Conspiracies

I have been criticised by acquaintances on social media, because I do not take what they believe to be conspiracies as seriously as they do. I recently read a book by Sean McFate called Goliath: Why the West is not Winning. I am not sure if that is his real name. He is a real warmonger, so I was not impressed with everything he wrote, but he has some good insights into the nature of war as the Westphalian order breaks down.

McFate has some important insights into the difference between conspiracies and a deep state.

Conspiracies seek to overturn the establishment, while the deep state is the establishment, and then some. Deep states are like states with cancer. Their institutions of power—the military, the judiciary, intelligence agencies—have gone rogue; rather than serving the state, they make the state serve them. Over time, they end up usurping power in an internal coup d’état, becoming a “state within a state” that influences policy without regard for legitimate leadership or the concerns of citizens. In other words, these renegade institutions hijack the nation from deep within the states own structure.

Deep states are real, but they are not conspiracies.

The distinction between a conspiracy and a deep state is subtle yet profound. It's really about individual versus institutional actors. Conspiracies are powered by individuals, known as conspirators. Orchestrated by a cabal or a mastermind, conspirators pool their personal connections, influence, money, and other resources to subvert the establishment. This is why conspiracies must hide in the shadows for self-preservation. Should the establishment catch them, they would be branded traitors and hung.

Great conspiracies of the past include Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot to blow up England’s king and parliament in 1605, and John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln after the American Civil War, meant to revive the Confederate cause. In both cases, the conspirators were hunted, caught, and killed, their deaths serving as a warning to other would-be threats to the establishment. It's worth noting that past conspiracies still inspire.

Unlike conspiracies, deep states are institutional actors. Yes, institutions are populated by people, but they are not the same as conspirators… People in institutions toil for the cause but rarely make the full and final sacrifice. Conspirators risk their personal resources, whereas institutional employees deploy an organization’s assets. A general doesn’t fight the enemy using his private wealth; he uses the army. If he is defeated, the general gets fired, but the army marches on. Fawkes and his co-conspirators lost.

In some ways, institutions are their own organism. They don’t let just anyone rise to the top. Only individuals who have been institutionalized after decades of service are promoted highest ranks, where they will then reliably promote the institution's agenda. Conspirators would deride these “company men” as empty suits who are promoted for their groupthink—that is, until they were caught and hung by those by those same company men.

Generally, they are the institutions of power the military, the secret police, the intelligence services, the law enforcement agencies, and the judiciary. Their authority is codified in law, making them completely legal- What makes them different from normal institutions is that they’ve gone rogue- Deep state institutions place their own interests above that of the state and its citizens. There may be a legitimate government in place, but it’s the deep state that really calls the shots.

The institutions that comprise the deep state do not plot their actions like participants in a conspiracy. Rather, they engage in passive synchronization. They cooperate because their institutional interests align… resulting in mutually reinforcing actions that protect their common goals. Gradually this tacit consensus congeals into a deep state that can control a nation. They can overrule, sabotage, and reverse legitimate government decisions with no accountability or even visibility.

Conspiracies and deep states are natural enemies. Conspiracies seek to undermine the system, while deep states seek to hijack it. Conspiracies hide in the shadows, while deep states operate in the Conspiracies are composed of radical individuals, while deep states are institutions. The time frame for conspiracies is short, or years. Deep states think in terms of decades and centuries. In social science parlance, conspiracies represent agency states embody structure, in a demonstration of the classic structure-versus-agency debate. Conspiracies and deep states are different as fire and earth.

Deep states exist, and their naked power will become more apparent as states fade. Their unmasking will prove dangerous, as the protestors of the Arab Spring discovered. When a deep state is threatened, it does not go gentle into that good night. It attacks. It is one of the forces accelerating durable disorder.

I note that the acquaintances on social media who believe in conspiracies tend to assume that if the deep state is at work, it must be led by a few conspirators who are in league with each. Having worked for the government, I understand the power of passive synchronisation. I understand how government agencies can work together towards a common cause without the need of a conspirator controlling them.

I understand the working of the spiritual powers of evil and their ability to work through government organisations to establish a stronghold in their nation.

When bad things happen in the world, many Christians see a conspiracy at work. I see passive synchronisation of various government agencies, pushed along by the spiritual powers of evil.

Conspiracy to Power

The devil would love to have a one-world government, but he knows it not possible. His Kingdom is divided and disruptive. The big spiritual powers that joined his rebellion are not meek and mild comrades. They are still rebellious, so he cannot get them to do what he want them to do. They prefer to promote their own positions and power. The devil could never get the Prince of Persia to work with the spiritual principality that controls the United States (the King of the North). They prefer fighting against each other to cooperating for their master’s glory. He could not get them into a one-world government, if he tried.

People who believe in government at the national level, often say that they believe in government at the international level too. In practice they never do, because they believe in power, more than they believe in unity. They are never willing to surrender, their power to achieve unity.

The UN Security is a classic example. The great powers want an international organisation to solve problems in the world, but they do not want to be told what to do, so they hang on to their veto power. This destroys the effectiveness of the Security Council. Government does not work at the national level, so it will never work at the international level. Those with power will always cling to it. National governments will not freely surrender their sovereignty to a higher power.

Throughout history, small groups of people have joined together in a conspiracy to gain power in the world. Those with really big ideas think they will control the entire the world. Some dream of one world government. These groups often dabble in occult practices to enhance their power by getting the support of the powers of evil. What these people do not realise is that they are being deceived and used by the devil for his purposes. He wants to control the world, but he will never let a small group of men and women control it, because his ego is too big to share the glory.

He may deceive some of these people into thinking they are manipulating the political and economic powers, but they are the ones being manipulated. They think that they are powerful and smart, but they are deluded into thinking that they have more influence than they really have. They always overreach so they always fail.

Because they are deluded, these people often confuse symbols with substance. Like dogs marking their territory, they often plaster their symbols around the world. They think they have achieved great power, but they are allowed to use their symbols, because the people with real power do not care. These groups often fail when division comes between them, as they fight over power. They eventually collapse and die, and all that remains is their symbols.

The Bible teaches that empires will rise and fall, but God will never allow one group of men to control the world. In my book Times and Seasons, I describe the current world empire and its inevitable fall.

Power never lasts. Most people with power get too big for their boots. Their hubris leads to moral compromise. Bad decisions and mistakes undermine their power. God intervenes to destroy some evil powers, but most human powers do it to themselves. The kings and queens of Europe once exercised enormous powers. Now they are nothing more than television celebrities looking for their next photo opportunity are, but they cannot sing or dance. Metternich was once the most powerful man in the world. Today, Austria is a backwater. The powers of today will go the same way.

Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread (Is 8:12-13).

Collusion between Power and Evil.

Collusion is not conspiracy. Rampant political collusion is everywhere. That is the nature of politics. It is why I hate political power. But collusion is not the same as conspiracy.

There is plenty of political collusion in America. The banks fund the politicians and the politicians are not clever enough to regulate the banks (more at Credit Crunch Characters). But it is out in the open. It is not a conspiracy.

The Fed has enormous powers, but these were voted to its by Congress. Its decisions and actions are public, so it is not a conspiracy. Most Americans are glad it is there, because they think the Fed is needed.

Cover ups are common in the world of political power. Bungling and mistakes are common in the political world, but political authorities cannot admit their failures, because that would undermine their power. Cover ups are not a sign that political powers are in control if the fate of the world. They are a sign that they are incompetent, and do not want the world to know.

Political lying is normal. Politicians often do not tell the truth about what they intend to do, because they are scared that they will lose votes. They say one thing and do another, but this is not really a conspiracy, because there voting records are open to the public. voters seem to accept that politicians will vote differently once they are in power. Their supporters accept this because they expect some crumbs from the table of power to fall their way.

Government organisations like the FBI and CIA often engage in evil practices, but they do it to protect their power, not because they have a grand scheme to control the world. When they undertake evil, it is usually to cover up or attempt to put right their previous bungles. Their focus is on protecting their power, position and privilege.

People with political and economic power will be attacked by the powers of darkness. Most of them are deceived by the forces of evil and are being used to advance the devil’s plans (see Discerning Seasons).

The people with political and economic power are not colluding with the powers of darkness. They are not worshipping Satan in secret. Their egos are too big for that. They want their own glory. They are being deceived by evil, and sometime controlled by it, but they are not deliberately colluding with evil.

I do not believe the common conspiracy theory that a dozen closet Satanists are controlling the entire political and economic system of the world. This would be a real conspiracy, but it is not credible.

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories are popular amongst Christians. I am familiar with the popular teaching that a small group of men with satanic beliefs are manipulating the global financial and political system to accomplish a clever plan. I do not agree with that view.

I have read many accounts of the big banks decisions during the global financial crisis. What strikes me is that most to them did not have a clue what they were doing. They simply did not understand the risks wrapped up in the various derivatives that they created and held. They were taken by surprise, when the risk came back to bite them. Many lost their jobs and most lost huge amounts of wealth. It could be a smoke screen, but I doubt it. I have noticed the same when reading about the 1930s depression. The most powerful bankers went broke or jumped out of windows.

I have no doubt that the devil is manipulating bankers, but he works by deception, rather than collaboration. The political leaders colluded with the bankers to protect them, but they were motivated by fear for their own skins. They did not want to be responsible for making a financial meltdown worse.

So, conspiracy stuff is quite deliberately missing from my writings. I simply do not believe the men running the financial system are that clever.

I do not believe that a world government will come about through a conspiracy. First of all, the belief is usually based on a twisted interpretation of Daniel 9. Secondly, the idea is simply not realistic given the way the way the geopolitical system works. Change at that level is very hard to bring about, event for people with power and money.

Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread (Is 8:12-13).

A conspiracy is not needed, as a union of states already exists, though it has been ignored by Bible interpreters. It just turns out to be is the most powerful military and economic empire that he has ever existed. It is far greater than Rome or Babylon, without any conspiracy needed. And it seems to be degenerating as the influence of the gospel declines. So watch this space, and no conspiracy is needed.

Conspiracy

I do not have much truck with conspiracy theories and the one-world government industry (Is 8:12). This stuff has been circulating for years, but it has achieved nothing for the gospel and contributed nothing to the advance of the kingdom of God. It is the wisdom of man, taught by men who have done very little for the gospel and the Kingdom, and have been wrong in their predictions again and again.

This stuff appeals to prophets when they are hiding their caves and feeling sorry for themselves. It makes them feel spiritual and prophetic, but it actually clutters their minds with stuff that prevents them from hearing God speak clearly. God has to get them out of this cave of worldly clamour, so they can hear the still small voice of the Spirit.

The world system is dominated by power, and power always manifests itself. What is happening in the world can be understood by observing power at work.