What is going on these days?

What is going on these days?

I just recently read an article recommended to me about the order of Skull and Bones. I couldn't find the exact site, but this looks like the same article. The story is so complex I can't begin to sum it up, but it doesn't paint a pretty picture. It's a conspiracy theory at its best.

Here is an excerpt:

Is the American electorate subjected to cyclic propaganda, pre-selected candidates and winners, and psychological warfare to alienate Americans from the institutions established to serve them by the Constitution? Are the Democratic and Republican National Parties used for a Hegellian experiment in controlled conflict?

And another:

This is just the tip of an iceberg. You also have eugenics and population control, suppressed history and technology, yearly retreats, profitable partnerships with brutal dictators, deals with "terrorists", the involvement of the Knights of Malta, war-mongering and profiteering, mind-control, secret societies for teens, ritual magic and more -- all spinning the dark threads in the web of conspiracy that our spinning blue ball has gotten caught in.

Unrelated, I also read portions (about the first half) of the Unabomber's Manifesto. It seems to me that he had a lot of intelligent thoughts and ideas, but some of them were rather extreme and contradictory to each other, and a lot of them seemed contradictory to his actions. I can agree with his feelings about accelerated progress and the destabilization of society, but I certainly can't agree with his exploding bombs in the hands of people who were unknowing and only working for what they thought was the good of society. He was anti-progress and anti-technology, which he sums up in the following excerpt:

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in "advanced" countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in "advanced" countries.

I think there is some value in that paragraph, although how much is certainly debatable. But in reading further into his Manifesto, some striking contradictions arise. I would debate the negative effects of technology, and as I mentioned in a previous post, "I don't believe that at its core technology is bad. It's an extension of a lifetime of curious minds, signifying human progression through time."

More unrelated, I've heard about a pirate radio station here in San Diego, Free Radio San Diego 96.9, and their story is quite interesting. Essentially they broadcast illegally, and the FCC doesn't much like it. Initially they had tried to be legit, inquiring about open frequencies with the FCC, and were told that they could not apply for any low power broadcast frequency from their location because it would interfere with other FM stations. So now they illegally broadcast on 96.9, with NO interference. Hmmm. And they also point out the fact that the FCC gave the same frequency to the Super Bowl in 2003... Needless to say, I'm going to try to get a listen to 96.9, and see what the radio minus the FCC/Govt sounds like.

Makes you wonder about this wonderful democracy we have here doesn't it? All of this government regulation, conspiracy theory, suggested effect of technological progress and societal breakdown... It's no wonder people live their lives doing so many things that adversely affect their well being, being unhappy and never giving a second thought to much of anything. It almost seems like that's how "they" want it.

What is going on these days?