This years Bilderberg meeting saw a dramatic increase in attention than in previous years from both mainstream media and protestors, with attendees exceeding 2,300. This increase, more than double of Chantilly last year, has been dubbed by many to be a success in terms of exposure, with many that now believe that we can see a chink of light in the otherwise dark curtain of secrecy that often shadows these meetings.
Is this kind of thinking a little too hasty. When looking at the attendance figures it may just be that the over attendance on the saturday is in fact a smoke screen to what is fast becoming a major problem in the alternative community: the emergence of a pyramid structure where those at the top are considered leaders, and are, dare I say, worshipped.
For those people that attended the other days it was plain to see that the true numbers of those taking this event as seriously as it demanded were in short supply. On the two most important days, being the Thursday when the delegates turned up, and the Sunday when the majority left, very few were there in protest. After the clouded smoke screen of whooping and chanting, that cheered success on saturday, had subsided, what had actually been achieved? What had we really exposed?
The mainstream would have us believe that there is very little to expose, passing off the protest as being run and attended by a group of conspiracy theorists. Only time will tell what the alternative media will expose, but I can't help wondering: what if all those people that had attended investigated the shadowy government that conspired in the Grove up on the hill and then reported it, instead of hanging on the tired old Bilderberg rhetoric that we have heard before, as once again the preachers were preaching to the converted.
Many hardcore Jones and Icke fans will argue that the numbers were so great on Saturday because of the presence of the two alternative 'heavyweights', they will say that because of these two the issues that the alternative media strive to get out would not have any where near the publicity, and, to an extent, this is right. However, using the same facts, that the attendance on saturday was dramatically higher than the other days, we must also ask the very pertinent question: did those extra 2,100 protestors attend in order to protest the Bilderberg meeting, or to see Icke and Jones?
Even more difficult to ask is the question: where were those people on the days when it mattered? Where were the numbers on Thursday and Sunday, when the very moguls that threaten our lives were arriving and attending? Surely, if this event was to send a message to such people, the talks should have been given on these days so that the corporate elite could see just how many opposed their endeavours; instead the attendance was rendered impotent, as the greater numbers were rallied when most of the elite were taking a leisurely stroll on the golf course, far from the angry voices in the protest area.
Ironically, there were some delegates that left on the saturday, but we shall never know who they were because there were no photographers, there were no camera men or women on the front gate because everyone was fixed on the spectacle on the stage, with Alex Jones and David Icke unwittingly playing the traditional role of celebrities to maintain the focus of the crowd and entertain the masses; the same old distraction techniques we see in the mainstream.
This points to a rather disturbing notion: that the alternative community is starting to resemble much of the old pyramid system, with the preferred idols of Hollywood and the music industry being replaced by alternative 'heavy weights' such as David Icke and Alex Jones.
In the mainstream we see the majority worshiping a select few, hanging on their every word, whilst unwittingly relinquishing their own power to make change as they invariably wait for their 'messiahs' to lead the way. Are we seeing this culture now grow in the alternative world?
Those protestors that I spoke to, dedicated enough to remain until sunday, told me that they saw someone on stage bowing down to Alex Jones, they overheard excited people shrieking “I got his picture,” or “I managed to touch him,” all indicative of the celebrity cult status that the likes of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would be associated with. I myself noted that on the Thursday and Friday, when Jones made a brief appearance, the majority of those present dropped what they were doing to follow him around as he walked the Press Area.
The leader model, or pyramid system, is something we should be endeavouring to leave behind. Each and every one of us has something to add, something to bring to the table, when exposing corporate crooks, that is if we are to regain our senses, power and responsibility from the pyramid structure. Whilst we put people on pedestals, even those hard working figures like David Icke and Alex Jones, we maintain and feed the pyramid structure.
Granted, the use of such popular figures does increase exposure, but to what end? There is no doubt that the movement to expose international corporate criminals is growing, but what exactly are we growing? What kind of culture? One that rolls up its sleeves to tackle the corruption head on and make real changes, both in ourselves and the society we live in, or one that is happy to spectate from the sides.