Episode 1: Atlas
Some time ago I wrote a bill on the society of control that is quietly and inexorably taking shape. Given some of the mocking, skeptical or incredulous comments, I hesitated to write another post on a very real global network, designed to help the extreme right to come to power in as many countries as possible, while at the same time deregulating trade and finance as much as possible. I hesitated so to avoid being labeled a “conspiracy theorist”. Today, I feel that I should have written it then, and I've decided to do so now, as recent events show that there is indeed one (and even several) worldwide attempt to take control, to put the world's population under “techno-totalitarian” control. The very idea of democracy, demonetized by decades of renunciation, cowardice, lack of vision or reactiveness, corruption and inefficiency, has lost much of its credibility among the very people who benefit from it, while the desire is growing everywhere for strong regimes run by “virile” men who know where they're going. But... do we really want to go there too?
The advent of Trump and all that comes with him lifts a corner of the veil every day on this international movement fueled by the convergence of interests between the most reactionary/conservative movements and libertarians who advocate “freedom”, to do business, to speak out etc., especially for themselves of course. I'm going to try and set out what I've understood, what I've discovered by reading, surfing, discussing and, believe me, it's quite scary. You'll tell me that the international far-right is nothing new. That's certainly true, but the rallying of the tech moguls and the power of their social networks now give them the means to achieve their ambitions: technical and financial means never seen before (wow, now I'm starting to sound like Trump, that's not good ;-)).
For me, it all started in front of my TV: I was watching one crisis after another on 24-hour news channels (“yellow vests”, Covid, elections) and I ended up noticing the recurring presence of people introduced as directors, communication officers, researchers or analysts within organizations with names as vague as they were pretentious, such as IFRAP (Fondation pour la recherche sur les administrations et les politiques publiques) or IREF (Institut de recherches économiques et fiscales). Like, I think, anyone else, these names reminded me of more or less official stuff, or, at least, of establishments doing relatively serious work. We'll see that yes, it is serious, but not in the way you'd think.
As, on the one hand, I like to know who's talking to me and, on the other hand, I had noted a very right-wing and “pro-rich” connotation in their interventions (you know those poor rich people who are being abusively taxed, those who are raining so much money down on us), I started to dig into the matter on the internet. One thing leading to another, I discovered that these structures are anything but official or officially recognized. I realized that some of them had already been working for some time (e.g. IFRAP since 1985), mainly in parliamentary lobbying, but also to promote ideas that were, let's say, very far to the right. I keep going and discover Anne-Sophie Simpere's survey on Atlas.
What's this about?
Atlas is an international think tanks network, an American non-profit libertarian organization founded in 1981. Its main activity is to promote ultraliberal and climatosceptic ideas around the world. By 2023, the network had 589 partners (such as IFRAP or IIREF) in 103 countries, with a budget of $28 million. Where do all these dollars come from? Generous donors like the Koch brothers, Exxon or Philip Morris in the US and Michelin in France.
They use several methods, in a coordinated manner, to influence an election, referendum, adoption, amendment or rejection of a law.
The echo chamber technique, for example, is a way of bringing ideas, even if they are initially in the minority, to the forefront of public debate. At the same time, several think tanks in the relevant country discuss an issue (immigration, a new corporate tax, a law protecting a territory from exploitation of its natural resources), obviously from their own angle. Tweets, YT videos, newsletters, reports, “polls” etc. are all used to give the (erroneous) impression that “the people” are against or at least very concerned about the issue. Even though this is absolutely not the case. The algorithms of social networks and search engines, as well as the determination of politicians and the media to not miss the boat, do the rest: members of these think tanks find themselves almost “mechanically” invited to speak on the topic in the mainstream medias. As a result, the issue becomes a major one, and everyone ends up expressing an opinion on it, thereby increasing the size of the resonance chamber. The aim is to install ideas in society and move the Overtonwindow, basically the limits of what is admissible to talk about in public debate.
Another good old-fashioned method is fake news, of course: arguments stripped of their context, interpreted in a highly biased way, using past photos to illustrate current events. Of course, this is as old as the USSR, but today the use of AI to generate misleading images or videos boosts the technique. In short, everything's good!
And the problem is, it works! Very well indeed. You'll find them in every bad move, from Brexit in England, to the victory of the No vote in the referendum protecting aboriginal territories in Australia, to the election of Javier Milei in Argentina, accompanying and encouraging the rise of the far-right all over Europe. The list of their interventions is long, very long. I invite you to watch Anne-Sophie Simpere's interview below (in french) and, for the more courageous, to download and read the pdf detailing her investigation, which is well-documented, with plenty of links to verify the accuracy or veracity of what she says.
Finally, don't think that we're dealing with amateurs who rely on the natural abilities of network members. No, no, they've been training all these people in the USA at the Heritage Foundation and, for the last 20 years, in France too, thanks to the IFP (Institut de Formation Politique), which has brought us people like Charlotte d'Ornellas, Thais d'Escuffon and other journalists, influencers or members of political parties. In short, it's all perfectly organized, coordinated to manipulate the masses for the great benefit of a caste of billionaires and their affiliates. And no, I'm not a conspiracy theorist 😉 . If you read the report, you'll find links to the sites of these “Institutes” where they don't even hide, proudly claiming the results they've obtained. So everything is perfectly documented and can be verified. Anne-Sophie Simpere doesn't express an opinion, she relates facts.
In the next post I'll tell you about another very edifying book, The Chaos Engineers, (of which the Atlas member offices and networks are part), by Giuliano da Empoli which documents another aspect of our march towards the extreme. In the meantime, do enjoy yourself... while you still can.
Wesh Bro!
