Suicidal Freezer Unit story, by Tom
Wolfe from Rolling Stone July 98 (excerpted from the novel "A Man In
Full")
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Part of their power is the people's belief. The NWO influences the finer points, the philosophies and perspectives most people in the world take on things. But the Syndicate has great influence over a primal, almost gut-level aspect of people -- Society itself. I see the Syndicate as having a strong hand in some church-organizations. They want power over the things people believe in.
And what do people believe in more than money? Seriously, you can talk alot of nice philosophy, but ask any middle-class church-goer to start giving all his paychecks to his local diocese and he'll laugh and then ignore you. People know that money is important. They believe in its power to change a person's life for better or worse. They are afraid of its absence, and joyous at its presence. So much emotion and belief and thought is tied into money that economic wizardry and manipulation of stocks cannot help but reap huge amounts of Quintessence, even when the magicks do not yield the money itself.
And I don't know anything about the technicalities of the economy and the stock market, but from what some Economics majors have talked to me about, there is some bizarre and incomprehensible stuff going on. Money appears, disappears, doubles, changes... yeesh. And keep in mind, concerning the whole cashless society thing, that even today IRL there isn't remotely enough actual valuable material (gold, silver, etc.) to support the amount of paper money being tossed around. The bills are not backed by gold, by actual material of value. So the money's value is only that which it is given... but given by whom?
But let's see... I also throw in some dark sorcery-type rituals for some Syndicators, especially the more criminally-oriented types... I figure it's tolerated by the Union, in part because they don't know the extent to which it occurs, and in part because the Syndicate is just so damn powerful. And I toss in a healthy dose of plain street-thugs, blackmailers, ciminal organizations, and hackers who can eliminate every account you hold and track your every move by reading the magnetic strips in your paper money or credit cards... in that last respect they probably work with the NWO alot...
And finally, speaking of the NWO, the Syndicate's basic premise is that they have a finger on the pulse of society's wants. No, better, they also have their hand on society's heart, pumping it just so, in just the right rhthym... what do most people in the world want out of life? Just what the Syndicate tells them to want. The right toys and games and cereals. The flashy car that sucks up gas and needs fixed every year or less. The expensive school degree (tip of the hat to the Ivory Tower). A respectable, relatively high-paying job. A wife and 2.3 children. A townhouse in a nice suburb, never mind the 30-year mortage note. A really nice station wagon. A white picket fence, maybe. Season tickets to the ballgame, or the right theatre.
Oh yeah.
The Syndicate's got the whole world, in their hands...