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Originally posted by 1kiki:
So, I just read an interesting essay, that said in part this:

And then, there are the oligarchs. The master manipulators. These corporate kings of the modern world have learned the secret that every ruler since the dawn of civilization has known: whoever controls the narratives that are believed by a society is the controller of that society. Identity, language, etiquette, social roles, opinions, ideology, religion, ethnicity, philosophy, agendas, rules, laws, money, economics, jobs, hierarchies, politics, government: all mental constructs which only influence society to the extent that they are believed and subscribed to by a significant majority of the collective. If you have influence over the things that people believe about those mental constructs, you have influence over society. You rule it. The oligarchs manipulate the narratives of entire societies.

And it occurred to me one could determine who's running society by determining what the narrative is (even though the narrative may be such a deep assumption it doesn't bubble to the surface as a formed thought). Because those formulators of the narrative have created it to serve their interests. Therefore, the narrative has their inextricable imprint.

For example:

the kings have the divine right to rule
the kings and the church

if proper sacrifice isn't made to the sun it won't return from its underworld cave
the kings and the priests

you need money to survive
... ... ...

you need to work at a job to live
... ... ...

profit is the primary inborn human motivation
... ... ...

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
And it occurred to me one could determine who's running society by determining what the narrative is (even though the narrative may be such a deep assumption it doesn't bubble to the surface as a formed thought). Because those formulators of the narrative have created it to serve their interests. Therefore, the narrative has their inextricable imprint.

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I doubt very much we could reverse engineer any of this.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I doubt very much we could reverse engineer any of this.

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I'm not talking about specifics like "who's behind 9/11". I'm talking broad scope. Narrative is the story of who you are, who we are, and why things are they way they are.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
A couple of decades ago, I came to a conclusion. Except for sociopaths (and everyday sociopaths), everybody has to tell themselves a story to make a heinous act 'right'. What was OJ Simpson telling himself? No real man would stand for this?

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
If these mysterious people really are up on the top running the show, the fact that we are very likely destroying the planet would have to mean one of several different things. (Feel free to add to this list):
1. They really have no clue what they're doing or any long term plan (How do you rule when everyone else is dead? Who wants to rule a dead planet?)
2. They are really aliens of the "The Arrival" variety. The Charlie Sheen version, where Ron Silver was the face of the alien race that was doing everything we do to change our environment to something that was like what they had on their destroyed home planet, and would also kill us.
3. They know a lot more about all of this than we do and they STRONGLY believe that there would be time to reverse the changes after they pulled off Agenda 21 (or whatever they're calling it now. Agenda 2030?). That or these changes won't matter when most of the people on the planet aren't here anymore and they can continue to live just as we always have on a smaller scale and the environment can also heal itself at that point.
4. They know a lot more about all of this than we do and it turns out we're not actually doing anything harmful to the environment in the long run and everything we're seeing now is mere coincidence that fits a narrative.
5. They know a lot more than we do and we've got some sort of unavoidable asteroid heading our way (or some other unavoidable cataclysmic event) in they somewhat near future and they're just going to live it up while they can. Why bother telling any of us if this was the case? Ignorance is bliss.
6. .... I know I had more. Lost my train of thought.

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Why do Americans put up with the ultra-wealthy running the whole show and hoovering up the benefits? It's always been that way. It's human nature. Survival of the fittest. Since anybody can make it, it must just be me that's a failure.

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Zipf's law.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipf%27s_law

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There's just far too many factors. Who would be considered an "insider"? Is it based off of your current net worth? Do you get a commemorative plaque stating that you're part of the evil crew running the show once you bank a certain amount of dollars? Or are you just born into it, and the conspiracy theories about the Rockefellers are true?

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... the faces of presidents become the face of what people like or don't like about the world at the time, depending on where they lie on the scale.

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I guess the only other thing I'd have to add here is that these people would probably be among the only people who are smart enough and have almost infinite resources at their disposal to think FAR out into the future with their plans.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
You're thinking that they're a group, that gets together in the Bohemian Grove to annually plot how to run the world. Instead, I believe they're a product of an impersonal process that willy-nilly gives them immense power. Though they do get together at Davos to stress about the economy and check out who has the biggest and mostest jets.

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
But then again, I'd never be able to understand their mindset. I don't have an ambitious bone in my body.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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