On this classic episode of Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know, Ben Bowlin and Matt Frederick talk about “by far one of the most prevalent conspiracy theories ever,” the Illuminati. This conspiracy theory holds that there’s a secret society of ultra-wealthy people controlling the world. While it’s perfectly provable that a man named Adam Weishaupt formed a secret society in Bavaria that he called the Illuminati, what’s not clear is whether the society grew powerful enough for world domination, or if he merely registered a trademark for an organization that had existed for many centuries already. Skeptics say that if a secret cabal was ruling the world, there would be some evidence of it; believers say the lack of proof is the proof.
“The Illuminati” has been a scapegoat in conspiracy theories for everything from the Battle of Waterloo to the French Revolution to the assassination of JFK. Some believe that they descended from an ancient Egyptian secret society, the Brotherhood of the Snake, themselves descendants of the ancient aliens that created humans. Some believe that the Illuminati tries to control people through pop music, with ties to pedophilia rings; other theories say that they’re behind all major global events and wars, that they manipulate currency, elevate Presidents and rulers, and generally guide society behind the scenes in pursuit of a New World Order.
But maybe it’s more straightforward, and even scarier, than this. Maybe there isn’t “one group of people controlling the world effectively,” but rather “multiple groups of people trying to control the world, and it inevitably leads to horrible things,” Ben theorizes. They discuss an article about a Swiss study that found that the entire world’s wealth is controlled by only 147 companies. The article was criticized, because most of the companies named were financial management firms; naturally they would invest in hedge funds or index funds to diversify their investment portfolios and end up with a financial stake in most, if not all, large corporations. It’s a fair point; a lot of the wealth under discussion is tied up in indices and financial products. But 5% of it can actually be directly manipulated – by only four companies. These enormous corporations, all financed by the same few hundred firms, would represent a huge concentration of power and wealth locked in a battle for world domination; not exactly the Illuminati, but a close approximation – and maybe a little too close for comfort. Hear more about the Illuminati and several other secret societies on this episode of Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know.
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