Who runs the world?

Well, unlike Beyonce’s assumption that it’s girls, many conspiracy theorists have suggested the likes of the Illuminati or even the Freemasons – but it’s the overtly secretive Bilderberg group that has us intrigued.

An annual meeting consisting of the world’s elite went down back in June in Germany, according to the group’s press release:

A total of around 130 participants from 20 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited.

But who exactly are these “participants”? Zero Hedge put together an infographic of all the attendees and their links to the world.

Check it:

Click HERE to read it properly.

The history of the group, as told by TIME, started in 1954:

Since 1954, the Bilderberg Group has been gathering in secret to discuss everything from the rise and fall of communism to nuclear warfare to cybersecurity. The group began as a way to create more cooperation between Europe and North America during the Cold War, and Bilderberg releases an annual list of the people who will attend and the topics they’ll discuss, but beyond that, little leaves the walls of the meeting rooms.

Bilderberg operates under the Chatham House Rule, which allow those who attend the meetings to use the information they glean but not to disclose who said what, according to Bilderberg’s website. That has spurred conspiracy theorists to claim that the group is imposing a new world order and playing kingmaker around the world.

Here’s where they have met:

• 2014: The Danish capital of Cophenhagen
• 2015: The Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol in the Austrian Alps
• 2016: Dresden, Germany

..and the list of topics they discussed this year:

1. Current events
2. China
3. Europe: migration, growth, reform, vision, unity
4. Middle East
5. Russia
6. U.S. political landscape, economy: growth, debt, reform
7. Cybersecurity
8. Geo-politics of energy and commodity prices
9. Precariat and middle class
10. Technological innovation

No media or journalists are allowed in the conference, so no one know exactly what the group really discusses. But there are weird incidences that occur that have people suspecting the group is maintaining of New World Order, thanks to Time:

Bill Clinton was a conference attendee in 1991, as a mere governor of Arkansas, a year before he was elected US President. Tony Blair was only a shadow minister when he got his invitation – (you can’t apply to attend, you must be invited) – in 1993.

Conference organisers have previously insisted there is no conspiracy to crowbar their chosen people into top jobs, they just have excellent talent spotters.

But then there’s this:

In 2000, British politician Denis Healey, who had been involved in Bilderberg for decades, told the Guardian, “To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn’t go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.”

Who knows, man?

You’ll have to get to the top to find out I guess. Holla at us if you do.

[source:independent&freethoughtproject&time]