As you listen, if you can recall the situation, at least in the United States in 1969 and the few years thereafter, and then recall the kinds of changes which have occurred between then and now, almost 20 years later, I believe you will be impressed with the degree to which the things that were planned to be brought about have already been accomplished. Some of the things that were discussed were not intended to be accomplished yet by 1988 but are intended to be accomplished before the end of this century. There is a timetable; and it was during this session that some of the elements of the timetable were brought out.
Anyone who recalls early in the days of the Kennedy Presidency the Kennedy campaign, when he spoke of “progress in the decade of the ’60s”; that was kind of a cliché in those days – “the decade of the ’60s.” Well, by 1969 our speaker was talking about the decade of the ’70s, the decade of the ’80s, and the decade of the ’90s. So that… I think that terminology that we are looking at. . . looking at things and expressing things, probably all comes from the same source. Prior to that time I don’t remember anybody saying “the decade of the ’40s and the decade of the ’50s.” So I think this overall plan and timetable had taken important shape with more predictability to those who control it, sometime in the late ’50s.
That’s speculation on my part. In any event, the speaker said that his purpose was to tell us about changes which would be brought about in the next 30 years or so . . . so that an entirely new world-wide system would be in operation before the turn of the century. As he put it: “We plan to enter the 21st Century with a running start. Everything is in place and nobody can stop us now . . .” He said – as we listened to what he was about to present – he said: “Some of you will think I’m talking about Communism. Well, what I’m talking about is much bigger than Communism!”
At that time he indicated that there is much more cooperation between East and West than most people realize. In his introductory remarks he commented that he was free to speak at this time because now, and I’m quoting here: ” ... everything is in place and nobody can stop us now.” That’s the end of that quotation. He went on to say that most people don’t understand how governments operate and even people in high positions in governments, including our own, don’t really understand how and where decisions are made. He went on to say that… he went on to say that people who really influence decisions are names that, for the most part, would be familiar to most of us, but he would not use individuals’ names or names of any specific organization.
But, that if he did, most of the people would be names that were recognized by most of his audience. He went on to say that they were not primarily people in public office, but people of prominence who were primarily known in their private occupations or private positions. The speaker was a doctor of medicine, a former professor at a large Eastern University, and he was addressing a group of doctors of medicine, about 80 in number. His name would not be widely recognized by anybody likely to hear this, and so there is no point in giving his name. The only purpose in recording this is that it may give a perspective to those who hear it regarding the changes which have already been accomplished in the past 20 years or so, and a bit of a preview to what at least some people are planning for the remainder of this century so that we – or they – would enter the 21st Century with a flying start. Some of us may not enter that Century. His purpose in telling our group about these changes that were to be brought about was to make it easier for us to adapt to these changes. Indeed, as he quite accurately said, they would be and he hopes that we, as sort of his friends, would make the adaptation more easily if we knew somewhat beforehand what to expect. “People will have to get used to change . . .”
Somewhere in the introductory remarks he insisted that nobody have a tape recorder and that nobody take notes, which for a professor was a very remarkable kind of thing to expect from an audience. Something in his remarks suggested that there could be negative repercussions against him if his… if it became widely known what he was about to say to… our group… if it became widely known that he spilled the beans, so to speak. When I heard that, first I thought maybe that was sort of an ego trip, somebody enhancing his own importance. But as the revelations unfolded, I began to understand why he might have had some concern about not having it widely known what was said, although this… although this was a fairly public forum where he was speaking, [where the] remarks were delivered. But, nonetheless, he asked that no notes be taken… no tape recording be used – suggesting there might be some personal danger to himself if these revelations were widely publicized. Again, as the remarks began to unfold, and I saw the rather outrageous things that were said – at that time they certainly seemed outrageous — I made it a point to try to remember as much of what he said as I could, and during the subsequent weeks and months and years, to connect my recollections to simple events around me, both to aid my memory for the future in case I wanted to do what I’m doing now – record this. And also, to try to maintain a perspective on what would be developing, if indeed, it followed the predicted pattern – which it has! At this point, so that I don’t forget to include it later, I’ll just include some statements that were made from time to time throughout the presentation… just having a general bearing on the whole presentation. One of the statements was having to do with change. People get used … his statement was: “People will have to get used to the idea of change, so used to change, that they’ll be expecting change. Nothing will be permanent.”
This often came out in the context of a society of… where people seemed to have no roots or moorings, but would be passively willing to accept change simply because it was all they had ever known. This was sort of in contrast to generations of people up until this time where certain things you expected to be, and remain in place as reference points for your life. So change was to be brought about, change was to be anticipated and expected, and accepted, no questions asked. Another comment that was made from time to time during the presentation was: “People are too trusting. People don’t ask the right questions.” Sometimes, being too trusting was equated with being too dumb. But sometimes when … when he would say that and say, “People don’t ask the right questions,” it was almost with a sense of regret, as if he were uneasy with what he was part of, and wished that people would challenge it and maybe not be so trusting…