Thursday, January 22, 2009

Keeping perspective when studying Bohemian Grove - a tribute to Professor William Domhoff

One of my favorite sociologists, Professor G. William Domhoff at UC Santa Cruz (who maintains an excellent blog by the way titled Who Rules America?) does an excellent job of putting the Bohemian Grove in context with a listing of numerous other social elite groups that probably a lot of mainstream conspiracy fans don't ever hear about.

His article, "Social Cohesion & the Bohemian Grove: The Power Elite at Summer Camp," is worth reading over. In particular, consider his three main viewpoints:

1. The activities at Bohemian Grove [while some are bizarre] are in general harmless.

2. Public policy is not officially discussed or endorsed at Bohemian Grove. [However, the argument can still be made that when the elite get together they are bound to talk business or policy on the side, but this is no different than if they were in a Country Club, a Lodge, or any other exclusive venue.]

3. When compared to dozens of other elite social groups, the "social cohesion" score for the Bohemian Club is about average at .62 our of 1. Case in point, there are other elite clubs and associations that unify stronger bonds and solidarity that probably warrant more discussion and public exposure than Bohemian Club.


At least consider the possibility that when icons like Alex Jones sneak in to Bohemian Grove (and he wasn't the first, mind you -- other journalists like Philip Weiss of Spy Magazine have sneaked in and provided first-hand accounts of what goes on), it could do more harm than good. People have no idea what's going on and they only really understand the soundbytes; it's entertainment that while possibly has good intent to inform the masses of what's going on, actually presents a rather limited view of the complexity of how numerous elite social clubs and gathering play a limited role in politics and policy making in the US and the world.

At least recognize that the field of Sociology is the discipline in Higher Education that studies the reality of "the matrix." As you search for your own answers, which I encourage you to do, don't forget to look at a few Sociology journals while you're at it.

Start with at least being aware of his the sociologist's viewpoint that conspiracies don't exist.

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