Joseph Plummer’s Tragedy and Hope 101 is the shortest and surest way to understand the origin of some of the government’s most destructive policies—the sacred cow policies that stay in place no matter how wasteful and counterproductive they may be (e.g., inflationary monetary policy, Orwellian mass surveillance, the permanent war economy that hollows out the productive sector, etc.). The book explains why these policies enjoy bipartisan support and how they survive the changing of administrations, regardless of which party controls the White House or Congress.
Although Tragedy and Hope 101 does not rise to the level of a scholarly work, it does incorporate the results of scholarly research, including the work of Dr. Carol Quigley (1910-1977)—most notably his book Tragedy and Hope, distilled and summarized here for readers who have neither the time nor inclination to slog through Quigley’s one-thousand-page tome. Unlike its namesake, Tragedy and Hope 101 is intended for the lay audience; and, as G. Edward Griffin notes in the introduction, it provides a good starting point for people who want to do further research on the subject.
So, what is the subject?
The subject is this: The origin of the government’s most destructive, bipartisan policies can be traced to what Quigley calls “the network”: a group of international bankers, industrialists, pliable politicians, and their intellectual bodyguards (e.g., like-minded government “experts” and media assets). This network exercises undue influence over government policy through an array of federal agencies, think-tanks (e.g., the Council on Foreign Relations), intelligence agencies, and other “instruments.” It is oriented toward establishing a more unified world order based on the model of collectivism—that is, a one world state to be controlled and managed by members of the network (or their agents). For the sociology students out there exercising their sociological imagination, these people are akin to what C. Wright Mills calls the “Power Elite” or, in many cases, the people for whom power elites work or (if you prefer) “the Establishment.”
And yet, while further research is certainly in order, the book’s core thesis—that such a group does exist and has been a significant force in international affairs since at least World War I—is as well established as the Establishment itself, with its roots in a secret society founded by Cecil Rhodes and dedicated to the task of bringing all habitable portions of the world under the control of the British Empire.
Hear me out. I said “roots”—as in historical roots. This is not a description of the group’s current posture.
Of course, the composition of the network, and the driving forces within it, have changed. The group’s strategic focus has certainly shifted since the time of Bretton Woods and the end of World War II, the point at which the United States became senior partner in its “special relationship” with Great Britain, when the U.S. dollar became the world reserve currency, and when the U.S. military became the de facto world police in what George H. W. Bush called the “New World Order.”
The ultimate goal, however, has not changed. The consolidation of power in a world state remains the central aim of the network. In this case, it matters little whether the habitable portions of the Earth are ruled in the name of the British Empire or an Anglo-American Empire or “Ingsoc.” What concerns us is that a global tyranny is being foisted on us by means of propaganda and force; and those who occupy key positions of authority within the U.S. government, on both sides of the aisle, are leading the way to the gulag, whether they know it or not.
I know what you’re thinking. Area Man needs a ride to the grip store!
Bear with me.
This is not “conspiracy theory,” which is a pejorative term used to smear anyone who raises politically unacceptable issues. The material presented here is largely a matter of public record. Of course, there is some speculation, which is unavoidable at points due to the secretive nature and power of the groups and individuals under scrutiny. The author, however, conjectures on solid ground, informed by verifiable, historical facts—some of which have been revealed by key members of the network, most notably former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. (As Plummer points out, Kissinger’s idea of “Realpolitik” seems to be the network’s guiding principle, according to which “might makes right.”)
Yes, it is a “big idea”—just like a grinning President Bush said in his cryptic New World Order speeches. And, yes, for people unfamiliar with Dr. Quigley and his work, it is hard to believe: the idea that some of the most powerful people in government, academia, and the news media are working together to undermine national sovereignty in favor of a world state. For most people, it is simply unthinkable.
But Quigley renders the unthinkable, thinkable—if not undeniable. After all, Quigley was no intellectual lightweight prone to flamboyant gestures or wild speculation. He graduated from Harvard with a Ph.D. in history and taught at Princeton and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. At Georgetown, Quigley became a mentor to one William Jefferson Clinton, who later had the distinction being both the 42nd president of the United States of America and friend of convicted international sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein.
(Side note: I mention the latter distinction because it is important to remember that the use of sexual blackmail to control influential people has long been standard operating procedure for intelligence agencies [e.g., the FBI’s COINTELPRO]. Such material can be used to deter would-be whistleblowers and help reinforce group cohesion. This sort of corruption might help explain the “policy invariance” of the welfare-warfare state.)
By his own admission, Quigley was close to the network and some of its organs. He was not a member, but he was given access to its papers and tasked with writing a history of the group’s ascendance on the world stage. Referring to these papers, Quigley wrote Tragedy and Hope.
With these connections and credentials, Quigley demands our attention if we want to learn about the global power structure and how it operates (“rings within rings”)—not to mention the world-historical significance of the present moment. At this point, we really do seem to be on the edge of a new dark age of Orwellian mass surveillance, censorship, and technocratic control. Did we really arrive here by chance, or is something nefarious afoot?
Given the extent to which power has been centralized at the federal level, and now increasingly at the international level via UN-promoted “ESG” credit scores and IMF “structural adjustments” (not to mention the World Health Organization’s ongoing power grab through its global pandemic treaty), I suspect that the disturbing trends we see around us are less the result of organic, spontaneous development and more the result of the machinations of network-controlled operatives and intelligence agencies known for their “dirty tricks”: propaganda, blackmail, regime change operations, and political assassinations. (A dirty trick perfected by the American Establishment is Brer Rabbit social engineering [see here: https://areamanonfire.com/?p=105].)
How else can we explain the transformation of the United States, once the world’s greatest creditor nation following World War II, into the world’s greatest debtor nation teetering on the edge of economic collapse and now facing a currency crisis? Such a stunning reversal of fortune over the course of a few generations would seem to require consistent counselling, with elite policymakers “in the know” passing the baton to like-minded successors, all moving in the same direction and committed to the same goal—unless, of course, the coincidence theorists are right: “mistakes were made” repeatedly again and again, with “unintended consequences” which were totally unforeseeable, leading us (just by chance) to the precarious position we now occupy.
Caveat: No one here is saying that the network is monolithic or all-powerful. On the contrary, just as in any group, there are centrifugal forces: factions, rivalries, shifting alliances, jockeying for position, disagreements over tactics, etc. Nevertheless, the network remains united in the shared goal of concentrating political power and extending its reach across the globe.
I hinted at how these centrifugal forces might be countered through the use of blackmail. The blackmailing of members can result in a kind of “Mexican standoff”: a situation where people who have been corrupted by the network are always in danger of being mutually exposed as the philanderers or pedophiles or murderers that they are. Hence, all parties involved are motivated to keep quiet, lest one’s transgressions become front page news (or perhaps something worse happens) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_standoff]. In this way, everything can be kept hush-hush, despite any loss of appetite for political intrigue or sudden attacks of conscience among members.
Secrecy is also maintained through the compartmentalization of lower-level functionaries. Agents in the outer rings may take part in operations on a need-to-know basis. They are usually not in a position to comprehend the larger purpose they serve. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Consequently, should an agent get caught and stand trial, the worst that can happen is a “limited hangout,” which can be skillfully spun away from the larger enterprise and covered up by network-friendly news outlets. The story can then be allowed to fall down the old memory hole, with few, if any, follow-up stories (e.g., https://ericmargolis.com/2019/07/the-honey-trap-on-e-71st/).
(Slight tangent: In the realm of literature, C. S. Lewis perhaps comes closest to depicting the network in his science fiction horror novel That Hideous Strength. Here, a government agency called the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments [N.I.C.E.] threatens to set up a technocratic world dictatorship. Among the tools used by N.I.C.E to achieve its goals are (1) control over the monetary system, (2) propaganda, (3) infiltration of the news media, (4) blackmail, (5) assassination, and (6) weaponized science—the same tools used by global elites in real life. Though a work of fiction, That Hideous Strength is based on The Abolition of Man, a non-fiction book about what Lewis calls “the Conditioners,” i.e., people seeking absolute power over humankind and nature itself. Their fictional counterparts in That Hideous Strength are the government scientists and transhumanists staffing N.I.C.E. But the dead giveaway here is the group’s rings-within-rings structure. As Lewis puts it, “There are wheels within wheels” [That Hideous Strength, p. 109]. It is revealing that the occult structure and methods of N.I.C.E., as described by Lewis, precisely match those of the network in real life, as described by Quigley and other keen observers. Lewis was on to something.)
As national policies become increasingly coordinated by “experts” taking their cue from international bodies such as the World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Economic Forum, the network seems to be getting close to realizing President Bush’s “big idea.” To be clear, such an idea is antithetical to the liberal values at the heart of civilized society; it involves the destruction of national sovereignty and the discarding of the principles of individual liberty enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. For people who still hold these values, Tragedy and Hope 101 is a means of arming oneself, intellectually, against the rising tide of collectivism and, more specifically, the “new normal” fascism that has arisen in America and other countries since the declaration of a pandemic in 2020 by the World Health Organization (an “instrument” of the network).
In other words, the book is the shortest and surest way to know your enemy. It is also an invitation to learn real history that tells us how we arrived at this point.
Yes, the information here is unpleasant. But if your house is on fire, wouldn’t you like to know? Furthermore, by knowing where the fire is and who is feeding it, we are in a better position to stop these arsonists.
I should also mention that Tragedy and Hope 101 reads like a murder mystery, with unexpected twists and turns, making it quite the page-turner. Generally, I’m a slow reader, but I read the book cover to cover in one day. And what makes the book even more interesting is the fact that we, the readers, are deeply involved in the plot. It is like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure where the final chapter remains to be written—by you, the reader.
Whether or not this story has a happy ending depends on you and me. We can internalize this information and share it with others in an effort to resist the global tyranny that now wears the mask of the biosecurity state. Or we can give in to wishful thinking, take the blue pill, and enjoy our Matrix steaks—while supplies last.
The choice is yours.
I will close by quoting Quigley himself in order to show his relevance to our predicament. Here, the historian’s prescience is on full display. Regarding the rise of unelected experts who come to dominate government policy, Quigley writes:
“It is increasingly clear that… the expert will replace the democratic voter in control of the political system…. Hopefully, the elements of choice and freedom may survive for the ordinary individual in that he may be free to make a choice between two opposing political groups (even if these groups have little policy choice within parameters of policy established by the experts) …in general, his freedom and choice will be controlled within very narrow alternatives” (Tragedy and Hope, p. 866, emphasis added).
On the expert manipulation of political parties to ensure continuity of policy from one administration to the next:
“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the parties should be identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy” (Tragedy and Hope, p. 1247, emphasis added).
On the composition and nature of the network, Quigley writes:
“The financial circles of London and those of the eastern United States… reflects one of the most powerful influences in the twentieth-century American and world history. The two ends of this English-speaking axis have sometimes been called, perhaps facetiously, the English and American Establishments. There is, however, a considerable degree of truth behind the joke, a truth which reflects a very real power structure. It is this power structure which the Radical Right in the United States has been attacking for years in the belief that they are attacking the Communists (Tragedy and Hope, p. 956, emphasis added).
In his autobiography, David Rockefeller (former chief executive of the Chase Manhattan Corporation, board member of the Council on Foreign Relations for thirty-six years, Chairman of the board for fifteen, and perhaps the most important guiding light of the network in the post-World War II era) offers a similar insight regarding this “very real power structure,” or, as he puts it, this “secret cabal”:
“For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure—one world…. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it” (David Rockefeller: Memoirs, p. 405, emphasis added).
A “proud internationalist,” Rockefeller is, working against the best interests of his fellow countrymen. We get this straight from the horse’s mouth.
It is clear that the network is, in essence, neither communist nor capitalist. It is neither Left nor Right. Rather, it is bipartisan (or nonpartisan), with its tentacles wrapped around both political parties. It does not appear to be committed to any political philosophy or ideology beyond Kissinger’s Realpolitik (a lust for power) and Promethean urge to become God-like.
There’s much more to this story, of course, and I do not expect readers to be convinced of the veracity of these charges by this here review alone. But I do hope my review has at least piqued your interest in Quigley’s work, while opening your mind to the possibility that things aren’t always as they seem, that perhaps nefarious forces are behind this globally coordinated “new normal” madness we are living through. Otherwise, none of this makes any sense (see here https://areamanonfire.com/?p=1, here https://areamanonfire.com/?p=222, here, https://areamanonfire.com/?p=336, and here https://areamanonfire.com/?p=430).