At various times throughout the history of the USA, the following men made the following statement (paraphrased) regarding U.S. citizens:
"The ignorant public must not be allowed to truly participate in Government.".
~ James Madison, one of our Founders
~ Walter Lippman, a so-called "Liberal" and known as the Dean of American Journalism
~ Edward Bernays, the author of Propaganda: Molding the Public Mind (1928) and generally recognized as the Founder of the Public Relations industry
Carroll Quigley, a well respected Professor at Georgetown U. and Bill Clinton's mentor, wrote this in 1966:
"The tragedy is that we no longer have a representative government in this country; the hope is that the little people will come to accept that... because there is nothing they can do about it."
From Tragedy and Hope (1966) by Quigley
Professor Quigley considered himself one of the Oligarchs, thus he referred to the rest of us as the "little people". He had been given unfettered access to the papers of various Institutions and members of the "ruling class" for the purpose of writing his book. In addition to the above, he claimed that the Council on Foreign Relations (the CFR) was a front for the J.P. Morgan [Chase] Company. In other words, a mega bank was highly influential in the determination of U.S. Foreign Policy. Keep in mind that Quigley was not some conspiracy theory nutcake; he was a very well respected historian. Toward the end of his life, he came to believe that this particular book of his was being suppressed in the United States; however, he never claimed that was any kind of conspiracy. One thing was clear: various Oligarchs were not happy with Tragedy and Hope. It was too revealing.
Alberto Gonzales, the former Bush Attorney General of the U.S., not long ago testified before a Congressional Hearing that "The Constitution does not grant us the Right of Habeas Corpus; therefore, the Gov't doesn't necessarily have to observe it." [The U.S. Constitution DOES NOT GRANT us any Rights whatsoever; instead, it protects the Natural Rights we acquire at birth. Governments cannot grant Rights, only privileges. Natural Rights are held by people completely independent of any government. That is a very well established principle dating at least as far back as the Magna Carta.]
Not long after the Gulf Oil Disaster of fairly recent history, the International Head of BP Oil (can't remember his name) stated in a news interview: "I can understand how the small people [the Gulf residents] would feel that way." That was in response to a newsperson stating that the people along the Gulf coast felt that BP was not doing enough regarding the spill. I clearly recall the guy making that statement on TV; I was truly astounded. His condescension was palpable.
Those are but a very few snippets of evidence (or at the very least, powerful suggestions) that this country is subject to the rule of Oligarchs. I believe the same applies to most other countries in the world as well. I suspect that many people don't believe it's true because they keep drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid. Part of that Kool Aid is the misinformation that the whole business is just another "conspiracy theory". I again emphasize: it's not a conspiracy. It's in plain sight for the most part. It's more along the lines of super-rich people having similar interests and objectives (power & money), working sometimes independently of each other and sometimes cooperatively to reach mutual goals. Simply because they don't go out of their way to reveal their methods does not mean that the whole thing is some sort of conspiracy. The phrase "conspiracy theory" is used by Oligarchs and their dupes to squash serious discussion of controversial subjects. More often than not, it works well.
Happy Trails
