Conspiracy theories through the ages
Since Plato’s Republic, man has wrestled in the political arena, concealing various daggers behind many cloaks. The New Economy investigates
Since Plato's Republic, man has wrestled in the political arena, concealing various daggers behind many cloaks. The New Economy investigates
Politics has had many faces and faced many different dilemmas. Since Plato’s Republic, man has wrestled in the political arena, pointed fingers, shifted blame, and concealed various daggers behind manifold cloaks. The New Economy investigates some o f the recent theories that have influenced, determined, scarred and decimated the political world
David Icke and the twelve-footed lizards
Former Coventry City goalkeeper and BBC sports quiz host David Icke shocked the world in 1991 by announcing on TV chat show Wogan that he was the son of God. In his position as the new Messiah, Icke predicted cataclysmic flooding and earthquakes over the following twelve months.
Following what was considered to be a publicity stunt of immense proportions, Icke developed a thesis of a global elite he termed “The Illuminati.” Accordingly the group is made up of twelve-footed lizards, such as the Grays, the Troglodytes, the Annunaki, and the Tall Blondes- the latter resembling stereotypical Swedish female models. The members of the different groups include George Bush, Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. These different breeds have great control over the World Trade Organisation through the White House, influencing the legislation and movement of goods. Although this might take up quite some time, the reptiles also find time to drink blood and sacrifice children.
Many have accused Icke’s theories of being fiercely anti-semitic, assuming lizard to mean Jew- a charge that Icke strongly denies. By naming some of the different breeds that have populated the world from the far away fourth dimension, Icke has distanced himself from such claims.
The Global Elite, says Icke, control the Brotherhood and the world using “pyramid manipulation.” The system utilises entities such as banking, big business, the military, religion and organised crime as means by which to influence the masses. Criticised for reflecting Marxist theory, Icke goes further to attribute the pyramid system with mind control. Further still, events such as the Holocaust, the Oklahoma City bombing and the September 11 attacks are orchestrated by high powered lizards in order to defer attention from the ordinary course of world events.
Using high profile spin, the reptiles are then able to carry out plans within the public eye: such as turning on Osama bin Laden. Icke calls this type of political action problem-reaction-solution, although Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is attributed with the theory also known as “Hegelian Dialectic.”
Surprisingly, Icke has many followers both in the United States and Canada, from where he has been extradited on many occasions. His lectures can last up to six hours, and he often is known to have private audiences with PW Botha and Winnie Mandela.
Political leaders have distanced themselves from David Icke’s theories, although those on the extreme left have occupied themselves with the former footballer’s hypotheses as a means of condemning the far right. He is known to be an outstanding public speaker, whose choice of words arouse great emotion in those around. Then again, the same was said of Hitler.
A zog eat zog world
Having first appeared in Eric Thomson’s 1976 article Welcome to ZOG-World, the ZOG theory has been taken up mostly by those on the extreme right. It is particularly popular with neo-Nazis in Europe and America, and ultra-nationalists such as Pamyat in Russia and right wing groups in Poland and Sweden.
The term stands for Zionist Occupation Government and portrays the governments of the world as fronts for a hidden Jewish order who control certain nations from behind closed doors. A democratically voted government is therefore a puppet regime, the voice-piece of the secret rulers. By remaining secretive, the Jewish rulers are free to use the country for their own means, using the media as their main tool to control and indoctrinate. Some establishments accuse all western nations of ZOGism, whilst others point the finger only at the world’s superpowers.
ZOGs have been accused of selling off government owned organisations in Britain to private Jewish businesses, and depicting American extremist groups in a false light. Although particularly anti-Semetic, ZOG gained popularity over the twentieth century, as legitimate historians raised doubts over the existence of the Holocaust.
In the 1980s, robberies were carried out in California and Washington by a white supremacist group, The Order, who were attempting to raise funds to wage war on the United States Government, a known ZOG territory. Shortly before the arrival of the World Wide Web, an article in Newsweek reported that Aryan Nations- a group founded by members of the Ku Klux Klan- were planning to set up an electronic bulletin board offering information on where to find and how to penetrate “ZOG informers.”
Those critical of the theory are quick to blame the Thatcher years and privatisation as a means by which the popularity of the theory grew. In America, sociologists blame Hollywood and the electoral scandal that tarnished the beginning of the Bush administration. Recent bouts of terrorism have given rise to theories of a similar nature, like COG, or Creedish Occupied Government, which portrays the ruling body to be of an Amish descent.
The big red button
The conflict and tension of the Cold War period was a busy time for the conspiracy theorist. From gunpowder in Castro’s cigars to bugs in the White House, it is now difficult to tell what really went on. The worldwide paranoia that inebriated politicians on both sides might have been expected given the close proximity of forces in Berlin and the threat of nuclear war, whilst the length of time that it took for the war to play out could and should have diffused the situation a lot earlier.
The nuclear arms race and the Cuban Missile Crisis have been written into the history books, but many commentators affirm that the situation wasn’t quite as volatile as the press at the time made out. As one side tried to get the better of the other, publicity stunts were rife and embedded in the culture of the Cold War. Of course both sides had nuclear arms, but just how close were they to pushing the button? America apparently felt threatened enough to invest billions into the Star Wars project: a venture undertaken in the early 1980s to build a shield to protect the nation from Soviet nuclear attacks. The Cuban Missile Crisis is a conspiracy in itself, with rumours of secret deals and espionage style meetings widely reported.
Out of the Cold War have spiralled many different conspiracies, such as the doubts raised over the moon landings and the widespread belief that Stalin’s body was frozen, to be awoken at such a time that Russia needs a strong leader. Indeed, many believe that the Cold War is still a reality, although temperatures have reached freezing point and borders have been moved. It is possible to go to St Petersburg and see rows of nuclear submarines that are kept at low temperatures to stop reactors from exploding, but what have the West done with their warheads that are impossible to get rid of?
A new world order?One of a number of theories that refer to a secretive group that aims to rule the world with an autonomous, omnipresent government. The backbone of the New World Order theory is that an organisation of the world’s elite have made plans to draw forces together and usurp power from all other states.
The term was coined by Cecil Rhodes in the 1900s. Rhodes saw the future of the world lying in the hands of the United States and the British Empire, who would control the economy, trade, and the military from a central base. From such a position they could enforce and moderate world peace. The conglomeration would form a Federal World Government. Rhodes theory was seen as being too optimistic, and the idea was apparently dropped.
Theorists picked up on the idea years later, and still argue that a joining of superpowers is in the offing. Readings of Masonic signs and the inscription Novus Ordo Seclorum– meaning New Order of the Ages- onto the back of the American one dollar bill are apparent signs that something is afoot on a global scale. By referring to the new political relationship between the US and Russia as a “new world order” in a speech in 1990, George Bush stoked the conspiracy fires.
Prominent names are often dropped into the fold when discussing the theory, such as the Rothchilds, the Du Ponts, the Rockefellers and the Bush family. Through close ties with the IMF, NATO and the United Nations, these families and consortiums plan to use great force and espionage in taking over the world. Extreme believers say that all past major political events are part of the build up toward a single party world domination. To that end, the abolition of slavery, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and even the events of September 11 are part of the plot.
Bilderbergers supersized
Many theories surround the Bilderberg group. From Neo- Nazi anti- Semitism to far left human right activists pointing their fingers, the group have for a long period of time been under severe scrutiny.
The group was founded in 1954 by Polish émigré Joseph Retinger, who was concerned about a perceived growth of anti- Americanism throughout Europe. The political advisor proposed and organised a meeting for world leaders from every country with the purpose of developing a deeper understanding of culture across the Atlantic. The meeting was funded by large scale pro-capitalist organisations- such as the Ford Motor Company- with the intention of forming a political union against the USSR and the threat of worldwide communism.
With such political intentions, and the secrecy behind which the group operates amongst the world’s leaders, it has become a target for many conspiracies. Jonathan Duffy writes, “In Yugoslavia, leading Serbs have blamed Bilderberg for triggering the war which led to the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic. The Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the London nail-bomber David Copeland and Osama bin Laden are all said to have bought into the theory that Bilderberg pulls the strings with which national governments dance.”
It has also been argued that the group intend to bring the world’s superpower’s to their knees and form a new supra-national structure. By forming a “United World Army,” the group will financially regulate the world economy and microchip the population that will be monitored by a central computer system. Ethics will surround materialism, and life will be centred around a policy of “work, buy, procreate, and sleep.” Those within the Bilderberg, such as Donald Rumsfeld and Peter Sutherland laugh off these claims, but still subscribe to the group’s omerta policy.
Political murder mysteries
The mystery surrounding Benazir Bhutto’s death is not the first incident in politics shrouded in mystery and the unknown. Here are just a few of the deaths that have sparked uproar and intrigue around the world over the past one hundred years
Trotsky killed in cold blood August 21, 1940 – Many questions arose soon after word spread that Leo Trotsky had been murdered at his home with an ice pick, following years of exile. Stalin distanced himself from the murder, but given the timing- Lenin had recently died, and there was a battle for the leadership of the country- many were quick in pointing the finger directly at the future dictator. The official version is that Trotsky was killed by NKVD agent Ramon Mercader, following a struggle in which the former struggled after being hit on the head with the ice pick. Although history books accept that the Man of Steel was directly responsible, many historians still raise feasible issues: was Stalin there to ask Trotsky to subscribe to his own political theories? Was the man dubbed an economic genius murdered at all, or was he kept behind the scenes to aid the development of Stalinism?
Hitler’s suicide April 30, 1945 – Eyebrows are still raised about the death of the face of fascism. When the Fuhrer’s body was found with that of Eva Braun’s, the Second World War effectively ended. The allies quickly reported and rejoiced as news spread that Hitler had taken the “cowardly war out,” ending his and Eva’s lives. But ever since, there have been those who believe there is more to the story: Did Hitler escape to a small town in Southern Austria? Did Stalin intervene before destroying the German army on the Eastern front? Or did members of the SS turn on their leader after Heinrich Himmler went against his Fuhrer’s orders and folded to the Allies? In the 1970s, Hitler’s skull was put on display by the Russian Federal Security Service, the body being “thoroughly cremated.” It has since come to light that the skull does not belong to the dictator.
The assassination of JFK November 22, 1963 – Was it Lee Harvey Oswald or a CIA conspiracy? Although it seems more plausible that a crazed gunman would murder the US president, it has always been asserted that the CIA had more to do with the Dallas assassination than has been attributed to them. Major issues such as a military card found in Oswald’s possession and the termination of a mysterious CIA operation (codenamed AMSPELL) muddy the waters and prolong the chances of the world ever getting to the bottom of the murder of one of America’s favourite sons. Eighty percent of Americans believe Oswald was innocent.
