# Is this all true? \[Do bankers rule the world?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431 "2008-10-04T09:00:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![virtually\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@virtually\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtually_yours)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/1 "2008-10-04T09:00:43Z")
Some one posed this on a newsgroup. It’s about the way bankers run the world: [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936) virtually yours. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/2 "2008-10-04T09:43:06Z")
We have to watch a three and half hour video before answering? Could you give us the Cliff’s Notes version? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/3 "2008-10-04T10:36:29Z")
Any statement along the lines of: _…it’s about the way [bankers/jews/illuminati/muppets/liberals] run the world…_ …starts warning bells ringing in my head. A précis of this video would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/4 "2008-10-04T11:37:40Z")
I’m about 2.5 hours into it. Appears to be about the jogging habits of international financiers. Nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/5 "2008-10-04T11:54:57Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > I’m about 2.5 hours into it. > > Appears to be about the jogging habits of international financiers. > > Nothing to see here. I’d watch it just for the muppets. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/6 "2008-10-04T14:53:02Z")
I was only able to get to the point where the guy pointing at me with the pencil was talking about “they” and their plans as if there is some sort of Giant World Secret Cabal that Rules Everything. ( I think this is about 60 seconds into it.) So…nope. It’s not all true because the opening dialogue is nonsense. Feel free to ask about anything specific that is mentioned after that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/7 "2008-10-04T15:48:34Z")
Edited thread title to indicate subject. Please try to use descriptive thread titles. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/8 "2008-10-04T15:58:02Z")
This idea is so inane it beggers my imagination. Which takes a lot of work to do. Bankers can’t even guarrantee they won’t go out of business. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/9 "2008-10-04T17:12:41Z")
Is this a troll just to get us to view the video? Besides, everyone knows it’s the mice that rule the world. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/10 "2008-10-04T17:55:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Is this a troll just to get us to view the video? [Moderating] I would remind you that it’s against the rules to accuse another poster of trolling outside the Pit. If you suspect a poster to be trolling, please report the post. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/11 "2008-10-04T19:32:00Z")
That’s certainly a lot of documentary to have no basis in truth. He’s brandishing that pencil like a pipe, to make him look like he knows what he’s talking about. Does he or doesn’t he? Are bankers responsible for everything that goes on in the world? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/12 "2008-10-04T19:54:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Is this a troll just to get us to view the video? With a join date of 2001? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/13 "2008-10-05T00:47:34Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > _…it’s about the way [bankers/jews/illuminati/muppets/liberals] run the world…_ > > …starts warning bells ringing in my head. It uses a lot of the “traditional” code words that the Zionist conspiracy types like so much (“international financiers”, “international bankers”, “cosmopolitans”, “New Yorkers”, “media magnates”, etc.), but it doesn’t seem to be openly anti-Semitic. I tried Googling for the group(s) behind it and didn’t find anything… but [wakeupordie.com](http://wakeupordie.com) (a white supremacist site) is promoting it. Whether that’s because they _think_ the filmmakers are speaking their language (ie. evil bankers=Jews) or because they’re _actually_ speaking their language, I don’t know. ETA: One of the film’s big assertions- that the Federal Reserve system is a private institution, not a government agency- is really big with white supremacists/racists/racialists/separatists/whatever they’re calling themselves these days. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/14 "2008-10-05T00:58:54Z")
In my experience, “bankers” is code-word for “Jews” in conspiracy-speak. So is “trillionaire.” If you ever see a book, or essay, or video claiming there are trillionaires out there, run. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/15 "2008-10-05T01:13:56Z")
I mentioned this in the other thread, but I note that just 16 minutes in, the narrator talks about how 200 years before Christ, “Two Roman emperors” tried to reform usury laws. 200 years before Christ, there weren’t any Roman emperors, because there was no Roman Empire. Rome was a republic then, with no emperor. There were various other fast-and-loose-with-the-truth bits up to that point, so I gave up. ---
**Author:** ![virtually\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@virtually\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtually_yours)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/16 "2008-10-05T02:07:34Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I was only able to get to the point where the guy pointing at me with the pencil was talking about “they” and their plans as if there is some sort of Giant World Secret Cabal that Rules Everything. ( I think this is about 60 seconds into it.) > > So…nope. It’s not all true because the opening dialogue is nonsense. > Feel free to ask about anything specific that is mentioned after that, though. For the one who questioned my _trollabilty_ no, I’m not a troll..but this was posted by a considered troll in a newsgroup. Why I took notice is he said the jews were responsible for the usa civil war (most of us think it was to liberate the slaves). I asked him why does he say that; he directed my to about 1:10 in the video where it quotes Lincoln saying that in essence he’s not worried about the slavery issue and so on. seems Lincoln was more interested in the money…green backs and silver. That was a shocker for me, if it _is_ true. Then further on Lenin was lamenting that he realised he was not in control of the revolution but it was others behind the scenes.. International bankers so to speak.. I don’t care if they were Jews or Mongolians, more power to em. virtually yours ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/17 "2008-10-05T02:15:07Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > With a join date of 2001? I’m wondering how he’s a guest with that join date. ---
**Author:** ![virtually\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@virtually\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtually_yours)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/18 "2008-10-05T04:26:50Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’m wondering how he’s a guest with that join date. Low post/visit count? VY ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/19 "2008-10-05T05:14:08Z")
> [@virtually\_yours](#): > > Why I took notice is he said the jews were responsible for the usa civil war (most of us think it was to liberate the slaves). This is wrong: The Civil War was to liberate the slaves in that the South left the Union due to slavery and explicitly mentioned the fact numerous times in official documents (state constitutions, declarations, etc.) Saying ‘Jews Did The Civil War’ is nuttery on a level with ‘Jews Did 9/11’ or ‘Jews hate mudkips’. > [@](#): > > I asked him why does he say that; he directed my to about 1:10 in the video where it quotes Lincoln saying that in essence he’s not worried about the slavery issue and so on. Lincoln was a politician. He lied. He was writing to Horace Greely, and he told Greely what he wanted to hear. The fact the letter goes directly counter to a lot of his other remarks on the subject of slavery is curiously ignored by some people. > [@](#): > > seems Lincoln was more interested in the money…green backs and silver. No, not really. America was on the gold standard then and I don’t even think bimetallism would be an issue until a while after the war. > [@](#): > > Then further on Lenin was lamenting that he realised he was not in control of the revolution but it was others behind the scenes.. International bankers so to speak.. By ‘International Bankers’ a lot of people of that era meant ‘Jews’. I don’t know if Lenin was especially antisemetic (Stalin sure as hell was), but Lenin would have been ranting against bankers _anyway_: Communists don’t like banks or bankers. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431/20 "2008-10-05T06:17:51Z")
In **virtually yours** ’ defense, anti-bankerist (I made up that term) feelings are massively more prevalent at the moment than anti-semitism, what with the crisis on and all. And **Lobsang** , you may have noticed by now that with the free posting, a lot of old members are now “guests”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-all-true-do-bankers-rule-the-world/466431.md?page=2)