3 Mar ’14
How much say do you actually have?
Every year, more than 100 of the world’s most powerful elites gather for informal, “off-the-record” discussions concerning major world issues. These meetings are known as the Bilderberg Conference. The first conference trace back to May 1954, with its intended goal to unite Western Europe and North America in order to prevent another World War. The meeting was held at Bilderberg Hotel in the Netherlands.
Attendees of Bilderberg’s annual four-day meetings include political figures, large business CEOs, members of the royal family, and CEOs of multinational corporations. Some of the attendees are Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, Chancellor Gorge Osborne, the CEO of The Washington Post Company, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, founder and CEO of Amazon, minister of economy and competitiveness, head of states and much more.
Interestingly, these meetings are held in secrecy, guarded by hundreds of policemen. Therefore, it is not clear as to what is actually discussed. Further, media and press coverage are prohibited and attendees are sworn to secrecy. The security is airtight, to say the least. And as a result, this lack of transparency between authority and citizens sparked controversy and has inspired many conspiracy theories.
However, it is assumed that some possible discussion topics may be:
The economy
Big data
Jobs, entitlement & debt
Cyber warfare
Development in the Middle East
It is understandable as to why this is a controversial issue. The fact that the government officials are meeting with large CEOs of multinational corporations in secrecy without citizen’s consent is unjust and questionable. Also, though large media companies, i.e. Washington Post, are invited and attendants of Bilderberg yet cannot and will not provide coverage on the event says a lot about the power structure in placed.
Well, for every attendant of Bilderberg, there is one person with a camera, sign, and banner behind guarded fence miles away from the conference. They capture images of the attendees behind dark-tinted car windows as they drive by. And because of this constant and persistent pressure, in 2013, for the first time in history, Bilderberg allowed an unofficial press zone nearby.
So, if 130 people could change 59 years of history, image what more could do to transcend authority.
First and foremost, however, awareness is key.
-Krystal Le
Sources:
http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336847/Bilderberg-2013-Who-billionaires-politicians-arriving-secretive-conference-Watford-hotel.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-you-need-t
I had never heard of the Bilderberg Conference. In fact, I never even knew authorities got together on yearly basis to discuss certain issues within excluded walls of secluded hotels. I think that a conference like this is definitely necessary and perhaps encouraged, however, I do see the concerns when it comes to the privacy of the discussions and the deprivations of the rights of citizens. It doesn’t seem fair or just that any group of elites could gather to cover issues without informing those who make the issues relevant. Although the idea seems respectable, it’s hard to know what the intentions are of this elite group and what exactly their motives are as they attend conferences that could possibly predict the futures of each represented country.
This is really reminds of the Bohemian Club which is a San Francisco based men’s club of some of the most powerful people in the world who meet once a year for 2 weeks where outside concerns and business deals are to be left outside.This seems like the plot to a movie but it is actually happening. The world “conspire” comes from Latin conspirare ‘agree, plot,’ from con- ‘together with’ + spirare ‘breathe.’ That is precisely what these figure heads are doing when they get together in secrecy. One of my biggest thoughts on this issue is whether or not these people actually do control and run the world with their efforts or if they only like to feel like they do. It is very tough to tell anything further with the fact that nothing from the meeting is disclosed.
Totally have never heard of the Bilderberg Conference. This is kind of crazy to think about, and I am not surprised for not having heard of it since the powerful media can’t say anything about it. This surprises me though that the media cannot publicize this conference that could be determining where the world is going, but can publicize classified leaked military information. There needs to be transparency with the people since what could be made may piss off an entire nation or slowly take away privacy and rights without anyone seeing it coming.