Charlotte Iserbyt: Societies Secrets

[Ed Jewett]

Gary asks -- in post #42, after clarification in earlier posts -- what I thought about Sutton's understanding of the significance of "the state" as further clarified in post #43.

I am not sure if his inquiry is intended to be a discussion about the philosophies of governance, my perspective on their erudition, or my personal philosophy. Could the question be paraphrased this way?: Where are you coming from, Ed?'

Sutton's understanding of the state is contained in his bibliography, not just a quoted paragraph from one of them. It and more are available in his Wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_C._Sutton See also http://www.antonysutton.com/ I have not read those books -- other than the one cited -- but we could ask http://www.antonysutton.com/sutton-memorial/index.html Kris Millegan what he thinks. It was Kris who suggested my foray into Levenda's Trilogy in a memorable chance conversation I had with him when I ordered a new book. Indeed, much of the Millegan stable exists because of his father's suggestion (former G2/OSS/CIA background) that he look into secret societies as the source for greater understanding.

To be perfectly honest, I know little about Marxist theory. I am an American of near-retirement age, which means I was educated at the elementary level in the decade of Eisenhower, at the secondary level under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, in both public and private schools. Marxist theory wasn't in the curriculum. And it wasn't there, though I perhaps could have sought it, at "the big State U". I did have a course in Russian history but frankly muddled through it on the way to something totally unrelated.

Perhaps the paragraphs surrounding the one that I quoted will lend further insight.

"Hegelianism glorifies the State, the vehicle for the dissemination of statist and materialist ideas and policies in education, science, politics and economics."

"Our 2-party Republican-Democrat (= one Hegelian party, no one else welcomed or allowed) system is a reflection of this Hegelianism. A small groupa very small groupby using Hegel, can manipulate, and to some extent, control society for its own purposes."

The same introduction goes on to describe interplay of Iserbyt's work on the deliberate dumbing down of America; as I understand it, it was she who provided the membership documentation and history of Skull and Bones to Sutton.

To answer Gary more directly, "Yes", Sutton's expression ("In Hegelian Statism, as we have seen in Nazi-ism and MARXISM, the State is supreme, and the individual exists only to serve the State") certainly seems to resonate within my own experience and within the American political debate today as I see it. I dropped the "left-right paradigm" some time ago. A great deal of effort is undertaken here in the States to undermine or sideline any challenge to it, whether it comes from a populist, "Green", or Libertarian perspective. I here a lot of commentary from the supporters of Obama about collectivism. But I'm a New Englander who has been exposed to Henry David Thoreau, most notably his "Civil Disobedience". Indeed, the laws have been shaped over time to make it exceedingly difficult to run for anything other than dog-catcher with a third party label. But I cannot speak for how Marxist theory works, is understood, or is applied in Europe or other parts of the world. This fact, in itself, may be proof of the dumbing down of American education.

Certainly my personal experience resonates with the ideas that "the child exists to be trained to serve the state"; it shapes much of what passes for "guidance" in American schooling. ["Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."] In 8th grade, it was suggested that I had the linguistic skills to become a translator, and I was taken to the UN for a related field trip. The "suppression of individualist tendencies and a careful spoon-feeding of of approved knowledge" also resonates. A limited sampling: In that same eight grade, I was working on building my skills in baseball but my parents were told I would never be an athlete by my Latin teacher and baseball coach. In 10th grade, the actual assassination of Kennedy was never discussed except in an impassioned outburst by a Czechoslovakian French teacher on the subject of freedom. In college, the film I produced and shot on the pollution of the Chicopee River by Monsanto was relegated to the dustbin with the warning that any future employer TV station would never air anything like that. In college, the Gulf of Tonkin affair was a whispering matter even in a liberal state by liberal professors.

The end of the introduction by Sutton asks "What is To Be Done?":

"If the voting public was even vaguely aware of this rampant and concealed scenario, it could, and possibly would force change. However, this is not a likely possibility. Most people are "go-along" types, with limited personal objectives and a high threshold for official misdeeds.

What is taken over a century to establish cannot be changed in a few years. The initial question is education. To eliminate the leaky alien system that stifles individual initiative and trains children to become mindless zombies, serving the state.

We need a lot less propaganda for "education" and a more individual creative search for learning. Instead of more money for education, we need to allocate a lot less. The existing system of education is little more than a conditioning mechanism. It has little to do with education in the true sense, and a lot to do with control of the individual....."


This is also something I can agree with; the bibliography for my "graduate-level" 1,400-page collection of excerpts on personal performance psychology entitled "Summon The Magic" includes (in addition to multiple references on sports psychology, aikido and coaching) the following:

The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, Harvard Business School Press, 2000. [A delicious little book for leaders that invites you to open the door to the full potential of what's happening around you.]

The Everyday Work of Art: How Artistic Experience Can Transform Your Life, Eric Booth, Sourcebooks, Napierville, Illinois 1997. [At the foundation of Summon The Magic, the concepts in this book should be taught to every high school student; written by an individual who has achieved unparalleled success in the fields of music, the performing arts and business.] [Having been recognized by many educators as an outstanding book, it has been re-published by Authors' Guild Back-in-Print (iUniverse.com) (ISBN 0-595-19380-3) with the new subtitle Awakening the Extraordinary in Your Daily Life.]

Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art, Stephen Nachmanovitch, Tarcher/Putnam, NY 1990. [This book is so delightful, I ordered extras for my fellow players in the inaugural "Game of Games".]

God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution, by James Redfield, Michael Murphy and Sylvia Timbers, Tarcher/Putnam, New York 2002. [A profound book with a stunning premise, something more than just its thorough yet simple review of the wisdoms of sages, mystics and scientists, it is an exploration of the range of extraordinary capabilities available to the human body/mind/spirit, and it is a call to personal action. Redfield is the author of The Celestine Prophecy, The Tenth Insight and The Celestine Vision. Murphy, the founder of the Esalen Institute, is the author of In the Zone (with Rhea Murphy), The Future of the Body, and The Life We are Given (with George Leonard). Timbers has been involved in consciousness studies and training for 20 years and a multimedia producer of projects focused on psychological and spiritual development. The book also contains a 66-page guide to the literature of transformative practice and a 28-page series of simple suggested practices that will deepen anyone's abilities in personal development of body/mind/spirit unity.]

How To Be, Do, or Have Anything: A Practical Guide to Creative Empowerment, Laurence G. Boldt, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA 2001. [Buy one immediately for all your kids.]

In Pursuit of Excellence: How To Win in Sport and Life Through Mental Training, (book & audio cassettes),Terry Orlick, PhD., Human Kinetics, 1997.

Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, Howard Gardner, Basic Books, New York, 1999. [A seminal work in educational reform.]

A Mind at a Time: America's Top Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed, Mel Levine, M.D., Simon and Schuster, New York 2002. 


Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, Bill Plotkin, New World Library, Novato, CA 2008. {A major work on developmental psychology and ecopsychology.]

One Kid at a Time: Big Lessons from a Small School, Eliot Levine, Teachers College Press, New York, 2002. [About learning through interests, passions, tasks and internships at a unique high school in Providence, RI.]

Reclaiming Our Children: A Healing Plan for a Nation in Crisis, Peter R. Breggin, M.D., Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA 2000.

Seven Times Smarter: 50 Activities, Games and Projects to Develop the Seven
Intelligences of Your Child, Laurel Schmidt, Three Rivers Press, New York 2001. [If you want a pearl, you have to put a grain of sand in the shell. There are many low-cost approaches here to help jump-start kids off the couch, away from the glass box they are staring at, and into a successful and enjoyable learning experience. Also for the kid in you (like Cameron's "Artist's Dates"), and for grandparents too!.]

Schools With Spirit: Nurturing the Inner Lives of Children and Teachers, edited by Linda Lantieri, Beacon Press, 2001. [A fascinating and delightful book about how to bring the arts, spirituality, the environment and other approaches to deep engagement and connectedness into the educational process.]

Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All In Your Head, Carla Hannaford,
Ph.D., Great Ocean Publishers, Arlington, VA 1995. [The author is a nationally- recognized neuropsychologist and educator. This is a fascinating, very readable and important book on neuroscience, educational kinesiology and the brain/body connection as it affects us in learning, in performance, at work, and in society. It explains several basic BrainGym exercises, very simple techniques anyone can use to enhance their lives in innumerable ways.]



Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, Houghton Mifflin, New York. 1999. [The primary tools are observing, imaging, abstracting, recognizing patterns, forming patterns, analogizing, body thinking, empathizing and dimensional thinking; the integrative tools are modeling, playing, transforming and synthesizing.]

An Unused Intelligence: Physical Thinking for the 21st Century, Andy Brynner and Dawna Markova, Ph.D., Conan Press, Berkeley, CA 1996. [This is a "handbook for implementing the five disciplines of learning organizations", with a flavor that borrows on aikido.]


So, the summary answer from a personal level is this:

I figure the state, or the collective, will be significantly enhanced if we give it citizens who are prepared to pursue their own dreams and visions and goals instead of being limited to someone else's.