Customer Reviews

Who Really Runs The World?: The War Between Globalization and Democracy (Conspiracy Books)

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This book provides more data for a basic premise already familiar to many of us, that exclusive enclaves of people who run corporations, government and quasi-governmental bodies, and others secretive, manipulate the world to their own ends and much to the harm of millions innocent. It does so through a would-be collage of illustrations that don't connect well to each other nor combine to build a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The presentation suggests someone wanting to capitalize on their career experiences more than a scholarly work that advances our collective understanding of critical topics.

For eminently more worthwhile investments of study effort, refer to works by Klare, Gelbspan, Chomsky, and J. Kunstler.

Safely bypass this book. Can be somewhat intriguing to someone without a glance of critical thinking. This book doesn't even answer the question in the title. A collection of well-known facts, some minor factoids of the tabloid level ("Bush executive order # 12345"), just overview of publicly available information, generous use of word "conspiracy" - all this without a strong plot, jumping from topic to topic, and absence of quality argumentation or intriguing facts. Not a single reference to other documents or research in the end of the book - that alone tells you it is an exercise in futility. Zero stars.

This book examines the conspiracies in present-day life, both hidden and public. It looks at the social networks, corporate alliances and forces of secret history holding them together.

For many years, there has been speculation about secret, shadowy groups who actually control the world. As far as America is concerned, the authors examine groups like Skull and Bones, the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the Bilderberg Group, but none of them really fit as the Group In Charge. According to the authors, a much more plausible place to look is the New York based, and un-secret, Council on Foreign Relations. For most of the 20th Century, it has been the place to go for new administrations to fill their defense and foreign policy jobs.

The book also looks at the role of money in the present day (money really does make the world go round). America's central bank was founded in the early 1900s by a group of bankers during a very secret meeting at a place called Jekyll Island, Georgia. The new institution was specifically called the Federal Reserve System to get away from the words "central bank." Banking and secrecy seem to go together perfectly. That is part of the reason why governments and corporations move hundreds of billions of dollars around the world at any time, in search of the most favorable tax rates. Sometimes, banks are formed specifically to hide, or finance, illegal activities; two recent examples are BCCI and the Nugan Hand Bank from Australia.

Another avenue for corporations to reinforce their power is through institutions like the International Monetary Fund. It was intended to provide short-term loans to member countries. After the 1980s debt crisis, it now imposes harsh financial conditions on member states alongside its loan packages. It serves Wall Street and wealthy countries; it promotes corporate welfare and has no accountability, and it hurts workers, women and the environment.

This is an excellent book with a lot of information that will not be found in the mainstream media. It is really easy to read, and will certainly keep the reader interested.