1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,560 Speaker 1: There is a committee of three hundred men that rule 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,240 the world. They are known only to each other, and 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:07,919 nothing happens without their consent. 4 00:00:08,439 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 2: That is quite a way to open a conversation. It's 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:12,480 one of those quoits that just. 6 00:00:12,519 --> 00:00:14,599 Speaker 1: Hangs in the air, it really does. It sounds like 7 00:00:14,599 --> 00:00:17,920 something from a movie, you know, the villain's. 8 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 2: Monologue, right, or like a late night Reddit rabbit hole. 9 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,280 But the source of that quote, that's what's so jari. 10 00:00:24,359 --> 00:00:26,039 It wasn't some anonymous. 11 00:00:25,559 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: Poster, no, not at all. That was Walter Rathanow exactly. 12 00:00:28,879 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 2: And for anyone who doesn't know the name, we need 13 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:32,840 to be clear about who this guy was. This was 14 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,640 back in nineteen thirty four. Rathannow wasn't just some random commentator. 15 00:00:36,759 --> 00:00:39,399 Speaker 1: Far from it. This man was a German socialist, sure, 16 00:00:39,759 --> 00:00:42,200 but he was also the financial advisor to the Kaiser 17 00:00:43,039 --> 00:00:44,240 and to the Rothschilds. 18 00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:46,799 Speaker 2: I mean, that's the definition of an insider. If there 19 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,240 was a room where it happened to borrow the phrase, 20 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,359 Rathanew was probably arranging the catering. He wasn't speculating. He was, 21 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:55,600 in his view, describing his colleagues. 22 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to thrilling threads. I'm your host, and today we 23 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,920 are well, we're tugging on a thread that, if the 24 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,159 sources are to be believed, could unravel the entire fabric 25 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,040 of our modern world. We're not talking about the usual 26 00:01:08,079 --> 00:01:08,799 political theater. 27 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 2: It's good to be here, and you're absolutely right. This 28 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,519 isn't about the people you see on cable news. It's 29 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,680 not about presidents or prime ministers. It's about the people 30 00:01:16,719 --> 00:01:19,359 who allegedly put them there. 31 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: Today we're digging into a really fascinating and I have 32 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,680 to say deeply unsettling collection of transcripts and documents. They 33 00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:32,480 all center on the work of one man, doctor. 34 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,799 Speaker 2: John Coleman, and Coleman is a well, he's a very 35 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,840 controversial figure. He dedicated a huge chunk of his life 36 00:01:38,879 --> 00:01:41,879 to exposing what he called a supernational committee, the. 37 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,519 Speaker 1: Committee of three hundred, the very same one Rath no mention, 38 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,799 and the material we're working with today, it's dense. It's 39 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,040 the culmination of what he claims was a twenty five 40 00:01:50,079 --> 00:01:50,879 year investigation. 41 00:01:51,079 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 2: So our mission for our time here together is to 42 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,640 unpack that. To try and make sense of this twenty 43 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:57,480 five year quest, we need to look at who these 44 00:01:57,519 --> 00:02:01,599 people are. Coleman gives them the nickname Bels the Olympians. 45 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,239 Speaker 1: I like that it's very fitting. 46 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 2: But more than just the who, we need to understand 47 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,479 the how, because the central claim in this material is 48 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:14,159 that there's a specific structural mechanism designed to and I quote, 49 00:02:14,719 --> 00:02:16,199 crush the middle class. 50 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,319 Speaker 1: That's the part that really got me when we were prepping. 51 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,240 We're so used to conspiracy theories being about you know, 52 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,560 secret handshakes, bookie rituals in the woods, that kind of thing, right, 53 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,639 the occult stuff exactly. But Coleman's work isn't really about that. 54 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,199 He's talking about something so much more mundane, and because 55 00:02:33,199 --> 00:02:37,719 of that, so much more terrifying. He's talking about logistics bureaucracy, Yes, 56 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,800 a parallel government that operates through paperwork and policy, and 57 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,680 he claims it effectively scoops the world's intelligence agencies before 58 00:02:45,719 --> 00:02:47,199 they even know a game is being played. 59 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 2: That's a perfect way to put it. It's the banality 60 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:55,280 of absolute control. It's not magic wands, it's monetary policy, 61 00:02:55,319 --> 00:02:59,120 it's not secret incantations, it's trade agreements. And speaking of 62 00:02:59,159 --> 00:03:02,879 intelligence agencies, that's really where Coleman's whole journey begins, right, 63 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:03,680 Let's start there. 64 00:03:03,879 --> 00:03:07,879 Speaker 1: The Aha moment, because he wasn't always an outsider looking in. 65 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,719 He was an insider. The source material puts him on 66 00:03:10,719 --> 00:03:13,520 the ground serving an Angola correct and you have. 67 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,719 Speaker 2: To put yourself in that time and place to really 68 00:03:15,719 --> 00:03:17,680 get the impact of this. We're talking about the thick 69 00:03:17,719 --> 00:03:19,840 of the Cold War. It's not a Cold war in Africa. 70 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,000 It's a very, very hot one. Proxy wars are everywhere. 71 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,919 Decolonization is happening, and it's messy. 72 00:03:27,199 --> 00:03:30,439 Speaker 1: So he's a field agent, an intelligence officer, believing he's 73 00:03:30,479 --> 00:03:32,400 on one side of a clear conflicts. 74 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 2: He's a true believer, and because of his position and 75 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:40,159 his clearance, he gets access to documents that are classified 76 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:41,599 above top level. 77 00:03:41,719 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: I've always been fascinated by that phrase, above top level. 78 00:03:45,159 --> 00:03:47,319 It implies the top secret. You know, the stamp you 79 00:03:47,319 --> 00:03:50,439 see in all the spy movies is basically for public consumption. 80 00:03:50,639 --> 00:03:52,639 Speaker 2: Well it's for the lower rungs of the latter anyway. 81 00:03:52,719 --> 00:03:57,520 It's a perfect illustration of compartmentalization. In intelligence. Knowledge is power, 82 00:03:57,919 --> 00:04:00,960 and it's distributed on a need to know base. The 83 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,360 agents in the field, the analysts in their cubicles, they 84 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,719 see one piece of the puzzle. They need to believe 85 00:04:05,759 --> 00:04:07,280 the story. They're told to do their job. 86 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,599 Speaker 1: But Coleman got to see the picture on the box. 87 00:04:09,879 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 2: He got to see the picture on the box, and 88 00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:15,479 it was a completely different puzzle. See, Coleman went to 89 00:04:15,479 --> 00:04:19,959 Angola believing, truly, with all his heart, that his mission 90 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,399 was to fight the spread of Soviet communism. He was 91 00:04:23,439 --> 00:04:26,800 there to stop the Red menace from taking over Southern Africa. 92 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: He was the good guy holding the line for freedom 93 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:30,240 and democracy. 94 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,879 Speaker 2: That was the narrative, that was his reality. But then 95 00:04:32,959 --> 00:04:37,519 he reads these documents, the above top level documents, and 96 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,000 they tell a story that is so radically different it's 97 00:04:41,079 --> 00:04:42,079 worldview shattering. 98 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: What did they say? 99 00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,959 Speaker 2: They laid out that the actual mission, the real purpose 100 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,519 of the intelligence apparatus he was a part of, was 101 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,519 not to fight socialism, but to introduce socialist regimes into 102 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,279 these newly independent black African countries. Wait what exactly? He 103 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,920 wasn't the shield defending against it, He was the speared 104 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,319 delivering it. He thought he was working for the West 105 00:05:02,319 --> 00:05:04,240 against the East, but he found out he was actually 106 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,839 working for a third party that wanted to install the 107 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:08,879 very system he thought he was fighting against. 108 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,439 Speaker 1: I can't even imagine that that's a complete psychological break. 109 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,199 It's like finding out you're not the hero of the movie, 110 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:16,879 You're a pawn for the villain. 111 00:05:17,199 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 2: It's the ultimate betrayal. But the key twist here is 112 00:05:20,319 --> 00:05:22,759 who he was working for. It wasn't that he was 113 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:24,920 secretly a double agent for the KGB. 114 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,439 Speaker 1: No, the documents didn't say property of the Soviet Union, 115 00:05:28,519 --> 00:05:29,040 not at all. 116 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,199 Speaker 2: He discovered he wasn't working for any specific country. He 117 00:05:32,319 --> 00:05:35,680 was working for this committee of three hundred and in 118 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:37,920 the intelligence circles he was in. The code name for 119 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:39,839 them was the Olympians. 120 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: The Olympians like the gods on Mount Olympus, just playing 121 00:05:43,959 --> 00:05:45,319 with mortals down below. 122 00:05:45,439 --> 00:05:48,519 Speaker 2: It's a disturbingly fitting name, isn't it. They see themselves 123 00:05:48,519 --> 00:05:51,279 as being above the petty squabbles of nations. They're not 124 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,120 American or British or Russian. They are Olympians. They sit 125 00:05:55,199 --> 00:05:56,720 on the mountain and the rest of us are just 126 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:58,600 pieces on their global chess board. 127 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,079 Speaker 1: And the foot soldiers agents like Coleman was, they don't 128 00:06:02,079 --> 00:06:03,560 know who's actually moving the pieces. 129 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,519 Speaker 2: They can't know. If you knew the true cynical objective, 130 00:06:07,879 --> 00:06:10,360 you couldn't do the job with conviction. You need to 131 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,319 believe in the cover story, Coleman, through whatever circumstances, got 132 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,439 a look behind the curtain, and once he saw what 133 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,439 was back there, he couldn't unsee it. 134 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: And that's what he claims kicked off this twenty five 135 00:06:21,319 --> 00:06:22,160 year investigation. 136 00:06:22,399 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 2: Right now, we have to talk about credibility here, because 137 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,000 this is where these stories either stand up or fall apart. 138 00:06:28,399 --> 00:06:30,759 Anyone can say they saw a secret document. 139 00:06:30,879 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: Sure, it's easy to make claims proving them. 140 00:06:32,759 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 2: As the hard part exactly, but the source material provides 141 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,600 a very specific and I think very compelling piece of 142 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,120 evidence Coleman used to establish his bona fides. It has 143 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:44,399 to be with an agency called the. 144 00:06:44,439 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: NRO, the National Reconnaissance Office. 145 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,759 Speaker 2: That's the one. Now I had this part bookmarked because 146 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,839 the timeline is just undeniable. In nineteen eighty six, Coleman 147 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,399 publishes a work I think it was called Mind Control 148 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,160 Metaphysics or something similar. In it, he states very plain 149 00:07:00,759 --> 00:07:04,160 that the NRO is the top us intelligence agency, more 150 00:07:04,199 --> 00:07:08,040 powerful than the CIA, far bigger, far more powerful, far 151 00:07:08,079 --> 00:07:11,360 better funded. He even gives its address. And you have 152 00:07:11,399 --> 00:07:13,560 to remember this is nineteen eighty six. 153 00:07:13,519 --> 00:07:17,079 Speaker 1: So no Google. Most people, even people in government, had 154 00:07:17,079 --> 00:07:18,240 probably never heard of the NRO. 155 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,279 Speaker 2: Nobody had heard of it. It was a black agency. 156 00:07:21,399 --> 00:07:24,959 Its existence was officially denied. If you went to Langley 157 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,680 and asked a CIA director about the NRO, you'd get 158 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,920 a blank stare. It did not exist. 159 00:07:30,079 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: Okay, So he makes his claim in eighty six. 160 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,279 Speaker 2: Then you fast forward eight years. It's nineteen ninety four. 161 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,959 Sam Donaldson from ABC News comes on television, very serious, 162 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,160 and he announces this huge scoop, one of the biggest 163 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,800 intelligence revelations ever. And what is it. 164 00:07:44,879 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: He's discovered the National Reconnaissance Office. 165 00:07:46,959 --> 00:07:49,879 Speaker 2: He announces its existence to a shocked world, and Coleman 166 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,160 is presumably sitting at home thinking, yeah, I told you 167 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:53,959 that eight years ago. I gave you the street address. 168 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,279 Speaker 1: So the point of that story isn't just about the NRO. 169 00:07:56,519 --> 00:08:00,240 It's Coleman's way of saying, I see things before you're 170 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,000 allowed to see them. 171 00:08:01,199 --> 00:08:05,279 Speaker 2: Precisely, it's his proof of concept. If he was right 172 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,800 about this massive secret intelligence agency almost a decade before 173 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,000 the mainstream media even breathed its name, what else might 174 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,639 he be right about. It forces you to take the 175 00:08:15,639 --> 00:08:18,439 rest of his claims, as wild as they sound, a 176 00:08:18,439 --> 00:08:19,480 bit more seriously. 177 00:08:19,639 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: Okay, so it sets the stage. If he was right 178 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,680 about the NRO, maybe he's right about the Olympians. Let's 179 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,040 dig into them. Who are they? The Committee of three hundred. 180 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,839 Speaker 2: According to Coleman's research, they are a supernational body. That 181 00:08:31,879 --> 00:08:34,720 phrase is key, supernational. It means they exist above the 182 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:35,600 level of nations. 183 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: They don't have passports. 184 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 2: I mean they probably do, but they don't feel allegiance 185 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:42,799 to any flag. The laws of the United States, the 186 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,080 laws of the United Kingdom, they don't apply to them. 187 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:46,120 In their minds, they are. 188 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,159 Speaker 1: The law and they don't hold office. You can't vote 189 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:48,480 them out. 190 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,159 Speaker 2: No, that's the whole point. Democracy is the theater for 191 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,120 the masses. They operate the theater from behind the stage. 192 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,360 And Coleman starts to move from this vague idea of 193 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,039 they to naming specific groups. He talks about what he 194 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,440 calls the funding families. 195 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: Funding fondi g. It's an unusual term. 196 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:11,879 Speaker 2: It refers to the foundational wealth, the originators. He specifically 197 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,840 points to the Italian black nobility. He names families like 198 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,240 the Luccats, the Renatis, the Vulpi, Dumiseratis. 199 00:09:19,879 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: I have to be honest, I have never heard any 200 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:22,679 of those names in my life. 201 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,039 Speaker 2: And that is exactly Coleman's point. Ask anyone to name 202 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,919 the richest families in the world, and what do they say. 203 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: Rockefeller, Rothschild, maybe some tech billionaires now like Bezos or Musk, 204 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:34,919 the Gates. 205 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 2: Family, right people. On the cover of Forbes magazine, Coleman's 206 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,679 source material claims that these Italian families, these Olympians, makes 207 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,000 someone like David Rockefeller look like a popper. 208 00:09:45,519 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: That's that is genuinely difficult to comprehend. Rockefeller money built 209 00:09:50,039 --> 00:09:52,080 modern New York City. How can you have wealth that 210 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:53,879 dwarfs that and nobody knows who you are? 211 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 2: Well, it's about the nature of the wealth. What we 212 00:09:56,039 --> 00:09:59,279 think of as rich. The Forbes less money. It's very visible. 213 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,639 It's tied to stock prices. It's in publicly traded companies. 214 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,399 We can track it. If Tesla stock goes down, we 215 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,519 see Elon Musk's net worth change in real time. 216 00:10:08,639 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: It's liquid, it's on paper exactly. 217 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 2: But this old money, this true dynastic, centuries old wealth, 218 00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:19,960 it's different. It's not in stocks. It's in land, it's 219 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,679 in physical gold held in private vaults. It's in priceless 220 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,399 art that never goes to auction. It's held in a 221 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,039 labyrinth of trusts and foundations so complex that no tax 222 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:31,639 authority on Earth can unravel it. 223 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,399 Speaker 1: So it's wealth that's become so vast. Yeah, it's basically 224 00:10:34,399 --> 00:10:36,480 part of the planet's infrastructure. It's invisible. 225 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,039 Speaker 2: It doesn't need to be seen. It doesn't scream for attention. 226 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,679 It whispers instructions. And that brings us to this absolutely 227 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:44,759 bizarre incident with Mikyle Gorbachev. 228 00:10:44,879 --> 00:10:46,799 Speaker 1: Oh, this story is wild. It feels like a glitch 229 00:10:46,799 --> 00:10:47,399 in the matrix. 230 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 2: It really does. So the scene is this, Mikyle Gorbachev, 231 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,320 former leader of the Soviet Union, a global titan, is 232 00:10:53,399 --> 00:10:56,399 visiting the United States. He's standing there with George H. W. 233 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,600 Bush and Dan Quayle. It's a huge media event. 234 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,799 Speaker 1: He's there to launch his foundation, the Gorbachew Foundation. It's 235 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,080 all about post Cold War peace and cooperation. 236 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 2: Correct, And he's giving a speech and in the middle 237 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,320 of it he just says it. He says very clearly 238 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,000 that his foundation was established with the approval of the 239 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:13,240 Committee of three hundred. 240 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: He actually used the name out loud on camera. 241 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,039 Speaker 2: He said the quiet part loud, And according to Coleman, 242 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,080 what happened next is the real story. The event was 243 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,960 being broadcast live on CNN. The second those words, committee 244 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,919 of three hundred left his mouth feed cut away, gun, 245 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,200 just like that, switch to something else. Technical difficulties, you know, 246 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,679 the drill, of course. So Coleman, being the investigator he is, 247 00:11:39,879 --> 00:11:43,000 starts digging. He writes to CNN over and over again. 248 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:45,240 Can I please have a copy of the transcript of 249 00:11:45,279 --> 00:11:48,279 that speech? They'd reply, yes, it's available, But he never 250 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:53,000 received it. Every request was stonewalled, ignored, or denied. 251 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: That is that's more damning than the comment itself. In 252 00:11:56,039 --> 00:11:58,679 a way, if it was just a strange, meaningless comment, 253 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,639 why go to such length to scrub it from the record? Right? 254 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 2: If you'd said, with the approval of my good friends, 255 00:12:03,759 --> 00:12:06,360 nobody would have blinked. But the reaction to the name 256 00:12:06,399 --> 00:12:09,000 itself is what's so telling. It implies a level of 257 00:12:09,039 --> 00:12:12,840 information control that is just staggering. If you can edit 258 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,159 a statement from a world later out of the historical 259 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,360 record in real time, what else can you edit? 260 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,039 Speaker 1: It makes you wonder how much of recorded history is 261 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,720 the first draft versus the approved final cut. 262 00:12:24,919 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 2: It's a terrifying thought. So, okay, we have the who 263 00:12:27,919 --> 00:12:31,159 these three hundred Olympians. But like you said, three hundred 264 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,559 people can't personally manage a planet of eight billion. They 265 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,399 need an operating system, They need executive branches. 266 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: They can't be on every city council meeting. 267 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 2: They don't need to be. They operate from the top down, 268 00:12:42,639 --> 00:12:47,200 and Coleman identifies their primary executive arm the Royal Institute 269 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,080 for International Affairs, usually just called the RIA, which. 270 00:12:49,879 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: Is base at Chatham House in London. I've heard of 271 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:53,480 Chathamhouse rules. 272 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 2: Yes, the rule where you can use the information from 273 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,120 a meeting, but you can't attribute it to any specific person. 274 00:12:59,399 --> 00:13:01,879 Very convenient for having off the record conversations. 275 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: It's a highly respected, very influential foreign policy think tank. 276 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 2: That's its public face. But Coleman claims it's much much 277 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,080 more than that. He calls it the executive body that 278 00:13:12,159 --> 00:13:15,639 gives instructions directly to the government of the United States. 279 00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: Instructions that's a strong word. It's not advice or recommendations. 280 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,960 It's a chain of command. London tells Washington d C. 281 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:24,679 What to do. 282 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,159 Speaker 2: That is the core of the claim, and to back 283 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,600 it up, he issues a challenge. She says, go and look, 284 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,279 find me one single United States Secretary of State from 285 00:13:33,399 --> 00:13:36,799 nineteen nineteen onwards, who was not appointed through the influence 286 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,679 of the RIAA or its American sister organization, the Council 287 00:13:40,759 --> 00:13:42,200 on Foreign Relations. 288 00:13:41,799 --> 00:13:42,639 Speaker 1: In santeen nineteen. 289 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,519 Speaker 2: That's more than a century, a full century of American 290 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:56,200 foreign policy. Think of the presidents in that time, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Democrats, Republicans, Hawks, Doves. 291 00:13:55,799 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: The completely diverse range of ideologies, supposedly Supposedly. 292 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 2: Woman's argument is that the person actually running foreign policy, 293 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,639 the Secretary of State, is always selected from the same pool, 294 00:14:07,039 --> 00:14:10,720 a pool curated by this London based institute. It makes 295 00:14:10,759 --> 00:14:13,159 the president look less like the chief executive and more 296 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,279 like the branch manager. 297 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,159 Speaker 1: The public face of the company, the one who cuts 298 00:14:17,159 --> 00:14:18,159 the ribbons. 299 00:14:17,799 --> 00:14:20,639 Speaker 2: The packaging, as the source calls it. Coleman makes the 300 00:14:20,679 --> 00:14:25,120 explosive claim that presidents themselves are chosen or manipulated specifically 301 00:14:25,159 --> 00:14:28,679 to ensure they appoint these handlers. He points to Woodrow Wilson, FDR. 302 00:14:28,799 --> 00:14:30,840 And he's particularly brutal about Jimmy Carter. 303 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, that part of the transcript was shocking. He claims 304 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,399 Carter was selected by them precisely because he had a 305 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:38,840 history of mental breakdowns. 306 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 2: It's a very harsh allegation, but it fits the logic 307 00:14:41,879 --> 00:14:45,039 he's presenting. If your goal is total control, you don't 308 00:14:45,039 --> 00:14:48,879 want a strong willed, independent Maverick. You want someone pliable, 309 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,639 someone who can be managed. The claim is that they 310 00:14:51,679 --> 00:14:55,279 saw Carter's psychological profile as a feature, not a bug. 311 00:14:55,559 --> 00:14:57,679 They saw someone they could easily control. 312 00:14:58,279 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: So all the debates we have the election, the arguments 313 00:15:00,879 --> 00:15:03,679 over red versus blue. If this is true, we're just 314 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,559 arguing over the color of the curtains in the house 315 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:06,159 we don't own. 316 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 2: That is the illusion of choice in a nutshell. The 317 00:15:09,039 --> 00:15:12,559 faces change, the rhetoric changes, but the underlying structure of power, 318 00:15:12,679 --> 00:15:17,159 the advisory bodies, the policy institutes, remains the same. The 319 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,759 ship of state continues on the same course, regardless of 320 00:15:19,799 --> 00:15:21,840 who we think is at the heme Wow. 321 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,519 Speaker 1: Okay, so that's the political arm the riia. But that 322 00:15:25,639 --> 00:15:29,200 can't be the whole picture. To really control society, you 323 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,440 need to control the economy. You need to control how 324 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:32,480 people live and work. 325 00:15:33,039 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 2: And this is where the story takes an even darker turn. 326 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,639 This is where we get to the weapon. According to 327 00:15:38,639 --> 00:15:42,200 Coleman's investigation, The Committee of three hundred gave it directive 328 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,879 to an Italian industrialist named Aurelio picche The. 329 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: Directive was to form what we now know as the 330 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:49,039 Club of Rome. 331 00:15:49,279 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 2: Yes, and on the surface, the Club of Rome presents 332 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,399 itself as this benign global think tank. You know, they're 333 00:15:55,399 --> 00:16:00,360 concerned with humanity's future, overpopulation, pollution, all the big problem. 334 00:16:00,519 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: Sounds noble enough. 335 00:16:01,759 --> 00:16:06,879 Speaker 2: But Coleman alleges their true secret objective was devastatingly specific, 336 00:16:07,399 --> 00:16:11,919 to systematically dismantle the industrial and agricultural supremacy of the 337 00:16:12,039 --> 00:16:12,840 United States. 338 00:16:12,879 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: Okay, hold on, why why would you want to do that? 339 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,559 The US was the engine of the global economy after 340 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,440 World War two. Crippling it seems like shooting yourself on 341 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,279 the foot if you're a global oligarch. 342 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 2: It does until you understand that wealth isn't their primary goal. 343 00:16:26,639 --> 00:16:30,200 Their primary goal is control. A wealthy, prosperous and independent 344 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,000 population is very, very difficult to control. 345 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,159 Speaker 1: So how do they justify this? What was the cover story? 346 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,919 Speaker 2: Overpopulation? The Club of Rome's most famous publication was a 347 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,919 nineteen seventy two report called The Limits to Growth. It 348 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,000 was a sensation. It used computer models to predict global 349 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,360 collapse due to population growth and resource depletions. 350 00:16:51,399 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: I've heard of it. It basically said, we're all doomed 351 00:16:53,519 --> 00:16:54,639 if we keep growing. 352 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 2: Exactly, and Coleman calls this the zero growth post industrial plan. 353 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,200 They created a narrative that humanity was a virus and 354 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,880 the earth was dying. And who was the main culprit, 355 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,559 who was consuming the most, producing the most, and having 356 00:17:08,559 --> 00:17:10,039 too many prosperous babies. 357 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,839 Speaker 1: The United States. We were cast as the villain. 358 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,640 Speaker 2: We became the whipping boy for the world's problems. And 359 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,279 the solution they proposed was zero growth, a managed dedevelopment 360 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:20,279 of the United States. 361 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: Zero growth. That just sounds like a managed death. It 362 00:17:22,759 --> 00:17:23,519 sounds like decay. 363 00:17:23,799 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 2: That's what it is. But here's the most important part 364 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,480 of Coleman's analysis. This plan wasn't aimed at America as 365 00:17:30,519 --> 00:17:33,759 some abstract idea. It was aimed at a very specific 366 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,160 segment of the population, a middle class, the American middle class. 367 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,319 And this is really the heart of the whole theory. 368 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:41,319 We have to ask why why were they the target. 369 00:17:41,599 --> 00:17:43,839 Speaker 1: I was assumed the super rich would want a thriving 370 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,680 middle class to buy all their products and services. 371 00:17:47,319 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 2: That's the conventional economic wisdom. But from a power perspective, 372 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:52,920 from the perspective of a group that wants a feudal 373 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,839 style one world order, the middle class is a massive problem. 374 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,839 Coleman looks at it historically. For most of history you 375 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:05,279 had a tiny ruling class and a massive poor peasant class. 376 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 1: And the peasants were easy to control, very easy. 377 00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 2: They lived hand to mouth. They had no savings, no property, 378 00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:12,880 no real power. If they got out of line, the 379 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,240 lords could just starve them out. They had no leverage. 380 00:18:15,319 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: But the post war American middle class was a completely different. 381 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,559 Speaker 2: Animal, a historical anomaly. For the first time, a huge 382 00:18:22,599 --> 00:18:26,599 swath of the population had long term, stable employment. They 383 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,880 had job security, They owned their own homes, their own cars, 384 00:18:30,319 --> 00:18:34,359 they had pensions, they had disposable income, and crucially, they 385 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,039 were not dependent on the state for their survival. They 386 00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:41,039 were independent, dangerously independent. They were a stumbling block, as 387 00:18:41,079 --> 00:18:43,920 the source puts it, to the idea of a global, 388 00:18:44,279 --> 00:18:48,319 centrally planned society. If you want everyone to be dependent 389 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,599 on a global government for their food, their housing, their income, 390 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,759 you first have to destroy their ability to provide those 391 00:18:54,799 --> 00:18:55,759 things for themselves. 392 00:18:56,079 --> 00:18:57,559 Speaker 1: So you have to take away their good jobs. 393 00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,799 Speaker 2: You have to take away the foundation of their independence. 394 00:18:59,839 --> 00:19:01,839 But you can't just send it an army. That's messy 395 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,960 and people fight back, so you use economic warfare. You 396 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:06,440 attack the industrial base. 397 00:19:06,799 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: This is where the outsourcing and d industrialization comes in. 398 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:15,039 The transcript specifically mentions making the US dependent on China. 399 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 2: Yes, the plan, as Coleman lays it out, was to 400 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:23,200 systematically hollow out America's manufacturing core. Shut down the steel mills, 401 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,880 the car factories, the textile plants, ship those jobs overseas 402 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,319 where labor is cheap. 403 00:19:28,279 --> 00:19:31,319 Speaker 1: And you replace those high wage, high skill manufacturing jobs with. 404 00:19:31,599 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 2: Low wage, insecure service jobs the gig economy. You turn 405 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,480 a nation of producers into a nation of consumers dependent 406 00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:41,400 on foreign supply chains for almost everything they need. You 407 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,640 turn a homeowner into a lifelong renter. 408 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,759 Speaker 1: It's the difference between being the master of your own 409 00:19:46,839 --> 00:19:48,920 destiny and being independent. 410 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 2: And Coleman's core argument is that this wasn't just some 411 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,920 unfortunate side effect of globalization. It wasn't an accident. It 412 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,599 was intentional sabotage orchestrated by the Club of Rome on 413 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,440 behalf of the Committee of three hundred. 414 00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: That's a heavy thought, because when you look around today 415 00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:10,640 you see the results of that everywhere, the anxiety, the 416 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,000 feeling of constantly treading water, the loss of the idea 417 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,680 that your kids will be better off than you are. 418 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,519 We're told that's just economic evolution, but. 419 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,079 Speaker 2: He's arguing it was a planned demolition. And if you 420 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,440 start to see it that way as a deliberate plan, 421 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,240 your own personal struggles start to look very different. It's 422 00:20:27,279 --> 00:20:29,640 not just bad luck. It's that you're living inside a 423 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,359 system designed for you to fail, or at least to 424 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:33,160 never get ahead. 425 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: There's this one quote in the material from Alexander King, 426 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,079 who was the chairman of the Club of Rome. It 427 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:39,880 is one of the most chilling things I've ever read. 428 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:41,759 Speaker 2: I know exactly the one you mean. It feels like 429 00:20:41,799 --> 00:20:44,240 someone accidentally saying the master plan out loud. 430 00:20:44,559 --> 00:20:48,599 Speaker 1: He said, the American people henceforth must get used to 431 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,759 the idea that they will never ever again in their 432 00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:54,000 lifetime have full employment. 433 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,640 Speaker 2: Never ever again. It's not a prediction, it's a declaration. 434 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,839 It's a statement of policy. It's a verdict being handed 435 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:01,240 down from on high. 436 00:21:01,279 --> 00:21:04,039 Speaker 1: And the most infuriating part is that, according to Coleman, 437 00:21:04,519 --> 00:21:08,039 the US government was an active participant in this. The 438 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,640 very people who were supposed to be protecting American prosperity 439 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:13,680 were helping to dismantle it. 440 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 2: Which brings us back to that idea of a parallel government, 441 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,119 a secret upper level government that actually runs the country 442 00:21:20,319 --> 00:21:22,720 while the visible government provides the distraction. 443 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: They don't want you to know they exist because they're 444 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,359 the ones pulling the levers that control your life. 445 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,519 Speaker 2: They dictate the flow of everything. Your wages, the interest 446 00:21:30,599 --> 00:21:33,279 rate on your mortgage, the cost of gas, the stability 447 00:21:33,279 --> 00:21:36,359 of your job. These aren't just market forces. They are 448 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,319 policy decisions made by people you've never heard of and 449 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:40,279 will never vote for. 450 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: It's power through systems, not through people. It's not a 451 00:21:44,519 --> 00:21:48,319 dictator yelling from a balcony. It's an algorithm adjusting interest rates. 452 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,559 It's a trade policy written in one thousand pages of 453 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,240 legal lease. 454 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 2: It's all logistics. And look at how the system is 455 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,720 designed to absorb shocks. The super wealthy, the Olympians, they're insulated, 456 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,319 they have their fonding wealth, They can write out any storm. 457 00:22:03,799 --> 00:22:07,920 The very poor are sadly used to hardship. They adapt 458 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,640 because they have to. But the middle class, the middle 459 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:12,680 class is the crumple zone. I think you use that 460 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,519 analogy earlier, and it's perfect. When the Committee of three 461 00:22:15,559 --> 00:22:17,880 Hundred decides to slam the brakes on the economy with 462 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,920 a zero growth plan, the middle class is the part 463 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,559 of the car designed to be crushed to protect the 464 00:22:23,599 --> 00:22:24,640 passengers in the back. 465 00:22:24,839 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: We take the impact so they don't have to. 466 00:22:26,799 --> 00:22:29,519 Speaker 2: And the beauty of the system from their perspective is 467 00:22:29,559 --> 00:22:33,000 its efficiency. Once you embed these ideas into the culture 468 00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:36,400 that jobs are temporary, that you'll own nothing and be happy, 469 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,440 people stompfighting it. They accept it as the new normal. 470 00:22:39,519 --> 00:22:41,200 The defeat becomes internalized. 471 00:22:41,319 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 1: Okay, let's try to put this all together, because it's 472 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:44,680 a huge, sprawling picture. 473 00:22:44,799 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 2: It really is. 474 00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: We start with doctor Coleman in Angola discovering the entire 475 00:22:49,039 --> 00:22:51,480 Cold War narrative he believed was a lie. 476 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,559 Speaker 2: That leads into the Committee of three hundred. The Olympians, 477 00:22:55,079 --> 00:22:58,400 these ultra wealthy, invisible families who operate above the law. 478 00:22:58,759 --> 00:23:01,839 Speaker 1: To execute their political will. They use the Royal Institute 479 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:06,279 for International Affairs in London to essentially select key US 480 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,359 government officials, ensuring policy continuity no matter who wins an election. 481 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 2: Then to execute their economic will, they create the Club 482 00:23:14,039 --> 00:23:15,160 of Rome, which. 483 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: Uses the cover story of environmentalism and overpopulation to launch 484 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,119 an economic war against the United. 485 00:23:20,799 --> 00:23:24,799 Speaker 2: States, a war specifically targeting the independence and stability of 486 00:23:24,799 --> 00:23:25,920 the American middle. 487 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: Class, which leads to de industrialization, wage stagnation, and a 488 00:23:30,079 --> 00:23:32,680 shift from a nation of independent producers to a nation 489 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:33,880 of dependent consumers. 490 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:36,079 Speaker 2: When you lay it out like that, step by step, 491 00:23:36,079 --> 00:23:38,880 it's well, it's a blueprint. It reframes the last fifty 492 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,799 years of history, not as a series of accidents and crises, 493 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,480 but as a series of calculated decisions. 494 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,319 Speaker 1: It's not a car drifting off the road, It's a 495 00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:51,839 car being deliberately steered towards a specific destination. And the 496 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,119 why of it all is just so chilling. To create 497 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:59,640 a global society that is easier to manage, easier to control. 498 00:23:59,559 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 2: Population that's too indebted, too insecure, and too distracted with 499 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,960 basic survival to ever pose a threat to the ruling class. 500 00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: And the efficiency of it is what's truly diabolical. Once 501 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,960 you set the system in motion, it just runs itself. 502 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,400 You don't need a secret meeting every week to plot 503 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,599 the next move. The economic laws and trade policies you 504 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:20,920 put in place in the seventies. Just keep doing the 505 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:22,240 work for you year after year. 506 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,559 Speaker 2: The decline feels natural, the loss of the American dream 507 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,359 feels inevitable. But Coleman's entire life's work was to shout 508 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,200 that there is nothing natural or inevitable about it. It 509 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:32,920 was engineered. 510 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,279 Speaker 1: Which leaves us with a big question. If this theory 511 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,160 is even partially true, where does that leave us today, 512 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,920 sitting here living in this reality they supposedly created. 513 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,839 Speaker 2: Well, it gives us a different lens to look through. 514 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,880 Instead of seeing economic hardship as a personal failure, you 515 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,000 can see it as the result of a system functioning 516 00:24:50,039 --> 00:24:50,720 as designed. 517 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,559 Speaker 1: And if the middle class was targeted specifically because we 518 00:24:54,559 --> 00:24:58,359 were too independent and hard to crush, it's almost a 519 00:24:58,400 --> 00:24:59,359 backhanded compliment. 520 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 2: It's the ultimate backhanded compliment. It means that our independence 521 00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,400 is the one thing they actually fear. The very existence 522 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,240 of a stable, prosperous, self reliant middle class was such 523 00:25:12,319 --> 00:25:15,279 a threat to their long term plans that they had 524 00:25:15,279 --> 00:25:18,759 to spend decades and vast resources to dismantle it. 525 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: That's a powerful way to look at it. Yeah, we 526 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,680 were the stumbling block, and maybe in some ways we 527 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:24,160 still are. 528 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,559 Speaker 2: We can only be a stumbling block if we understand 529 00:25:26,559 --> 00:25:28,880 the game being played. You can't fight a machine if 530 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,640 you think it's just the weather. Coleman's work, whether you 531 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,000 believe every single detail or not, it forces you to 532 00:25:34,079 --> 00:25:36,319 stop looking at the storm and start looking for the 533 00:25:36,319 --> 00:25:37,759 machine that's making the wind blow. 534 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: It forces you to connect the dots. The NRO prediction, 535 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,759 the Gorbachev incident, the century of Riia, approved secretaries of State. 536 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,079 These are specific, tangible data points that are very difficult 537 00:25:49,079 --> 00:25:50,839 to just dismiss as coincidence. 538 00:25:50,839 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 2: They're the threads, and when you pull on them, the 539 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:54,799 whole picture of the world can change. 540 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: So we want to leave you, our listener, with a 541 00:25:57,599 --> 00:26:00,799 question two really all over, and we want you to 542 00:26:00,799 --> 00:26:04,400 be honest with yourself. Do you feel the structure that 543 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,440 Coleman describes in your daily life, that slow, steady squeezing 544 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,319 of the middle class, that shift away from security and 545 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,799 poors dependence. Does that feel like a deliberate force to you? 546 00:26:15,079 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 2: Or do you think this is all just a complicated 547 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,640 way of making sense out of what are essentially chaotic 548 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,680 impersonal economic forces. 549 00:26:22,279 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: Put simply, is the system broken or is it working 550 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:26,640 exactly as it was designed? 551 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 2: Is the pain we feel a bug or is it 552 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,240 a feature of the program. 553 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: Let us know what you think in the comments. We 554 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:33,960 read them all and we're really curious to hear your 555 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,400 perspective on the Olympians and their alleged plan. 556 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 2: As always, stay skeptical. 557 00:26:38,599 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: But stay curious. Thanks for joining us on thrilling Threads.