After making a post that cited an Occupy Wall Street piece that Charles Eisenstein wrote, I went to another piece of his: “Synchronicity, Myth, and the New World Order.”
I got plugged into the kind of long read I usually skim, where not only did I read all of this, I read the many comments on this highly controversial food for thought article.
There is something this took out of the shadows of my consciousness and made clear to me. I’ve always cringed at the idea of some venal power elite that, as Charles says, “explains world events as resulting from the machinations of a powerful, dark cabal of secret organizations comprising the global elite: the banks, wealthy families like the Rockefellers and Rothschilds, non-official organizations like the Bilderburg Council, organized crime, shadowy agencies within the government, secret societies like Skull and Bones and the Freemasons, and so on.” The UFO world, in which I often find myself, is full of such conspiratorial reasoning, which seems unreasonable to me.
I have not been able to think through or articulate my skeptical perspective until now, where Charles makes us look at the bigger picture that’s beyond a black and white polarization — a stance in reality in which we would be positioned to make the changes that we can’t make fighting our way out of paper bags.
Here are a few samples:
“In the war between good and evil, a great weapon of the forces of evil is the notion that there is a war between good and evil.”
“Rather than an evil Illuminati, could that power be money? Some say that a global elite controls humanity via the money system, but could it be that it is rather the money system that controls the global elite? I’m sure many of you have known the feeling of being enslaved to money. The wealthy are not exempt, and indeed, possessing more of it, are even more deeply enslaved to its logic. It is truly an ‘invisible hand,’ a force that ‘makes the world go ’round.’ Moreover, the end toward which money compels us is one of misery and ugliness: the destruction of nature and culture, community and health, and all that is beautiful on earth.”
“Can we overcome dualism, when our language is rife with it? Can we transcend separation, when our language assumes it in its very structure? By their very existence certain words limit us to thoughts that subtly serve the status quo. For example, when I when I say that reality isn’t what we think it is, by using the word ‘is’ I reinforce the very independently-existing reality that I am trying to deny. More generally, as a system of signs, language distances us from the reality it is supposed to represent, allowing us to more easily treat the world as other. Sometimes, during meditation or mystical experience, the veil of language lifts and the richness of the unmediated world is revealed, and along with it the depth of our thralldom.”
“The new story says that the abiding intuition that you have carried perhaps your whole life, and which drew you to conspiracism in the first place, is true. The world is governed by a secret power that holds us in bondage to no good end. But the conspirators are not others, they are we, you and I and everyone. A secret agenda of domination and control has existed in nearly everyone, and a world embodying that agenda has congealed around us, attracted to the dark, reptilian energies we have harbored.”
With the movie, THRIVE, having just exploded online, I wonder about reactions to it. (I was in a focus group a few months ago and helped them get their crop circle info right.) My Inbox has been overflowing with enthusiasts who had seen the trailer before the movie was available, and I wonder, after having seen the film, whether they would be equally enthusiastic.
The stranglehold of the money interests in our world is unarguable. But the film makes a huge leap in asserting that a New World Order is the intent of a powerful elite comprised of the likes of those entities that Charles mentions, in a conspiracy that wants to eliminate a majority of the population and destroy the solvency of the United States as they head us for a one world military dictatorship. A film that points fingers has to do the work of exposure and not just name call, and this movie doesn’t justify its accusations. Hopefully, it will engender conversation that considers the things that Charles wrote about, that helps us to become ever clearer about what is going on and what we can do about it.
I really like Elevate, the high minded auspice behind the push for THRIVE. Play It Forward is their new game, which will be utilized for other movies — maybe mine. I’d be interested to hear back about what people think about this gifting model. If you liked a socially conscious movie very much, would you put out money to send it to others?
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By the way, I’ll be looking forward to reading Charles Eisenstein’s response to the movie.
Suzanne,
You have a valid critical point regarding the film: Not enough references presented to adequately support everything presented. But Richard Presser (above) has valid a point, too: basically, that the film is too comprehensive in its scope to be able to make a convincing case (with references, testimonies, other evidence) for every single thing presented. To do that, it would have had to be at least six hours long (my estimate). So, its strength and its weakness both are due to it large scope — and it does cover a whole lot. It does paint the large picture pretty faithfully, in my judgment.
Gamble had a choice: make a 6 hour (or whatever length) movie with lots of supporting material for everything said that probably few would watch, or make a standard-length movie that many would watch, presenting the broad picture for them and then give them a way (the website’s references) to convince themselves, or not. The important thing here isn’t really the movie, it’s the subject — what’s going on. The movie is meant to give enough material and evidence to get the attention of whoever has an ear to hear and a motivation to look deeper. And I tell you, the evidence IS there; there’s a whole lot of it — down that scary rabbit hole. But people without that motivation to look deeper will do what we have all done: maintain the version of the world they habitually believe in, even though it may be a dream. In other words, we make a choice concerning our “reality.” Yeah, the red pill or the blue pill.
By the way, I don’t buy some of the extreme things David Icke says, either. But I don’t sense that he’s a liar; he’s sincere. I try to evaluate the different things he (or anyone) says, not make a blanket judgment on him. He may be way off on one subject and right on on another. Critical thinking is definitely in order. Truly, his analysis of the monetary-financial system is absolutely brilliant in its accuracy, comprehensiveness, and conciseness (a tough combination).
Blessings and take care,
Bob B.
Oh Bob, the job of the documentary filmmaker is to document his story. If he can’t do that, he shouldn’t make the film. I think it is way over the top of credibility, and the job of the filmmaker is to convince me otherwise.
Hello Suzanne,
I respect your view and understand that many people don’t think there’s any concerted negative intent as the (main) cause of the condition in which we find ourselves and our world. And until sometime in late 2002, I was one of those people. The events on 9/11/01 forced me down the rabbit hole of “What’s going on in the world?” Initially for a year and a half and then two years more, I read and studied and tried to reason and feel the whole thing out. And, to the detriment of my own emotional wellbeing and health, I had to conclude that there certainly is and has been for some time a plan on the part of the financial elite to do exactly what Foster Gamble now is warning us about. And that’s not what I was prepared to believe at all. Up until then I had believed the state of the world and our lives had solely to do with a broken socio-economic system, government incompetence, and the tragically flawed nature of human beings. When I realized the full extent of it, I fell into a significant depression… but that’s a private story.
You use the word “evil.” I’m not sure that Foster uses “evil” to refer to the elite (maybe I just don’t remember). In any case, I don’t believe in the existence of evil. I believe in the existence of the profound ignorance of unbridled selfishness and sense of privilege. These “elite” are just ordinary people who have been fed the fantasy of their own superiority and right to rule, over the millenia, so that they truly believe that it’s their right to dominate the planet. (Standard history shows this, as incomplete and skewed as it is.) Gamble does refer to “us” and “them,” and there is that dualistic aspect in terms of the socio-economic dynamics. But in the end, “they” are part of all of us, part of the evolutionary struggle we’re all involved in in this earth.
The failure of the film, if it can be called a failure, is that it presents the whole, comprehensive picture straight-up, in only two hours. There’s no preparation. Those of us who have spent years “preparing” ourselves by study and reasoning and reflecting on this nasty stuff are not floored by what the film presents. But people who have not really gone down the rabbit hole, or have just put their head into it a little bit, are likely to feel that the film makes unwarranted assertions and leaps to unsupported conclusions.
For myself, I have tried my damnedest to truly get to the bottom of why things are the way they are in the world and never seem to change for the better…why, when people individually seem generally disposed to treat one another decently, is there consistently so much war and famine and misery? I’ve tried to examine a number of different subjects honestly and mercilessly: the world of finance, the workings of politics in the US and worldwide, conventional and free energy, medicine, food production and distribution, genetic engineering, secret societies (yes, they do exist and have for a long time), and the meaning of current events — in short, all of the subjects “Thrive” hits on and more. I say that only to affirm that my words here are not just off the top of my head — they come from much deeper.
Gamble says that every statement made in the film is documented on their website. So, before anyone decides that something presented in the film is false, they might do due diligence and research and think critically, and not just go with what they already think they know to be true. These days nobody wants to be called a “conspiracy theorist”; I’ve heard many ordinarily rational people just turn their minds off when they hear that something has been called “conspiracy theory.” It’s like Pavlov’s dog salivating at the sound of a bell. Yes, we are conditioned more than we know. And that’s another whole rabbit hole in itself.
An afterthought: Any student of history should preceive that history is replete with conspiracies. And yet, we’re encouraged to believe that only kooks see conspiracy at work today. Why is that? …What is conspiracy? Simply the concerted and covert effort of a group of people to get their agenda realized. That’s not so unusual, is it?
Anyone who is shocked by what “Thrive” presents and feels that much of it just can’t be true would do well to consider doing some extensive research. I can think of no better place to begin that than Fred Burks’ excellent website, http://www.wanttoknow.info. Fred was a language translator for 3 presidents, I believe, and other notables, and now he devotes his time and money to helping people discover just what is going on and what they can do about it. Overall, Fred holds a very optimistic view of our destiny. I do, too.
In sum, I judge that, as shocking at it may seem, “Thrive” is absolutely correct on all major points. And I’m happy that it also holds a very optimistic view of our destiny.
Truly, it’s time for us all to wake up. The problem is that everyone thinks they they’re already awake. But probably everyone is asleep to at least some things. We just have to be willing to entertain that possibility and start asking questions freshly, despite our conditioning.
Thanks for the chance to express, and blessings to all,
Bob B.
Wow, Bob, thanks for taking the time to spell all this out. Charles Eisenstein is writing a response that will take on many of the things you said , so I’m going to wait for that rather than give you a lengthy answer. But a short one would disagree that the film doesn’t contain “unwarranted assertions and leaps to unsupported conclusions.” If the website goes further, so be it, but no fair. If you are making a documentary the film has to carry responsible info, and this one doesn’t. In fact, however, I’m on their case for the circle info on the website. I helped them get the film right about the circles but they didn’t show me the written info they present — I’ve rewritten it for them but as of now it’s still not up there.
Hi Suzanne, we have spoken in the past.
The work I have been involved in has involved dealing with the dark aspects of creation and the beings and expressions of consciousness that represent it, including on this planet but primarily well beyond it. This experience tells me that there is great truth in the claims expressed in Thrive and the nature and activities of the dark in general.
You say that Thrive does not supply the evidence. There is only so much you can cover in a couple of hours and they say they back up their statements on their website. I haven’t read all of what is contained at http://www.thrivemovement.com/the_problem-gda , but there is a lot of info. here. This subject is one that has been extensively pursued by David Icke and others, and whilst I don’t subscribe to the extremes of what David has to say, I fully support the picture he paints in the presentation he gave during the so-called Big Brother by-election in the U.K. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4799447112501062338 .
Many struggle to accept the notion that Foster has put forth, just as they have struggled to believe that the top levels of the Bush Administration were responsible for 9/11. But if you look at the evidence, it is undeniable http://www.ae911truth.org/ .
And until you truly understand the scope of the issue, you cannot understand it or deal with it. Yes, you can argue the dark are caught in their own web, but we have to see the web before we can help ourselves, and if we happen to free them in the process, it is a bonus. If they go down as we free ourselves, I have little sympathy for them. Empathy and compassion, yes, but no sympathy.
On another level, it is my view that this time is one of a transformation in consciousness on this planet, the likes of which we cannot imagine, and Thrive is one of the elements that is helping to awaken humanity. A powerful one, but only one. I see your work contributing, just as I see the work of John Major Jenkins (best drawn together in his 2009 book “The 2012 Story”) and David Wilcock (best drawn together in his 2011 book “The Source Field Investigations”), Graham Hancock, David Icke and others contributing greatly in building this background understanding, the context within which, upon which, this transformation will unfold.
Blessings, Joy, Love and Peace.
Richard Presser
I personally find Icke to be reprehensible — Queen Elizabeth as a Reptilian, which he urged everyone to spread around online cause it is such vital info, was not my cup of tea, and seeing him as an authority in the movie was distressing to me. As I said to Bob, when a movie makes claims it has to back them up, and that doesn’t happen here. You may already be convinced of the veracity of its claims, but that’s beside the point. We all know how dysfunctional the current system is , so that wasn’t news, and the movie would have had to go on from there to make it a real contribution to awakening humanity. Hopefully your read Eisenstein — some interesting musings on the troubling 9/11 situation and there’s lots of back and forth about that in the comments on his piece. That all said, Graham Hancock is one of my favorite sages, and I am glad you like what I do!
Most of us do respond to greed when given the opportunity. Saying we’re all responsible misses the point. This failing is amplified when large organizations become the players. The sense of morality is diluted when individuals hide behind a legal department while making unethical decisions. The video does us the service of identifying a number of the unethical power structures and the relations among them. This knowledge gives us some of the power we need to fix the system.
Large organizations is us. It’s all us, in the wrong system. it’s systemic change we need.
Unfortunately global elites are real. I’m not a member. The dialectics of conflict as it relates to global elites’s agenda is very relevant. We have been taught that to strive for money will make us sort of like the global elite. Read Chris Hedges on how we have been fooled by such notions in many columns of his on truthdig.com. The money system controls the global elite? Hardly. It is rigged and gamed to the advantage of the global elite with as much greed and avarice as they can muster. The elimination of the middle class whether volitionally sought or not by the global elites is a fact.They gain more and I believe it is for the sake of the ability just to gain more.
I like Chris Hedges a lot and sometimes pass his things along, but I’d be shocked if he was in accord with the points made in the movie. If we are in line for a military dictatorship and for forced radical population reduction, a movie that states that better show me the evidence, which this movie doesn’t. And did you read Eisenstein? We are all slaves to money — acting out in different ways. It’s the worldview that’s holding us all enslaved.