“WAR is a racket. It always has been.  It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” 

—Smedley Butler

     “If only more of today’s military personnel would realize that they are being used by the owning elites as a publicly subsidized capitalist goon squad.”

—Smedley Butler

     “It was not my intention to doubt that the Doctrines of the Illuminati and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of this fact than I am. The idea that I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country had, as Societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation). That Individuals of them may… actually had a separation [sic] of the People from their Government in view, is too evident to be questioned.”

—George Washington, 1st President of the United States (1789–1797), from a letter that Washington wrote on October 24, 1798, which can be found in the Library of Congress.  For an analysis of Washington’s warning, see the article “Library of Congress: George Washington Warns of Illuminati”

     “I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”

—Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (1801–1809) and principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), in a letter written to John Taylor on May 28, 1816

     “A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various powerful interests, combined in one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in banks.”

—John C. Calhoun, Vice President (1825-1832) and U.S. Senator, from a speech given on May 27, 1836

     “I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is now controlled by its system of credit. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”

—Woodrow Wilson 1919

     “The war wasn’t only about abolishing fascism, but to conquer sales markets. We could have, if we had intended so, prevented this war from breaking out without doing one shot, but we didn’t want to.”

—Winston Churchill to Truman (Fultun, USA March 1946) 

     “Germany’s unforgivable crime before WW2 was its attempt to loosen its economy out of the world trade system and to build up an independent exchange system from which the world-finance couldn’t profit anymore …. We butchered the wrong pig.”

            —Winston Churchill (The Second World War – Bern, 1960)

     “I spent 33 years and four months in active military service as a member of our country’s most agile military force—the Marine Corps.  I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent more of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers.  In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.  I suspected I was just a part of a racket at the time.  Now I am sure of it.  Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service.  My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups.  This is typical with everyone in the military service.  Thus I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914.  I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in.  I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long.  I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12.  I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916.  In China in 1927 I helped see to it that the Standard Oil went its way unmolested. During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket.  I was rewarded with honors, medals and promotions.  Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints.  The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts.  I operated on three continents.”

—General Smedley Butler, former US Marine Corps Commandant, 1935

     “Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the “war to end wars.” This was the “war to make the world safe for democracy.” No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason. No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United State patents. They were just told it was to be a “glorious adventure.”

     “Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month!

     “All that they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill … and be killed” 

―Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket

     “If those in charge of our society—politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television—can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.”

—Howard Zinn

     “Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.  Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders … and millions have been killed because of this obedience.  Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”

—Howard Zinn

     “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

—Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

     “The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.”

—The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863

     “He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.”

—James Garfield

     “I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do create money. And they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hand the destiny of the people.”

—Reginald McKenna, as Chairman of the Midland Bank, addressing stockholders in 1924

     “States, most especially the large hegemonic ones, such as the United States and Great Britain, are controlled by the international central banking system, working through secret agreements at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and operating through national central banks (such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve)… The same international banking cartel that controls the United States today previously controlled Great Britain and held it up as the international hegemon. When the British order faded, and was replaced by the United States, the U.S. ran the global economy. However, the same interests are served. States will be used and discarded at will by the international banking cartel; they are simply tools.”

—Andrew Gavin Marshall

     “The revolutionist believes not that what ought to be, is, but what is, is, and that it may not be what it ought to be at all.”

—Jack London

     “What would have happened if millions of American and British people, struggling with coupons and lines at the gas stations, had learned that in 1942 Standard Oil of New Jersey [part of the Rockefeller empire] managers shipped the enemy’s fuel through neutral Switzerland and that the enemy was shipping Allied fuel? Suppose the public had discovered that the Chase Bank in Nazi-occupied Paris after Pearl Harbor was doing millions of dollars’ worth of business with the enemy with the full knowledge of the head office in Manhattan [the Rockefeller family among others?] Or that Ford trucks were being built for the German occupation troops in France with authorization from Dearborn, Michigan? Or that Colonel Sosthenes Behn, the head of the international American telephone conglomerate ITT, flew from New York to Madrid to Berne during the war to help improve Hitler’s communications systems and improve the robot bombs that devastated London? Or that ITT built the FockeWulfs that dropped bombs on British and American troops? Or that crucial ball bearings were shipped to Nazi-associated customers in Latin America with the collusion of the vice-chairman of the U.S. War Production Board in partnership with Goering’s cousin in Philadelphia when American forces were desperately short of them? Or that such arrangements were known about in Washington and either sanctioned or deliberately ignored?”

—Charles Higham, researcher, about U.S.-Nazi collaboration during WWII

     “… the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.”

—Alex Carey

     “Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid. Did you hear that? — Stupid!”

—Arthur Sylvester, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 1965

     “It’s imperative that we alter the way we view the world’s control systems … if we don’t break free of the multi-faceted conditioning that begins as soon as we make contact with the external world (school, news, prevailing myths, etc.) then nothing will ever improve.  Nothing!”

—Victor Thorn, The New World Order Exposed

     “Rebellion is only an occasional reaction to suffering in human history; we have infinitely more instances of submission to authority than we have examples of revolt. What we should be most concerned about is not some natural tendency toward violent uprising, but rather the inclination of people faced with an overwhelming environment of injustice to submit to it. Historically, the most terrible things—war, genocide, and slavery—have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.”

—Howard Zinn

     “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

—Albert Einstein

     “There are two things over which you have complete dominion, authority and control—your mind and your mouth.”

—African Proverb

     “Think for yourself and question authority.”

—Timothy Leary

     “The current state of the news media is partially to blame for the public’s general lack of information vital for responsible citizenship in a democracy. The news media has become an aspect of show business, offering merely infotainment. It has evolved into an entity that tends to function as a public relations agency for wealthy and powerful multinational corporations, members of Congress, and the current Presidential Administration, including the administrations that preceded it. The news media is being utilized as a political tool of suppression and propaganda by those in power, and propaganda is psychological in nature. Full of half-truths and utter misinformation, it’s an arrogant and very commercial strategy that is implemented because it appeals to emotions—fear being the main one—relentless talk of national security, personal and community safety, meant to trigger childhood insecurities and indoctrinated views of authority.

     “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable…”

—H.L. Mencken

       “A slave is not he who works without wages, it is he tries to stop working and discovers he is not allowed.”

—Anonymous

     “I divide men into two lots. They are freethinkers, or they are not freethinkers. Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless. A man may be a Catholic, a Frenchman, or a capitalist, and yet be a freethinker; but if he puts his Catholicism, his patriotism, or his interest above his reason, and will not give the latter free play where those subjects are touched, he is not a freethinker. His mind is in bondage.”

—Leo Tolstoy

     Politics has become its own kind of secular religion.  Political leaders are seen by many as saviors who will fix all of the world’s problems and will legislate peace and prosperity to all who follow.  Each party has a set of beliefs that must be followed or you become outcast.

     In the religion of politics, anyone who is not part of your party is to be hated, and if possible, their voices and freedoms eliminated through voting.

     In reality, it’s all a big show designed to perpetuate the illusion that we are “free people” who use our “freedom” to “vote” and “elect” our true “representatives.”  No free and educated person should ever fall for this, yet most do, and those who try to expose this charade for what it is are labeled “conspiracy theorists,” “traitors,” or “enemies of democracy.”

     Yes, unless people wake up―and wake up soon―the people in power will use technology to make it very, very difficult to ever resist them again (through government surveillance and the police state).

     Don’t get me wrong, I love the benefits of technology as much as the next person, but ultimately, our technological advances (namely, any technology that can or will give the people in power the ability to control and monitor us) will be the eventual instruments of our enslavement (enslaving us even more than they already do, that is.)

     That’s why people need to be as free as they can be.  We cannot continue to rely so much on letting other people do our thinking for us.  We cannot leave it to corporate leaders and politicians to figure out and solve everything for us instead of figuring out and solving things for ourselves.

     Everything―everything―begins in the mind.  We must actively investigate and educate ourselves and our children and encourage all people everywhere to think for themselves and not just swallow everything that government, religion, and society feeds them. 

     The future freedom of the world depends on discarding all of the things that bind us.  To progress as human beings and feel happy and fulfilled, we must be as free as we can be, spiritually, materially, philosophically, economically, and in any and every way that we can think of.

     When the ideals of freedom inform every aspect of our existence, life itself―the journey, the experiences, our relationships―are filled with joy … beautiful, abundant joy, and we can continue to grow and evolve and become all that we are capable of being.

     I will now present you with numerous quotes on the topics of freedom and government.  These are intended to help open your eyes and mind to the reality that very rich and powerful people really do “conspire” to gain power and control and to take away your rights and freedoms.

     What is presented here is just the tip of the iceberg.  Hopefully it will ignite in you a desire to continue to investigate more on your own, because ultimately, how much truth you know us entirely up to you.

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto

     Understand this: anyone involved in government automatically believes that there should be a “ruling class” of people called “congressmen” and “senators” whose primary job is to make rules for everyone else to follow (because if they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t be there).  They are not concerned with your freedom.

     Anyone who believes that they have the right to rule you should always be viewed with suspicion.  They are already starting from a place whose roots are based not in freedom for each person to rule themselves, but government ruling over them.  If they already don’t believe in self-rule, who knows what their real motives are or how far they will go to satisfy their own desires and ambitions?^[1]

     I realize that it isn’t every day that you hear someone questioning the morality and legitimacy of government, and it may be a little uncomfortable to do so at first, but remember, we said that we were going to question everything, so why not question government?  This is a completely valid question.  With enough questioning, perhaps people can find even better ways to construct society, just as people all throughout history have done.  We should never stop looking for ways to improve how we live together as societies.

     Again, to see the world you live in clearly, you must take into consideration the very real possibility that the people in power, the government officials, and the ultra rich people who get them elected and pay them off to shape the laws in their favor have an actual agenda of things that they want to happen.  Never underestimate the possibility that they could very well have intentions that are designed not only to benefit themselves, but are also designed intentionally to take away your freedoms and to control your mind and actions.

     For those willing to investigate this, they will find that there is a great amount of evidence that this is exactly the case, and that these people truly seek world domination and will do whatever it takes to achieve these goals.

     Like I said before, do your own investigations and decide for yourself.  I, for one, am completely convinced of the immoral and dictatorial intentions of those in power, and I believe that if current trends continue, they will ultimately achieve their goals.

     Unfortunately, the people of the world just aren’t paying much attention to what’s happening.  The people in power are using and have been using all kinds of psychological manipulation to draw us away from being as free as we can be and to control our hearts, minds, and actions.  (I’ll talk more about this later.)  These people study psychology and human behavior and use ever trick known to man (while developing new devices) to bend us to their will.

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto

     Now let’s talk again about politicians and the ideas of government.

     So much of our lives are devoted to politics, to electing other people to run our lives and/or the lives of our neighbors.  This is not an intelligent way to live.  We should run our own lives.

     Think about it: a small group of people get together and call themselves “government” and then they somehow have the right to take your money and property and tell you what to do and punish you if you disobey.  How does that make any sense?  How did we let this happen?  How will we ever get away from it?

     In truth, it’s questionable whether or not we ever will.  But the ideas of freedom, especially in relation to the ideology of “government” and all that it entails is a necessary ingredient if we are ever going to begin the process of finding better ways to live.

     The only truly free way to live would be to live in a voluntary community (or society) where no one had the right to “tax” or extort money or property from anyone else; where no one could make “laws” or rules for other people to follow; where the only interactions that people had with each other were voluntary.  (For a better understanding of how this would work, look into voluntary and intentional communities.)

     Human beings were never meant to give away the right to rule themselves to someone else; to any government, king, gang, or otherwise.

     Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, it’s what we have right now, and unless enough people really want it to change, and take actions in that direction, it is what we will continue to have, and it will more than likely continue to get worse.  What each individual can do is fight to shape their own lives to be as free as they can be.

     The truth of the matter is that most people are not even free in their own minds.  Most people don’t even view the idea of government as a problem, and don’t think of themselves as slaves or servants of government.  Therefore, the first and most important thing that people can and should do is question for themselves the ideas of government, if it is moral, if having government is the best way for humans to live and interact with each other, and so on…

     Do you really believe that someone else has the right to tell you what to do, what to think, what to say, what you’re allowed to buy and sell, what currency you can use to buy and sell, that they should get a piece or share of everything you buy or sell, that they should get a share of all of your earnings, and so on, etc, etc … just because they call themselves government?  And it is not voluntary.  In fact, as political activist and author Larken Rose says, they’ll put you in a cage if you refuse.  Does that sound like freedom?

     In your experience, do you find that the people elected to represent us are normally morally good, outstanding, exemplary citizens who fight to carry out the will of the people (whatever that is; what exactly is the will of millions of individual people?), or do they usually seem to be consumed in self-interest, with their number one priority being to get elected and their number two priority to get reelected?  And once they have reached their term limits, don’t they usually seem to be interested primarily in doing favors for millionaire and billionaire companies who will reward them if they shape the “laws” to benefit them?

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto

     Now I would like to get back to the influence of any organization, whether it be government, religious, or any other group of people who claim to hold a set of beliefs in common.  Always bear in mind that the purpose of any organization is to perpetuate and expand their own power and influence.  That in and of itself is not necessarily evil.  An organization that tries to perpetuate and spread noble and mutually beneficial principles such as morality and freedom could be viewed as a benefit to society.  I would say that it is only beneficial if it can be certain (or as close to certain as possible) that all of their intentions and teachings really are noble and beneficial, and that the organization doesn’t become more important than the message they claim to represent or the goals they are trying to achieve.

     When investigating the claims made by any person, group, or organization (no matter what walk of life they are from or whatever kind of truth they claim to represent), an intelligent person should always question whether their claims are true, beneficial, and/or necessary, or whether their claims are really just authoritarian control mechanisms designed to control and exploit people.

     As I said earlier, there do exist very evil and manipulative people in the world, and you’ll find them in all walks of life.  To think that there wouldn’t be those out there who are in it just for themselves and their own power and greed would be naïve.  A free person must always be on guard for these people.

     Here is another extremely important lesson for you―it’s significance cannot be stressed enough: evil, controlling, exploitative, manipulative people are well aware of the good natures of those that they are trying to control and deceive.  They know that most people believe in the inherent goodness of those around them.  They also know that most good people never truly understand the depths unmoral people are willing to go to achieve their objectives.  They are counting on the people who are good to give them the benefit of the doubt, to believe that no one could really be that evil―that cunning and ruthless―to hurt or destroy their enemies or even innocent people to get what they want.  As long as people continue to give them the benefit of the doubt, they will continue to exploit and take advantage of them.

     One aspect that I think most people just don’t want to admit to themselves is that the world is or ever could be such an ugly place.  They want to have hope, to believe that everyone around them is essentially good, and that they’re not being lied to and manipulated.  A free person faces all of the facts regardless of how uncomfortable they may be.  It is part of maturing along the path of truth.

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto

     Let’s break it down a little more.  Whatever nation you’re from you were first taught the customs and beliefs of your particular family.  Take a moment to think about the beliefs and customs your family taught you.  Are they true?  Have you ever investigated them?  Did they accurately describe the nature of the world?  Did they teach you good morals?  Where did any of the things they taught you come from?

     The truth is, if your family was like most they were simply teaching you what they had been taught by their parents, family, religion, and society.  Did they ever question any of their beliefs?  If not, how did they know that what they taught you was true?

     Perhaps your family wasn’t religious or spiritual; where did they acquire their understanding of the world and our purpose here?  Where did they acquire their sense of morals?  What was their method for recognizing truth or untruth?  Did they simply believe whatever any authority figure told them to believe, whether it be president, politician, scientist, reporter, or professor?

     Or maybe you were brought up in a religious or spiritual background.  What was your family’s method for recognizing truth or untruth?  Were they free-thinkers?  Did they investigate and analyze spiritual matters for themselves, or did they simply accept whatever was taught to them by some religious authority figure?  Maybe the Bible was their religious authority; did they ever question the Bible?

     These are all things which each person must explore, investigate, deduce, assess and reassess for themselves.  Only then will it really make any sense to them.

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto