How do you interpret this quote?

TheLoneBedouin

Banned
T
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
733
In 1912, Woodrow Wilson made the following quote:

Woodrow Wilson said:
'Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U. S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."
Click to expand...

What power, in your opinion, was Wilson talking about?
 
AZCat said:
I generally interpret quotes like this in the context which they are made.
Click to expand...

Good idea.
Here's the preceding paragraph:
A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world - no longer a Government of free opinion no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men....
Click to expand...

It is from The New Freedom. So how would you interpret it?
 
What speech/talk/conference/interview/etc. is this quote from. We may be better able to decipher the quote if we know what original context it is from.
 
Bankers. I'm gonna withdraw my money now from Crazy Bob's First Bank Trust & Fireworks down on the corner. That greedy slob!
 
TheLoneBedouin said:
Good idea.
Here's the preceding paragraph:


It is from The New Freedom. So how would you interpret it?
Click to expand...

I don't know - I need to read it first. It is not a long document but will take some time. Perhaps some of the other posters here have already read it and can provide a more timely answer.
 
From what I can tell, Wilson was speaking of the "trusts", a common political trope of his day.
 
TLB, why not state how you interpret it? Give us a clue.

ETA: I just cheated by searching the Gutenberg copy. Yep, it's about the trusts, hot issue ca.1912. So again, TLB; what is your view? Wilson's concern about the trusts and monopoly capitalism was pretty obvious even at a quick glance like I just did.
 
Last edited:
Clearly he's talking about the Saucer People who in conjunction with the Rand Corporation, along with the Reverse Vampires, are trying to eliminate the meal of dinner.

Trusts? Who's ever heard of such a thing?
 
Travis said:
Clearly he's talking about the Saucer People who in conjunction with the Rand Corporation, along with the Reverse Vampires, are trying to eliminate the meal of dinner.

Trusts? Who's ever heard of such a thing?
Click to expand...

But trusts is an anagram for struts, which is sort of a synonym for beams...and I guess you can see where that leads us...
 
Last edited:
Slayhamlet said:
That isn't the preceding paragraph. Please at least try to read the source material you're quoting from.
Click to expand...




I was about to say....So, TLB, why the need to lie about the structure of an essay you had linked us to? Did you really think no one here would bother to check on your assertions?

Have you learned so little about us in your time here?



Silly question, I know.......
 
Piggy said:
From what I can tell, Wilson was speaking of the "trusts", a common political trope of his day.
Click to expand...

He says there is a single monopoly that is "organized, subtle, watchful, interlocked, complete, and pervasive" that controls the loaning of large amounts of credit as well as "the industries of the country".

Is Wilson a crazy conspiricy theorist?
 
TheLoneBedouin said:
He says there is a single monopoly that is "organized, subtle, watchful, interlocked, complete, and pervasive" that controls the loaning of large amounts of credit as well as "the industries of the country".

Is Wilson a crazy conspiricy theorist?
Click to expand...



He also said:


We used to think in the old-fashioned days when life was very simple that all that government had to do was to put on a policeman's uniform, and say, "Now don't anybody hurt anybody else." We used to say that the ideal of government was for every man to be left alone and not interfered with, except when he interfered with somebody else; and that the best government was the government that did as little governing as possible. That was the idea that obtained in Jefferson's time. But we are coming now to realize that life is so complicated that we are not dealing with the old conditions, and that the law has to step in and create new conditions under which we may live, the conditions which will make it tolerable for us to live.
Click to expand...


Why is someone so paranoid about government conspiracies promoting an essay that calls for more governmental control?


Or did you not read that far?
 
Hi

I went to Project Gutenberg and downloaded teh book.

Man... I THINK he's talking about MICROSOFT!!
 
Horatius said:
He also said:





Why is someone so paranoid about government conspiracies promoting an essay that calls for more governmental control?


Or did you not read that far?
Click to expand...
Red herring and strawman. Wilson's policies are irrelevant to his observations.

Is Wilson a crazy conspiracy theorist?
 
'Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U. S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."

Sounds like the very people who keep hiding the remote from me.
 
SDC said:
ETA: I just cheated by searching the Gutenberg copy. Yep, it's about the trusts, hot issue ca.1912. So again, TLB; what is your view? Wilson's concern about the trusts and monopoly capitalism was pretty obvious even at a quick glance like I just did.
Click to expand...


Pfft... Hey, TheLoneBedouin. Can you dig up a quote about "those damn commies", too? That'd be great.
 
Wilson doesn't mention a conspriacy anywhere in that quote, or in the chapter that I could see. What he did say was that due to the lack of legal protections to new businesses, that those already in instrusty had control and were acting as a monopoly to keep out any competition from being created against them.

How that becomes a conspiracy between the MIC, bankers, and Washington I have no idea.
 
Last edited:
TheLoneBedouin said:
Riiight!

Brainache (Camera Operator, Salesman, TV Director, Father, Maintenance Man) knows better than Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, on the power relations between the MIC, bankers, and Washington.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

In hindsight, yes. It is quite easy to know better than someone who led a powerful country over 80 years ago.
 
TheLoneBedouin said:
Riiight!

Brainache (Camera Operator, Salesman, TV Director, Father, Maintenance Man) knows better than Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, on the power relations between the MIC, bankers, and Washington.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I didn't say I know better than Woodrow Wilson. I do, however, know better than you. Not difficult really.
 
TheLoneBedouin said:
He says there is a single monopoly that is "organized, subtle, watchful, interlocked, complete, and pervasive" that controls the loaning of large amounts of credit as well as "the industries of the country".

Is Wilson a crazy conspiricy theorist?
Click to expand...

TLB, you still haven't answered; what is your take on Wilson's views? Are you going to have courage enough to say, or are you just going to play the tease? Or just continue the dance of the seven veils...

Also, it's apparent you didn't read Wilson's essay at Gutenberg, and only did a little cherry picking of quotes. How about you tell us where you came across the quotes. And I don't believe you got them from the actual essay.

ETA: I am trying to say: you must have picked up a few choice quotes from a third party, so to speak. Tell us who and where.

Also ETA: in post 20 you said: "Wilson's policies are irrelevant to his observations." Worthy of a stundie nomination, and if you don't know why, TLB, you are merely displaying thoughtlessness and ignorance.

MIC... Microphone? I don't think they were at all common in 1912. Oh, you mean Military Industrial Complex, a phrase which, I think was popularized by Eisenhower ca.1960, and in any case is stunningly inappropriate for the US ca.1912.
 
Last edited:
Honestly? I would interpret it as: "Even rich, powerful people can suffer from irrational fears."
For a fairly recent example, see a biography of Howard Hughes.

But I have to wonder: If even rich, powerful people with lots of resources at their disposal dare not fight this cabal, why does it have to stay secret? Why is it always just about to conquer the world, and yet it never does? Frankly, it sounds to me like Jeebus, who is always just about to return, and so you'd better be sucking up to the people who have the inside information on these things.
 
You see TLB, you are incapable of looking at anything objectively. Your entire worldview is so tainted by your fears of shadowy evil that it alters your perceptions so it is everywhere and in everything.

I'm pretty sure you see deep hidden messages and secret warnings in a "I hate Mondays" Garfield comic.
 
Remember your high school US History & Civics classes? The textbooks often were illustrated with political cartoons including from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There would always be characters labelled "trusts", usually fat men with cigars, and with moneybags instead of faces.

Well, that was in the 60s, anyhow, when I was taking these classes. Nowadays, they probably have pictures of Monica Lewinsky doing Bill Clinton. Grump, grump.
 
How do you interpret this quote by Patrick Henry?

Patrick Henry said:
give me death
Click to expand...

I guess, TLB, you are saying Patrick Henry was suicidally mentally unstable?
 
TjW said:
Honestly? I would interpret it as: "Even rich, powerful people can suffer from irrational fears."
For a fairly recent example, see a biography of Howard Hughes.

But I have to wonder: If even rich, powerful people with lots of resources at their disposal dare not fight this cabal, why does it have to stay secret? Why is it always just about to conquer the world, and yet it never does? Frankly, it sounds to me like Jeebus, who is always just about to return, and so you'd better be sucking up to the people who have the inside information on these things.
Click to expand...

Because that is the source of their power. It's much better for them that you think "democratically elected leaders" have power, because it offers you hope that you can just vote the bums out. There will never be a proclamation that will confirm for you what is obvious to me.

None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.
 
Tippit said:
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.
Click to expand...

Eeesh.

Did you know that one of the quotes in your sig line is a joke that Mr Bernanke told at Milton Friedman's birthday party?
 
Alareth said:
You see TLB, you are incapable of looking at anything objectively. Your entire worldview is so tainted by your fears of shadowy evil that it alters your perceptions so it is everywhere and in everything.

I'm pretty sure you see deep hidden messages and secret warnings in a "I hate Mondays" Garfield comic.
Click to expand...
I've said nothing about what I believe- you're simply lying. Lying suggests that you are incabable of looking at anything objectively.

Please do not post in this thread unless you have something constructive to add.
 
TjW said:
Honestly? I would interpret it as: "Even rich, powerful people can suffer from irrational fears."
For a fairly recent example, see a biography of Howard Hughes.
Click to expand...
But he goes on to list the reasons why they are afraid. Dismissing all evidence of conspiracy as "irrational" is itself irrational.

But I have to wonder: If even rich, powerful people with lots of resources at their disposal dare not fight this cabal, why does it have to stay secret?
Click to expand...
In short, game theory.

Why is it always just about to conquer the world, and yet it never does?
Click to expand...
Wilson doesn't say anything about "conquering the world".

Frankly, it sounds to me like Jeebus, who is always just about to return, and so you'd better be sucking up to the people who have the inside information on these things.
Click to expand...
You're a conspiracy theorist.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom