Ignore the man behind the curtain

Back when I was working, my boss liked to joke about the Trilateral Commission and the conspiracy theories that it and the United Nations (with black helicopters) were going to usurp national sovereignty and install themselves as world rulers. Those theories die hard in a time when a person's patriotism can be questioned, even though the stated purpose of the Trilateral Commission (according to Wikipedia) is to "foster closer cooperation between America, Europe and Japan."

But it seems there really is a shadowy organization working to bend the government to its will. They may not be trying to create a world government; controlling the USA government is enough. This group is known as The Family, led by Doug Coe. It is an elite network of fundamentalists who wield great power behind the scenes. I hadn't heard of them either.

Author Jeff Sharlet was invited to join The Family and then invited to write a book about them. Here is a two-part interview with Sharlet about his experience and the resulting book, which is "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power."

Part 1

Part 2

Some thoughts from the interview:

The Family has existed since 1935, created to oppose many of Roosevelt's New Deal programs. They have been matchmakers between foreign dictators (usually the worst) seeking access to American power.

They have endured because they work from the inside. They are not flashy bible thumpers like Falwell. Their members are politicians (like Sam Brownback), not preachers. They'll work with anyone willing to advance their agenda.

The most dangerous aspect of The Family is their contempt for democracy. They may be similar to the GOP in this view, but this is not a partisan issue.

They "hide in plain sight" because the media tends to see fundamentalists as "poor, uneducated, and easy to command" while members of The Family are rich, sophisticated, and in power. They don't have to be public to wield that power.

American Fundamentalism has two parts. One is the public side with the televangelists, mass crusades, and voter drives. The other is the elites like The Family. Much of what the public preachers say originates with the elites.

And what they say are such things as "biblical capitalism" which tells the common people to rely on corporate leaders because they were chosen by God and really do know what's best for you. Another big idea is "purity," which encompasses all the ideas of sex the Right trumpets, but also includes purity of economics (in which gov't keeps its hands off). These are the people who do the thinking behind revisionist history to "prove" their way is the intended American way -- "He who controls the past controls the future," as George Orwell said.

The media likes to declare fundamentalism dead every few years and then is puzzled why it reappears. But The Family looks to the long term, not greatly concerned with setbacks. The battle for democracy must also be long term. They see America through Revelation -- all knowledge comes from above. America is actually about Exodus, people finding their freedom together.