When it comes to movies, I love a good political thriller, especially if there is a lot of action involved. I like the unfolding of the tangled web of things that are not always as they seem – secret, all powerful societies with complex master plans to control everything and everyone.
These are themes that are as old as literature and storytelling. People have always been fascinated with the idea that there must be group of Plato’s ‘Philosopher Kings’ at the helm of their life, manipulating every decision and controlling every outcome.
Perhaps there are some nefarious groups at work behind the scenes of “everything,” a super elite, super intelligent, super rich, and super powerful bunch that have managed to remain undetected for generations. It is also possible that there really are Sasquatch, Yetis and Loch Ness Monsters, Islands of living Dinosaurs and Aliens probing around undetected too.
I’m probably stepping on a few toes here, and some could use similar sounding logic to call me out on my own deep Christian faith. I do have some very sound and compelling reasons for what I believe, and a compelling personal testimony too. But I concede that my beliefs require faith, but so does the notion that there is some Skull and Bones klatch of Rockefellers out there controlling our every move.
I may not be the most educated or well-learned person, and my IQ is probably average, but I am unable to imagine anyone so smart, skilled and organized to actually even have a master plan. I know a lot of smart people, educated people, and very wealthy people too, all of them, despite their success, are very normal, I have watched them all fumble and fail through many aspects of life. They may exceed my achievements on many levels, but they certainly do not exceed my abilities, and they don’t exceed yours either.
We’d all like to have someone to blame for the mistakes and missed opportunities of our life. Everyone has a collection of should have, could have and would have laments that, “had things been different,” they might have improved their status and means. I think we prefer to feel like “the system” had set us up for failure, that our own choices toward addictions and love of pleasure were because some controlling party exploited us to “keep us down.”
Maybe we bend towards conspiracy theories because they give us a way out, a scape goat to blame instead of taking that painful look at ourselves. Most of my troubles has come at my own hand, and most of my missed opportunities were because I was too afraid or too lazy to engage them. Too often I chose to eat popcorn and watch my life go by, like a movie scripted by someone else that I was destined to act out. But I think destiny’s design has something to do with discovering and fulfilling the potential within us, no “mastermind” or “new world order” can stop or fulfill that in you.