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Summary by TK

#258 *Apr 30, 1987* - 1:47

  [Conspiracy (con't). J.comments on basis of fictional "Handbook of Conspiracy"; a 'how-to' manual of rules and methods. The actual percentages of powerful to powerless is more like 4% to 96%. The 3 categories of power (written on board): Real Power (see diagram) = .04%; power (apparent control) = 99.96%; the restless (rebellious). The closer you approach Real Power, the less visible it is. It has an authority to it, a permanency capable of serving extended purpose. Apparent power is transitory: tyrants come and go. In the 3 level factory analogy apparent power is held by midlevel management, and includes passive pencil pushers who are satisfied not to seek power. The restless rebellious do seek power, and in the factory analogy are represented by the unions agitating and keeping tension between the other groups. Assessment, regulation and condemnation is the lot of the powerless at the hands of the powerful, the definers of reality; they issue the innocent a uniform, then criticize and regulate its fit and code of dress. Real Power must back apparent power for it to be properly efficient. Bureaucracy always springs up between the powerful and powerless, and it serves the purpose of providing a buffer which protects the appearance of power. W/o this molecularly mandated buffer, the powerless would see the impotent reality, because transitory and manned by ordinary men,of apparent power. Religion supports this arrangement too. It gives the powerless the feel of their helplessness as related to a distant, non-material deity. Here is the connection between religion and bureaucracy. Consider again the fascination with royalty by modern men: apparent visible sign of Real Power, that Real Power does exist. Same thing with the allure of the famous: visible surrogate of power; a sensation of a power of sorts that holds out hope for succession of anybody --the non-anointed-- to Real Power; that it can be acquired in an ordinary lifetime. Consider machines/technology: man's interaction with a machine gives a sensation of power --harmless (to Real Power) personal power. Prayer as another admission of man's helplessness; petition. Secular governments installed thru revolution and self proclaimed "ultimate power of state" vs. deity, are the least efficient (e.g., USSR). This is so because such governments are not backed by Real Power. Real Power brokers intrinsically perceive and operate from the basis of a 4-D world. The powerless perceive this same world as sudden appearances of events from out of a background context, and this only when 2 of the dimensions seem important. All religious sects, zen, occultism etc., are the attempts by the rebellious to attract attention of Real Power in hopes of then joining that source. Note that any effective external rebellion requires first an internal revolution. A war is never over as long as your opponent can negotiate for peace; internal application: habits aren't vanquished if you can contemplate their return. Negotiation = no peace. Relates to not telling yourself what you're doing --which is just more negotiation. Real Power requires no negotiation. The powerless perceive victory in the struggle of change alone; victory in just keeping their heads above water. This is a form of quality control, as on an assembly line operation, after the fact: the struggle for self improvement. Real Power efficiency produces quality control by ensuring a perfect product at every step of the assembly, i.e., fix before breaking. Ordinary quality control is involved in constantly fixing what comes to you broken from the previous station up the line: endless. ]
  [Summation: "keep up the pretenses and keep down the expenses"]
  [1:38 TASK: attempt to perceive what new shell or vehicle could be used to present This Thing to the public. Continue with new non-fiction research pursuit; try to read a staggering Yellow Circuit fact every day. ] 
  [Diagram: Categories of power among the powerful vs. the powerless. Real Power, power, and "the restless" drawn on board first (each in a circle). Unions added later, along with triangle (triad) enclosure, to show secondary triad.

Transcript

THE POSSIBILITIES OF POWER

Document:  258,   April 30, 1987
Copyright (c) Jan M. Cox, 1987             

     I'm going to expand what I've been talking about here and toss the conspiracy salad a little higher.  Let's play it this way:  let's assume that I actually have possession of "The Conspiracy Handbook."  (Of course, you understand that if there were such a thing even I wouldn't have it, because no one would leave it lying around for someone to casually pick up.  But don't worry -- this is all make-believe anyway, wink, wink.)

     There's something that goes on constantly out in life which I'm sure you've run into one way or another -- inside your head if not in science fiction books or (groan) in a "real life" organization of some kind.  That is, the thread of thought which believes that somewhere there is a little core group of people who run things for everybody else, in secret.  Maybe they're hidden somewhere in the Himalayas, or maybe they're right in front of our eyes -- you know, the "guys who really own all the banks and control the utilities and make sure only their puppets get elected for President."  That sort of thing.

     Well, you should know by now that nothing humanity can come up with is original.  Everything is a reflection of something real, something that actually does exist.  So what can we see in this particular, deep-rooted human phobia.  I've pointed out that people can be divided into two groups quite easily; the apparently dominant and the apparently submissive.  I've also referred to another similar division between the "powerful" and the "powerless."  So let's take these binary divisions and I'll expand on them from the viewpoint of my imaginary Conspiracy Handbook.

     If we were dealing only with "real life out there," we could say that 96 percent of the population is powerless, and 4 percent has the appearance of power.  Those who appear powerful would be those in control of money, position, and authority.

     Now, let's complicate things.  In actuality -- as you probably already suspect -- there have to be at least three groups, not just two.  Here comes our "hidden, secret ruling society."  So what is the third group?  The third group consists of those with Real Power, with a capital "R" and a capital "P."  The first group consists of those with "apparent power" (no capitals) and the second group consists of the truly (and apparently) powerless.

     The first two groups can be lumped into one, if you want to take the binary division one step higher.  The ones that seem to have power -- the Popes, the Presidents, the "rich and famous," and those of us who know we have no power.  You don't think so?  Look a little harder.  Look at the Presidents and Premiers and Popes who have been impeached, shot, or just simply forced to resign.  Look at the "rich and powerful" who have lost it all in a crap shoot of some sort.  Those who appear visibly powerful in life are only figureheads.  In reality, although their position is important, their individuality is not.  It's necessary to have a President or a Pope -- but it doesn't much matter who fills those shoes, and even the ones apparently in power at any given moment have a sneaking suspicion, kept deep in the darkest corner of their closets, that they can be replaced at any time.

     The truly "powerless," the second group, consists of:  those who are just barely functioning in their job of living; those important complainers who feel put upon but would laugh at the idea of a union anyway; those who are thoughtfully going about the business of living as best they can; and also all would-be rebels, including those interested in This Activity.

     Now, what about that third group, those with Real Power?  The first thing you'd have to know is that these people are invisible to all the rest of us.  (See how conspiracy theories get started?)  In this scheme of three groups rather than two, those with Real Power occupy only about 0.04 percent of the population, with the other 99.96 percent being the other two groups.  And that 0.04 percent is not only tiny, it's truly invisible.  Even if some group from the 0.04 percent were photographed with other people, they would never be recognized as having Real Power.  If they were so identified, the identifier would be mistaken, or the person so identified would only be another of the "apparently powerful."  Real Power is invisible -- and the closer you get to it, the less visible it is.  If you can see power, it's not real, it's only apparent.

     This is why the powerless (which, remember, includes both the first and second groups) think there are only two groups:  "There's us and them."  For simplicity, I'll call those with apparent power the "controllers," because they seem to be in control of everything from money to politics to religion.  Both the controllers and the truly powerless are kept in their respective positions of powerlessness by the fact that there seems to be "no way out."  There's no back door.  There's "us" and "them" and never the twain shall meet.  What's the use?  It keeps everything just fine, because as long as the people think there are only two choices, they will accept defeat and discouragement.

     If we were to go back to my description of humanity as a factory, we could say that Real Power is management, and apparent power (and the powerless) are all varying levels of workers.  Remember that in a corporation, only the true owners can never be fired.  All the Presidents and Vice Presidents can lose their control as readily as the lowest secretary, should the true "heads of state" find them suddenly dispensable, or generate a takeover and buy them out.

     Being powerless means that your reality is defined for you and forced on you.  It also means that your apparently individual ideas and concepts must be subject to all manner of assessment, regulation and condemnation.  It's not enough that your reality is defined for you and forced on you, but also all your thoughts and opinions about that reality are subject to control by a dazzling array of assessments, regulation and condemnation.  Can't you see what a beautiful setup this is?

     It would work like this:  you are allowed to have what seems to be personal ideas, opinions, theories and beliefs, but as soon as they begin to run through your system, there is concurrently a constant barrage (from the same source), which assesses, regulates and condemns everything you seem to want to think and say.  It's as though you looked down and found yourself naked, and suddenly a hand comes out of the bushes and gives you a set of clothes, but while you're putting them on, the person behind the bush begins to laugh at you for the way they fit.  He tells you exactly how they should fit and keeps making fun of you for how badly they do fit.  And he gave them to you, and it's the only suit you've got!  This is the situation you have with your partnership, and unless you get a lobotomy or somehow else find yourself miraculously without a partner inside your head, you can't escape this continual assessment, regulation and condemnation.

     Here are some more aspects that are detailed in my make-believe Conspiracy Handbook.  Life requires that the apparently powerful exert every molecule, bend every regulation, and exercise every jurisdiction, to remain in power.  Life requires that they do everything possible to hold the rest of the 99.96 percent at bay.  And for another thing, assuming all this is true anyway, one interesting aspect of such a power distribution is the widespread historical, verbal, literal and physical attacks by the powerless on the apparently powerful.  All the ordinary "nobodies" seem to just naturally hate the rich, the famous, and the idea that there is some power in charge.  The only part of the truly powerless who do not hate the apparently powerful are those who are themselves finagling for an angle which will allow them to fill some of those power shoes.  Everyone else distrusts the "thems" in authority.  I already said that the apparently powerful are forced to lie, cheat, swindle and kill to remain in power -- which is ideal, since that sort of activity further fuels the resentment of the masses -- which further forces the "powers" to lie, cheat...  You still don't agree that it's beautiful?

     We're not talking about a psychological game here.  It's more like an organism struggling to maintain its hormonal balance.  I'm explaining why there seems to be a dominant person or group of persons in every group, whether it's a literary society or the Northwest Indiana Butterfly Society.  If there is a group and it's going to live, there's a dominant chimpanzee somewhere in it.  Contrary to popular belief, it's not as if somebody popped up and rode to power by stepping on all the little folks on the way up to the ladder.  It may sometimes look like that, but in fact, there is no ladder.  There are only balances of hormones.  There are positions to be filled, and it matters not at all who fills them.  Those born with the necessary requirements find themselves filling them.

     One little aside here -- another little something I think I remember reading in that nonexistent book:  Life requires that apparent power be supported by the backing of Real Power.  Without that backing the apparently powerful would lose their power.  Oh, well.

     Something else.  Generally, among the ordinary folk, "bureaucracy" is a dirty word.  Within every group, institution, organization and government there are those apparently in control, and everybody else, and -- the bureaucracy in between.  That bureaucracy always seems to spring up, no matter what.  And it's laughed at, and condemned, but it serves a very real purpose.

     The purpose bureaucracy serves is to keep the powerless far enough away from the controllers to keep up the illusion that the controllers have real power.  This illusion is the true, molecular, physical basis for the existence of bureaucracy.  You've got to keep the Pope away from the parishioners and the dictator away from the people.  You can't just walk in on the President of the United States -- you've got to go through lots and lots of red tape and even then...  If that distance wasn't there, the powerless wouldn't even begin to see the apparently powerful as powerful.  What kind of a king is it if any old lackey can barge in over breakfast and complain about how his old lady isn't treating him right?  Right?  Life isn't set up in such a way that you can walk into a bank president's office and say, "Listen, I want ten thousand dollars to do something, and it's none of your business," and he reaches into his pocket and says, "Sure!  Here you are.  Go do whatever you want with this money."

     The people in apparent power will moan and groan about bureaucracy right along with everybody else.  You see them on TV, and they're always saying things like, "Hey, I sure wish things were arranged so I could have time to deal with the little people, with my constituents -- but you see how little time I have."  And even the interviewer agrees and feels touched by how generously the big shot feels for the masses.

     If that blanket weren't there, that cushion of bureaucracy, all the "little folks" would see in a flash that the apparently powerful have no real power.  They'd see the President has to go to the bathroom like everybody else, and the Pope curses when he's gained too much weight and can't bend over and tie his shoelaces properly.  They'd see right through.  So you shouldn't laugh too hard at the "ridiculousness" of bureaucracy.  The Handbook allows anger if things are arranged in a certain way.  But bureaucracy serves a serious purpose and shouldn't be laughed at.

     Religion is another aspect of Life that is generally supported by the apparently powerful.  And of course, it has the backing of the Really Powerful in this too, which is what keeps the apparently powerful in business.  But one thing people aren't generally aware of is that the entire argument over how involved governments should be in religion, is a misdirection of concern.  The powers that be -- the apparent powers that be -- support religion.  If they don't support individual religions, they support religion in general.  Our fictitious Conspiracy Handbook points out that there is a distinct connection between bureaucracy and religion.  Religion keeps the powerless feeling that their position of impotence relates to a nonmaterial, far-away deity who either requires intermediaries for supplication, or is just naturally so "high up" that little can be done about anything.

     You may laugh at religion now, or feel it's outlived its usefulness.  You may even think it was originally some sort of balm used by those in power to frighten the children or the illiterate.  Those with apparent power tend to say things like that when they are out of power, because they believe there is a psychological basis for being in power/control, or some psychological or intellectual trick or stroke of luck which puts them in power.  Neither the apparently powerful nor the powerless masses know any better. Only the 0.04 percent know better.  And -- shhhh! -- somewhere in that non-geometrical obtuse corner are a few rebels out of the powerless masses who know better.

     Here's something that should be obvious once you see it:  as long as people believe and operate under a sensation that they are impotent, naturally helpless, and their life is not under their control -- that's as good as bureaucracy.  But back to religion:  if you feel your life is controlled -- forget by some group of humans you can identify -- if you feel your life is controlled by something far away which is invisible, non-material, and you can't be touched by human hands...well, this certainly keeps distance between you and the apparent power.  And here's another good one:  if, as this Handbook indicates, Real Power actually does exist, then your belief in your lack of control over your life keeps distance between you and Real Power.

     Here's another aspect, in the form of a question.  How do you explain humanity's continuing love and fascination for royalty?  There is even a group of pro-loyalists in France who want to bring back the Monarchy.  This is a serious group of intelligent, sophisticated people, not street gangs or people in insane asylums.  In this country, you can hardly pick up a magazine in a grocery store without reading some gossip or rumor about royalty, would-be royalty, or pretenders to royalty.  How do you explain that?

     I'm going to give you a verbal answer and description of what is behind all this.  Since the description has to be verbal, it's going to sound like the situation is purely intellectual or psychological, but remember again:  what we have here is an enormous living organism which is constantly trying to adjust its hormonal balances, and those hormones have no specific name or descriptions in ordinary human language.

     There is an idea, and the idea is that there is a hereditary line in which is vested supreme power.  And the kings and queens believe in that idea too -- all you have to do is see one to realize that.  If you think the kings and queens believe that the stories of their divine anointment were made up for the serfs and peons who didn't know any better, you don't know any better.  You can look at a two-dimensional flat painting of royalty made five and six hundred years ago and see the serious pose.  You can almost hear them saying (gravely, of course):  "I am the King.  I was appointed by god.  Cross me at your peril.  I am the King..."  They simply accepted that people bowed down to them for no reason and begged either to be beaten or not to be beaten.  And what's even more interesting for us:  both perspectives are quite proper.

     But let's get back to this non-book which I didn't read.  Here's more of what it said.  The love of royalty and the desire to maintain it gives the helpless the feeling that there really is a power in the world.  Similarly, in another area, all political fanatics, riveting entertainers, forceful orators and "good ole boy" preachers are all popular because they give the illusion of a power of sorts.  They seem to be able to command attention.  The tyrant walks out onto the dark balcony, high above where the crowd's been waiting.  And someone says:  "Here he comes now, premier/doctor/general so and so!"  Suddenly spotlights come on.  Planes begin to fly through the air.  People begin to whoop and holler.  And there you stand and you begin to whoop and holler too, without knowing why.  And it's the same with a good performer or religious leader.  Even if you pooh-pooh the whole thing, you're going to feel the tension, the release, the general mass-reaction between the person in the spotlight and the people, because it's not just a "psychological" situation.  It's Life moving around real physical components of itself in such a way that certain feelings, thoughts and attitudes are acted out through human beings.  When these sorts of people come in front of "the people," it produces a sensation that the power is right there in your presence, and you are participating in it.  You can feel it.

     Simultaneously, you also get the impression that it is possible for anyone to gain power of some kind.  To you, it looks like the person in the spotlight got his power through force or through personality.  In fact, there is a certain recognition of the strangeness of it all when you hear someone ask:  "Hey, what did that preacher say to produce such an effect?"  And the answer might be:  "Well, he talked for an hour and a half.  He waved a bible.  He loosened his tie.  He poured sweat.  He stomped, hollered and fell on his knees.  Sometimes he cried and then sometimes he laughed.  I cried and laughed along with him.  I thought I was going to faint several times.  What a show!  Well, as far as what he said...I'm not sure."  What's really happening is that molecules were moved around in Life.  Energy was transferred.  But another equally unrecognized thing is that part of the pull for the audience is the sensation that this power has been acquired in that one person's lifetime, and you sort of feel, "Hell, if they could do it, anybody could do it."  It would be a little different if you could bring out someone ostensibly from the Really Powerful -- an Illuminant or Elder of Zion or someone...what kind of attraction would he have?  You know you could never be him.  What if someone announced the presence of "the one and only true real god" here on this planet?  Oh well, I've pushed this a little too far; even beyond 4.1 dimensions.

     How about this:  how about machines?  Here we are in the age of technology, where everything is moving faster and faster.  And we have automobiles, computers, foundries, tool and die works, televisions...can you see that in a certain way machines offer a kind of inane sense of personal power? Why is it that almost everyone at least sometimes enjoys getting in a car and just driving?  If asked, you might come up with an answer that has something to do with the freedom and power to go from one point to another, or to go wherever you want.  If you live in America, you might go so far as to point out that you're able to drive thousands of miles whenever you want, without being stopped at the borders.  Power!  But this power seems to be psychological or intellectual to you, and let me point out too:  these sorts of "feelings of power" are truly inane.  They make no difference whatsoever to Real Power, because they don't threaten it in any way.  Generally, they don't threaten those in apparent power, unless those powers wish to restrict movement for some reason.  But look at it:  isn't it a sort of small, harmless, personal power that you have when you operate a car, or flip a switch and get the local news on your TV?  And if you hear or see something you don't agree with, you have all this personal power to flip another switch and change channels!  "I can turn things on.  I can turn things off.  I can turn people on and off.  I can open my garage door or not, whenever I want."  It makes you feel like you have a little control over your life, and it's harmless.

     Here's something I should have thrown into the pot with religion.  What do you think prayer is all about? You can look at it in a number of quite valid ways.  You can think of it as the epitome of ignorance, of childishness.  A person falls down on his knees in the corner, or goes to the trouble of dressing up and driving across town to a particular building and even contributing money for the privilege.  But what is prayer, really?  Here's what it is:  it's an absolute, direct, unrecognized admission of the helplessness of the person praying, or wanting to pray, or thinking maybe they should pray.  That's its purpose, and it's as necessary as oxygen.  It's as necessary for the stability of things right now, as is the third leg on a stool.

     I pointed out before that those in apparent power generally support religion.  Let me take another sidestep in the arena of religion to show you the beautiful, direct, enriched simplicity of what would be a 4-D continuing reality.  There are, and always have been, governments in some areas of Life's body which seem to be non-elected...such as the so-called socialist and communistic governments.  These types of governments apparently gain control through revolution (without seeking active support of the controlled) in order to stay in power.  And these types of governments, all through time, have something in common. That is:  they always claim to be the ultimate power, and claim so at the expense of any unseen powers, such as deities.  But if you"ll note:  these governments always seem, inexplicably, to operate at the height of inefficiency.

     It should be common knowledge that the great Russian Revolution supposedly freed "the people" from a group of divinely self-appointed, bloodthirsty, tyrannical, ignorant and backward rulers.  The new group set themselves up as a nonreligious, atheistic society and government.  The apparent power was considered the ultimate power, and forget the gods and all that stuff.  It's inefficient as hell, as is any good dictatorship.  Why?  Well, for several reasons.  One excellent, unseen reason is that they have distracted the powerless masses from feeling as though their position of powerlessness is related to something far away and untouchable.  They're left only with the feeling, "I'm impotent compared to those telling me I'm impotent.  But maybe, if only enough of us would rise up..."

     Another reason, even more unsuspected, is that in this sort of situation, Real Power exerts very little influence.  We're back to something I pointed out earlier from this nonexistent handbook:  apparent power must be supported by Real Power.  The kinds of government which set themselves up to be the ultimate power and deny any unseen powers, are always doomed.  They are short-lived and they operate at the height of inefficiency.  Because Real Power is doing very little business there, they never leave any sort of lingering mark.

     One thing that is obvious from my non-reading of this non-book, is that 0.04 percent -- the Real Power -- do perceive a four-dimensional world, and they do business accordingly.  If things were a matter of cause and effect, I'd tell you that this 4-D perception is the cause of their power.  But alas, it's not so simple.  They are born into their 0.04 percent part of Life's body, with their 4-D perception, and they do business on that basis only.  They operate the way normal people don't:  to them time is on an equal footing with height, width and breadth.

     Don't confuse the 4-D time perception of those born with Real Power with an Activity like this.  Notice that I said those with Real Power "intrinsically" have 4-D perception.  They are born with this ability to see one dimension beyond the general public.  They see that time is going on and that everything changes with time.  They can see that whoever held apparent power yesterday will be out of power next week or next generation.  They See everything as an absolute continuum, and time is as relative and stable as the height of the current president of a country with whom they are dealing.  The 3-D mathematics I'm using to describe this 4-D perception doesn't tell you as much as you might think.

     In comparison to the 0.04 percent and their intrinsic perception of the 4-D world, the rest of the people perceive a world wherein things leap out of the background, only if two dimensions seem important.  If two of the four dimensions of height, breadth, width and time seem important, they leap out and appear to become your reality.  You are conscious only of those situations where two of the four dimensions are important enough to leap out and announce themselves -- creating a binary reaction in you.  Then and only then do they become real.  But notice that this means you are always dealing with less than a 4-D world.  You never deal on a level with the simultaneous 4-D reality of the 0.04 percent -- or at least this is true according to this frivolous book I've been quoting.  For you, the world of 4-D is a sort of vague, dull background, and to get excited, you have to get a 2-D fix, like a 3-dimensional artistic relief coming out of a wall.  Or maybe I should say you have to get a 2-D fix, like a good shot of drugs in the arm.  Nothing strikes you as being of importance until this "fix" takes place.  In fact, you're not really conscious of anything until that happens, and then, of course, what you're conscious of is less than the whole.  The 0.04 percent, on the other hand, continually perceive a 4-D world where everything revolves; everything is alive and time is as important as all of the other dimensions of Life.

     If I were to write a Conspiracy Handbook it would be rather short, but each word, sentence, paragraph and page would be of interest.  Things would seem to be presented in a fairly straightforward manner.  It wouldn't strike people as "occult," metaphysical, or mysterious, as you might originally think.  Everybody is wired up to believe in a Grand Conspiracy, complete with secret groups of people, etc.  But here is some straight-forward dope on the reality of the situation.  This whole thing fits into every nook and cranny of Life's experience.  Almost anything you can wonder or complain about can be explained right here.  Ready?  There are 0.04 percent of the people really, continually in power.  They are behind everything that goes on.  Then on the visible level, 4 percent of the population seems to be in control:  politicians, dictators, elected officials, bureaucrats of all kinds.  And those in apparent power come and go.  Then there are the 96 percent which seem really powerless, of which you are one.  This 96 percent always goes around with hat in hand, ready to pray, ready to beg, expecting a miracle to happen just around the corner.  The only reason you expect help from the apparently powerful is because you are in this great mass of people who are powerless.  Of this group, everyone is prepared to accept their powerlessness, except that little odd group I told you exists -- the restless.  They are the would-be revolutionists, the rebellious.  They want to join in the 4 percent of visible, apparent power, and they can.  Remember that visible power can be gained or lost, so they can get it sometimes.

     Everyone else in the powerless mass has a million reasons why they're not interested in becoming even apparently powerful:  they're too tired, "you can't fight City Hall," or they're too young or too old.  But nobody tried to become part of the invisible Real Power.  They don't even know it exists.  It's invisible and even if it could be seen, you couldn't join it or grab hold of it for yourself.

     What a vast potential readership there would be for the "Conspirator's Handbook!"  Look at the long string of books that have been written claiming to have uncovered some great, nefarious plot by secret societies.  Any so-called "secret" societies that have been visibly formed, are formed from the pool of that little corner of people:  the restless.  They have a childish belief that they can become part of some Real Power, if they play around with apparent power long enough.  They think if they try hard enough Real Power will come along and say, "Well, we could always use a few good men.  You guys come on, close up this little rinky-dink temple and we'll show you where the real secrets are."  All the would-be occult groups, all the swamis, yogis, etc. are some percentage of the rebellious few among the mass of the powerless.  A part of the rest of the powerless is attracted to this:  the dominant person in the secret group says he knows the secret to Real Power (which he sometimes calls real magic).  He gives them all sorts of rituals and procedures to perform, such as whirling, chanting, and drawing diagrams.  Though it's not always verbalized, the followers are led to believe that if they follow all of these rituals, the 0.04 percent who have Real Power, will somehow notice them or approve the activity and be attracted to them, and then they will reveal the real secrets.  They think the 0.04 percent will take pity on them and notice them.

     Why do people stay with these would-be mystical groups?  Why do they think they're engaged in some sort of real magic?  Why do they take the opinions of some other man or woman who is obviously as helpless as they are?  Because, without quite knowing it, they're operating on the hope that somehow it will attract Real Power to them, or rather, the Really Powerful.  Looked at in another way, it's just another version of "if I do right, the gods will notice me."

     I'm just telling you the way things are from an apparently mortally produced series of events and information collected under this "Conspirator's Handbook."  None of this information has anything to do with so-called gods.  This imagined line of continuous, secret power did not come from some secret blood line which began in biblical times, and passed on to the first house of royalty in Europe, and then to the churches.  People believe that if they hang around weird groups, they'll attract the attention of this imagined Real Power, which they can't see or even imagine properly.  I'm not going to mention whether this fictitious handbook had anything to say about those beliefs.

     Let me close with a few quick aspects of the apparent active effects of this minority group -- the restless and the rebellious.  First problem:  there can be no continuing substantial, consequential, external rebellion unless there is first an inner one.  Now in the external world, that does not appear to be the case.  In the external world you can do and say whatever you want. But the only thing that overthrows and produces power is an active, "doing" revolution.  If the group attempting the coup just promises a new distribution of power and wealth, it doesn't get anybody anywhere.  But, I'm telling you, if there were a true revolution in which part of Life's body were about to undergo real change, that change would have to be preceded by an inner revolution or change -- a revolution on the molecular level.  Only then could there be an external, continuing, profitable, physical revolution.  When has that ever happened?  Well, somewhere in the "book" I think it mentioned that it happened once, but I'm not going to try to remember or even guess what the example of it was.

     Here's another thing:  the struggle apparently going on between the apparent powers and the powerless (including the rebellious) will never truly be over as long as the opponent can still negotiate for peace.  I'm not only talking about the external world here, you can learn something for you.  A war is never over so long as the opponent can still negotiate for peace.  No habit is truly over as long as you can still contemplate its return.

     Here's a prime example of the contemplation of a habit's return:  the Powerful thought it fit to make available to growing numbers of people a certain organization called Alcoholics Anonymous.  But do people who go to Alcoholics Anonymous say they've lost the habit of drinking?  Hell no!  They're not allowed to even think that!  They are encouraged to say, "I'm not cured.  I probably never will be cured.  I haven't had a drink in ten years, but I'm still an alcoholic and I take it one day at a time."  They are still negotiating for peace.  They are still in the land of the powerless.

     Does anyone see a connection between what I've just said and one of the weapons I've tried to give you -- "do not tell yourself what you are doing?"  If you tell yourself what you're doing at the ordinary level, you're still trying to negotiate for peace.  There is not only a partnership in you, but if you could See better, you would See that there are labor, management, and unions inside of you operating in a continually mechanical triad.

     As long as you can still negotiate for peace, there is no peace.  There is no quick, sure use of the sword when the deed is not done by one stroke.  There is a continual, eternal, internal discussion.  If you remember part of what I told you, from this nonexistent book, not only is your reality imposed on you, it is then subject to all manner of regulation, assessment and condemnation.  Therefore, you and everyone else continually believe that you should be changing.  You believe that you should be better, but the contemplated change is always open to negotiation.  "Should I change?  Can I change?  Should I start changing tomorrow?  Should I convert to some religion?  Should I get married and then change to please my husband or wife?  Should I change in some particular area for health reasons, or just for general morality?"

     As long as you are negotiating, as long as you are telling yourself what you should do, what you plan to do, or what you're "really sure" you're going to do, the war is still on.  "I'm going to tell me, and of course, everybody else who will listen, that starting tomorrow I will run five miles before sunrise -- five days a week.Now I've said it and I've got to do it."  You're negotiating.  Even if you don't tell anybody and you get up and do it, and then discuss among your selfs that you are now doing this and will continue to do it, you are still negotiating.

     Only those without power negotiate.  The 0.04 percent do not negotiate -- they don't have to.  If you had any power over yourself, you wouldn't negotiate.  Do you think those with Real Power discuss what they are going to do, or ask for people's opinions or consent?  If there was anything powerful in you, why would it discuss anything with the rest of you?  In the triad I designated as labor, management and union, if the management were truly in power, would they even hold discussions with labor?  Real Power does not discuss, negotiate, or have to tell anybody what it is doing.  And after it has done something, Real Power does not have to go to others and say, "Hey, did you see what I did?"

     The ordinary -- that is, the 99.96 percent in the Real 4-D world -- perceive victory in the struggle.  They perceive victory in the ability to change something inside, to overcome some opponent, some bad habit.  If you will notice, in your own molecular activity which passes for thought, you can see that the temporary victory of overcoming a habit is seen as an issue of quality control.  Somewhere down in your assembly line, you have a station just for quality control, and that area causes you to be involved with religion, self help, aerobics, running, fasting, dieting, trying to be a mystic, trying to get rich, etc., etc.  Trying to better yourself is always a matter of quality control.  You attempt to make necessary changes to bring things which have already happened, up to standard.

     If you were truly powerful, you would simply be efficient.  Real efficiency, in this case, would be to make all the activities up the line continually involved with quality.  The later repairs -- so-called changes -- wouldn't be necessary.  Then you could not be regulated through the ordinary channels.  You could not be condemned because there would be nothing to fix.

     What is self-improvement?  Not just in the mundane sense, but including so-called religious, spiritual, and metaphysical attempts to improve oneself, what it is, is an attempt to repair something you feel is broken.  You are attempting to exercise quality control now, for shoddy work which you did on your live assembly line yesterday, last week, maybe twenty minutes or five seconds ago.  You say, "Look how fast the assembly line runs?  I'm doing the same things over and over again.  I still feel bad about my production.  I still feel as though this work is shoddy.  But right now, I am involved with the continuing attempt to better myself, to change, to grow.  Right now I seem to be involved, to some measurable degree, in quality control."  But what good does quality control do if they keep putting out the same merchandise, if they keep giving out the same questionable service?  You can be involved with quality control for the rest of your life, and you'll never catch up.

     If you were efficient, if you had any power and intelligence, then rather than trying to fix something over and over, you would change the shoddy work, the questionable service that's being produced, you'd change it right there on the assembly line.  Then you could fix things, not after they were broken, but before.  You can't plan it, you can't talk about it, you can't negotiate it.  You can't turn to those aspects of your personality, your consciousness, that are putting out shoddy work, because they obviously are not you.  They're not concerned about changing.  So you constantly feel that you need to negotiate with the lesser, traumatized, unconscious carnal "imperfect" parts of you and you never notice it doesn't work.  It never has.  If you remain powerless, you will continue to negotiate, but it still won't give you any power.