Distractions: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as Presented in Behold a Pale Horse pp. 302-303

Protocol 13

The protocol continues the same idea that 12 focused on, the press as a means of control. This protocol is more in tune with the practicalities of this plan rather than the theoretical nature of "we must control the press." I commented last week that 12 was unique in conspiracy theory literature because it had more specificity than all of the other stuff that I've read. Sure, "None Dare Call it Conspiracy" had names and dates, but it was all pretend. Business magnates went to Russia therefore Rockefeller was in charge of Communism is how the argument went there and it felt rather hollow. 12 wasn't that, it was a single focus and a goal; 13 continues along that idea. 

My biggest complaint about 13 is that it is short enough that it should have been the final part of 12. I do not know if this to keep the reader engaged with constant section breaks or if the plagiarist just became tired. I know from years of blogging, that if I go over 1000 words I better have a good reason because people need a break from reading or they just kind of look at the text without reading. 

I'm of the opinion too that there is some antiquated phrasing. The elder admits that the press is an effective tool but it is limited. They cannot just say all of their plans, they will have to imply some of them, "Agents take on to our press from among the goyim will at our order discuss anything which it is inconvenient for us to issue directly in official documents, and we meanwhile, quietly amid the din of the discussion so raise, shall simply take and carry through such measures as we wish and then offer them to the public as an accomplished fact." 

I think he's talking about the opinion and gossip columns of the press. They cannot issue a proclamation about X but they can have their agents discuss X as opinions; then amidst the debates they will just do X, anyway. The plan here raises the question, why do they need to have the discussion? Just do the plan. This is like the phrase attributed to the Roman Philosopher Epictetus, "lead me fate and I shall follow willingly, and if not willingly I shall follow, anyway."

If the Elder is this powerful, why even tell us about the plan? It's a problem in every conspiracy theory of this scale: there seems to be need by the conspirators to inform the public. It's why the Masons have to put all of their symbolism all over the world, the Illuminati celebrities have to the eye thing, and apparently the Jewish conspiracy has to place their plans in the local newspaper. Nixon didn't place an editorial in the Washington Post that referenced his break in plan at the Watergate hotel. 

The answer to this should be obvious: it's to let the believers think that they can help discover the conspiracy. It gives them a goal to tickle their endorphin receptors and keep them hooked on the conspiracy theory. There is also the effect of inflating the reputation of the creator of the conspiracy theory. We all digest the media, but these people can see the hidden messages in it; they can decipher what is really going on so we should listen to them. It is a good way of pretending that the thing they are making up isn't complete made up. 

The writing goes downhill as it loses its thread. The elder claims that matters of politics, the common people will not be able to comment, but in matters of industry "let them discuss themselves silly!" The people need jobs, they need bread, so they must be allowed to discuss the means by which they attain the bread. However, this conflicts with the overall conspiracy in which everything is related and controlled. If we remember that this document is being plagiarized in order to buttress the Tsarist rule in Russia, then business is politics given what is coming. Even without knowing how the revolution would shake out, the theorist must know the power of the Socialist movement at the end of the 19th century. The whole problem was that the capitalists operated above the law. Business is political at the beginning of the 20th century when this document appears in Russia. Again, I don't think people are reading this work as carefully as we are. 

What's more mysterious is that the Elder drops the entire thing to begin talking about creating distractions with gossip columns, amusements, games, pasttimes, passions, and something called a "people's palace." The short of it is that the Elder is going to place enough distractions in the press that people never know anything other than who the latest Kardashian is married to. 

What's the point of this? I think the point is to demonize the younger generation. The old press only had important news of things but this modern press has box scores of sports, celebrity news, and play reviews. If only the young people would pay attention to the real news they would know what is going on. It's blaming Taylor Swift for the way young people pay attention to politics and not paying attention to the reason that young people reject the values of the old generation. It's not that they have moved past it, the reason is that the Elder is manipulating them. The elder admits this in all-caps, "who will ever suspect then that ALL THESE PEOPLES WERE STAGE-MANAGED BY US ACCORDING TO A POLITICAL PLAN WHICH NO ONE HAS SO MUCH AS GUESSED AT IN THE COURSE OF MANY CENTURIES?"

(There's an ellipses at the end, but I don't know what it is for.)