Resumo de The Bohemian Grove And Other Retreats

Members of Bohemian Grove are the rulers of America. The Members have economic and political interests in common. Members own 25-30 % of all privately held wealth in America, 60-70 % of the privately held corporate wealth, 20-25 % of the yearly income, direct the large corporations and foundations, and dominate the federal government in Washington. Its stringent membership requirements, long waiting lists, and high dues also serve to heighten its valuation in the eyes of its members. Members are likely to think of themselves as ?special? people, which would heighten their attractiveness to each other, and increase the likelihood of interaction and cohesiveness. Wealthy families from all over the US are linked together in a variety of ways into a national upper class.

The motto of the club, ?Weaving spiders, come not here! ? a line from Shakespeare?s A Midsummer Night?s Dream.

The Cremation of Care Ritual is the most spectacular event of the midsummer retreat that members and guests have taken part in every year since 1878. Men, mostly white, elderly, are dressed in pointed red hoods and red flowing robes. They perform human sacrifice. A human body are brought to sacrifice on an alter in front of a giant big owl. The body of Care, symbolizing the concerns and woes that important men must bear in their daily lives, that is to be cremated.

Membership is by invitation only. It is a long waiting list. Usually over 800 people, and it can take 10 years to get in. The members of the Bohemian Grove are extremely shy of publicity, and they are especially sensitive on the subject of prostitution around the Grove.

Entertainment at BG is called Jinks. High Jinks is considered the most important formal event of the encampment. Most of the plays written for the High Jinks have a mythical or fantasy theme. A cast for a typical Grove play easily runs to 300 people. More slapstick and ribald fun are called Low Jinks. They can have 200-250 people involved.

Lakeside Talks are informal talks and briefings by people as varied as Eisenhower, Bobby Kennedy, Nixon, Hoover, Henry Kissinger or Neil Armstrong. It is fairly certain that no inside or secret information is divulged, but a good feel for how a particular problem will be handled is likely to be communicated.

In 1942 the Bohemian Grove was the site at which the atomic bomb project was decided.

There are 129 camps of varying sizes, between 10 and 125 members in each. A handful of camps bring together the most influential businessmen and politicians in the country. The most impressive camp is Mandalay. Cave Man is another.

The corporate leadership of the US including directors from 40 of the 50 largest industrial corporations in America, 20 of the top 25 commercial banks, an about half of the largest insurance-, transportation-, utility- and retailing-companies.

The club is governed by a fifteen-man board of directors elected from among the regular members by the vote of regular members only. Land purchases has continued throughout the decades.

A good Bohemian is first of all one who ?participates?. He acts in shows, he writes poetry, or he tells good after-dinner stories. Stress must be put on ?actively enjoys?. The great scourge is the member who sits back passively. ?Participation and appreciation are the cornerstones of Bohemia? ? so say the opening lines of the members? handbook.

The spirit of Bohemia ? a way of ?being?. The mythical ?Bohemian? artist celebrated since the middle of the nineteenth century are traced to romantic & cultural myths. The unkempt, half-starving artist, who comes from the centuries-old French folk belief that European gypsies were originally from the country of Bohemia; a life style picked up in the Paris cafés of the 1850s to the United States?Parisian Bohemianism.
Journalists, authors, and artists joined together in 1872 to embody their carefree fantasies and creative urges in the Bohemian Club; a club for ?the promotion of social and intellectual intercourse between journalists and other writers, artists, actors and musicians, professional or amateur?. Businessmen, lawyers, and other worldly types were to be admitted only if they had special knowledge or appreciation of the arts. The Bohemian spirit had to be compromised from the first. The true Bohemian spirit departed. The entering of the money-social element was a disaster. In the beginning, rich men were absolutely barred, unless they had something of the elements of true Bohemianism. Now they get in because they are rich.

Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee for Economic Development, the Business Council, the National Municipal League, the Bilderbergers ? these are the organizations of the upper class directed by the same men as in Bohemian Grove, and who manages the major corporations. The groups overlap and interact to a great extent.

The policy-planning organisations greatly influence the ?climate of opinion?. Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations, is considered the most influential journal in its field, and the periodic policy statements of the Committee for Economic Development are carefully attended to by major newspapers and local opinion makers. The bankers, businessmen, and lawyers all share a common interest in profit maximization and tax avoidance. And many members of these organizations are appointed to government positions. They are also fund raisers and big contributors to high-level politicians of both political parties, thus gaining ?access? to power.

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