GOOD's guide to secret societies

GOOD magazine's Matt Schwartz wrote a fun survey of the secret societies that rule the world: Freemasons, Trilateral Commission, Order of Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, Bilderberg Group, and the World Economic Forum. Schwarts, a Freemason himself, profiles those "Shadowy Organizations" in easily digestible chunks, highlighting their mythical achievements, actual achievements, membership, alumni, true facts, and what they say about themselves. Remember, just because you're paranoid, don't think they're not after you. (For more on the secret ruling elite, read Jon Ronson's excellent book Them: Adventures with Extremists.) From GOOD:

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In the 19th century, the Masons were the favorite scapegoat of frightened jingoists who found themselves at the mercy of history and wanted someone to blame for their problems. In the early 20th century, it was the Jews–I'm one of those, too. These days, the conspirators of choice are the internationalist elites who arrive by chartered jet to mingle with their fellow Murdochs, Soroses, Gateses, and Wolfowitzes (I'm a few dinner parties away from becoming one of these).

With that in mind, we present six organizations that have been accused of plotting world domination, along with an assessment of who they are, what they do, and just how powerful they actually are. From what we can tell, no group on this list is running the world from behind its locked doors. But those without keys can never be sure.

Link

• History Channel on Bilderberg Group Link
• Punks in the Masons Link
• List of the "World's Weirdest/Stupidest Conspiracy Theories" Link
• San Francisco's clubs you can't join Link
• Documentary: Crazy Rulers of the World Link