World domination by a secret society by the year 2008

Is there a way we could have one secret society dominating the world by the year 2000? What could such a society be? Can we dream up such a society whose methods of operations are good enough to plausibly take over the world? What POD would work best?
 
I sense ASBs at work here......

WIs are plausible until proven otherwise.

But yes, this is a hard one, I admit, but it might still be worthy of discussion


Well, one of the ways I can see it is having a secret society have leaders elected to both participant powers in a nuclear cold war scenario. The secret society somehow shields itself from apocalypse and emerges to take control of the reconstruction of the world.
 
WIs are plausible until proven otherwise.
unless they work against logic and plain ol' Uncommon common sense.

Well, one of the ways I can see it is having a secret society have leaders elected to both participant powers in a nuclear cold war scenario. The secret society somehow shields itself from apocalypse and emerges to take control of the reconstruction of the world.

and how is this pre-1900 if you're talking about the cold war?
 
Is there a way we could have one secret society dominating the world by the year 2000? What could such a society be? Can we dream up such a society whose methods of operations are good enough to plausibly take over the world? What POD would work best?

Why not just steal an existing conspiracy theory or two... what about that skull and crossbones (do I have that right) society/fraternity. It apparently does exist and had Kerry and Bush as members, that suggests a certain potential from the start.

PS: Apparently the skull and crossbones was the flag of knights templar vessels, so have it link all the way back to them.

PPS: Stuff it... just go with the Jews!
 
the sort of collective common sense people share.

There is none when it comes to things people don't think about on a daily basis. This is one of them.


and we have nukes before the 1900s?
i can't see anything remotely resembling a cold war before 1948.

you misunderstand the forum-- this forum is for PODs before 1900. It doesn't mean all the events have to take place before 1900.
 
There is none when it comes to things people don't think about on a daily basis. This is one of them.

hm, obviously we know very differnent people. too bad, i know some people i can get into the most bizarre conversation with.



you misunderstand the forum-- this forum is for PODs before 1900. It doesn't mean all the events have to take place before 1900.

and i'm saying it's ASB to have any sort of global illuminati-type group to be created pre-1900, last to present day without members leaving to establish their own groups.
 
I agree with Fenrir, my first post was sarcastic; since recently it seems like people are alot more conspiracy minded these days. The problem though with secret societies is that they break down over time. Members split and as the society expands I would imagine that they would lose control over the organization as a whole.
 
Tobit, I figured your sarcasm -- And for the record, I am not conspiratorial. This is meant as a challenge and nothing else.

As for the problem brought up by Fenrir-- Well, that is part of the challenge, but a way to have a secret society that doesn't break up, is have clearly defined succession-- maybe even genetic succession. As far as people not breaking to form their own group, we can have an in-built "looseness" that permits flexibility enough to demotivate such schisms.

What would be the POD at the origin, though-- maybe a TL where the sciences were suppressed for some time by an ultra-religious society and there is an underground cult for scientists and bankers, who go on to become influential once religion starts loosening up for them to publicly do what they have been doing secretly--- However the desire to see genius as evil has made genius evil as we have a cult of very smart people dedicated to dominating everyone else.
 
Is there a way we could have one secret society dominating the world by the year 2000? What could such a society be? Can we dream up such a society whose methods of operations are good enough to plausibly take over the world? What POD would work best?

Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act giving private bankers control of the money supply to the entire nation, in an attempt for them to get rich. With their new influence, they are able to control governments, and use money to create little chips that go in your head to make everyone on the planet serfs.

Wait, the Federal Reserve was created!? We is doomed.
 
Well, the answer that comes to mind is faster technological development, so that this kind of control is plausible, matched with an adaptation of Lao-Tzu's "Best form of Government is the one that no one notices" attitude.

Alternatively, a Brave New World scenario where everyone has orgies, drugs and simple work all day and has no idea at all who runs the show is possible as well. The Orwellian model is more terrifying but less plausible.

The only way a secret society could rule the world is if it were so benign as to be worth overlooking by most. The governments work, sometimes through public faces, sometimes with quiet coincidences for those they favor or oppose, but otherwise no one worries about the government, and so no one knows.
 
Freemasons runs the country:D

In norway roughly 1 of 3 meabers of parliament are masons, but the lists are not secret. But with that kinde of influence and secret lists....
 
I guess it depends what you mean by a "secret society". The Nazi Party has some attributes of a "secret society", there are TLs where the Nazis rule the world.

In American history, the "American Party" started out as a secret society. When members were asked if they were members of the American Party, they would say "I know nothing about it", which led to them getting the nickname "Know-Nothings". There was a brief period in the 1850s, after the Whigs had collapsed but before the Republicans were organized, where the American Party was the main opposition to the Democratic party. In a timeline where for some reason the Republican party is never formed, the American Party might continue to be a major party, even electing presidents. The American Party had a strong strain of racism and anti-foreigner feeling, it is not impossible to imagine a president with these attitudes building an American empire.

Another thought, Organized crime such as the Mafia (if this meets your definition of a secret society) often would interfere with local elections, can we imagine a TL where they were powerful enough to get the White House? Would they then go on to build an empire?

In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan was a very large organization, with a huge membership. They were even able to gain control of the state of Indiana. A number of events led to their decline, such as when D.C. Stephenson, a Grand Dragon, raped and murdered Madge Oberholtzer, a schoolteacher. Oberholtzer named her killer on her deathbed, and Stephenson was convicted and the KKK almost immediately went into decline. We can imagine a TL where Oberholtzer dies without naming her killer, or otherwise the murder does not come to light, so the Klan does not go into decline and instead continues to be a force in politics, possibly electing a President.

We can also have lots of fun with groups of Freemasons, and so on.

KEVP
 
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