Hidden Agendas

The reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States (1776). Traslates to "New Order of the Ages" or "New World Order." Some claim this shows a hidden agenda to create such a world order.

Description

Society expects its leaders to keep their agendas transparent and in line with the agenda of the groups and people that they represent, however, this is rarely the case. Those in power often have agendas of their own that aren’t in line with the public’s limited expectations of them, and for this reason they may choose to keep these agendas hidden. Of all the patterns this one may be the most pervasive and potentially destructive.

How it Works

Hidden agendas work by keeping certain information secret and misrepresenting the true motives behind an action. It can sometimes use the ability to distort history to be in line with whatever agenda is being propagated. It is very important to shut down any vocal opposition or questions about the possible reality of the hidden agenda, if such an opposition arises. It often relies on the societal apathy of the people who may be affected by this hidden agenda and their ability to be distracted by other things that may demand their attention.

If the hidden agenda gets out, it can disenfranchise citizens and fuels their disrespect and distrust for those in charge. Once trust is broken, the people may begin to look for more evidence of lies and distrust can snowball. Hidden agendas cannot represent the people’s best interest if they have no say (as they've been kept in the dark) and overtime can lead to civil disobedience and social unrest.

Evidence

An example could be the motives of the 2002 US/Iraq war It was said that this war was a war on terror. Top officials from both sides of the aisle later came out and said the war was for the protection of oil assets, not the spread of democracy and freedom(citation needed). The US government used, in part, the recent attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 9th, or 2001 to justify this war by insinuating that the Iraqi Government was somehow involved(citation needed). Scare tactics were also used in that the American public and international communities were told that the US government had evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction(citation needed). That was later proven to be false information(citation needed).

Lobbyists and money in politics? NSA agenda?

Links

Semantic Manipulation, Distorting History, Corruption and Fraud, Opacity, Societal Apathy, Weapons of Mass Distraction, Advertising-Funded Media

References

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/top-republican-leaders-say-iraq-war-was-really-for-oil.html