their names in the history books.  Some could not give a fuck and simply want power and money.  And some are psychopaths, who dream of drowning everyone who would dare oppose them in a river of blood.

But you can always bet they did not get their position through piety and unassuming good deeds.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

And those are the people who are actually where they are because they did something to get there. My OP was concerned with people who were born into the world of the obscenely rich and powerful, people who are so completely insulated from everyday humans that they probably through no fault of their own have little or no concern whatsoever for anyone who isn't at least as powerful as they are.

[Cain]

I don't agree.

Unless they are in a position where they are going to be quite literally unassailable, then they wont be.  People below are ambitious.  Your peers might want to remove the competition.  Your life, from your early years, will be shaped by people who did fight and claw their way to the top, and while you may not have their skill, they will sure as hell pass along those ideals through elite education institutes and a general approach to life.

The British public schooling system, circa 1850 is a perfect example of this mindset.  Rich, affluent boys deprived of any luxury, taught Greek and Roman history not for the historical knowledge but to teach them the glory of war (the Illiad) and conquest (Roman history), in many cases sexually abused, humiliated and constantly beaten, then pushed into the Officer Corps by their families and sent off to practice everything they learned in places like India or Sudan.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

so there's no "conspiracy," there's just a group of extremely powerful people who design world events and make sure things go the way they want?