What was John F. Kennedy referring to when he said “a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy”?
Excerpt
For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.
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it seems like you didn’t quite get the responses you were hoping for.
i appreciate your questioning and attempt to reframe the JFK speech in a modern context. it makes sense to me that he might have been speaking about some underground conspiracy which is still in operation today.
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I was looking for something that would click in my mind, like when you just know puzzle pieces fit together… and, no, I haven’t heard anything like that yet.
He’s talking about the Soviet Union. This would have been clear to anyone at the time. Conspiracy just means more than one person working together.
It was mostly before my time, so I don’t have that kind of insight. When I read it, it sounds to me a lot like what we see happening in the U.S. today.
Well, back then it was the Soviets, and now quite a lot of what we see in the west is being guided by the hand of Putin, so it basically is the same thing happening all over again.
Worth remembering that Putin practically grew up in the KGB.
What I’m trying to get at is 1) Exactly what this thing is that JFK was talking about; and 2) Whether this precise thing has continued to exist since JFK’s time up to today. With the very elaborate way JFK was speaking, it sounds to me like it had to involve more than just the Soviets, and not like something that would have easily and suddenly died off. But I suspect you must be right, that the Soviets were and obviously are significantly involved still. Maybe I’m just asking an impossible question.
He was talking about the Soviet Union. Don’t they teach this very basic history in school?
Who do you think was conducting the ‘Cold War’ in the last sentence?
If he was talking about nothing more than the Soviet Union, why didn’t he simply say ‘we are opposed around the world by the Soviet Union’? Seems like a very complicated way of saying Soviet Union. And no, the schools I went to didn’t teach about covert global conspiracies, the likes of which John F. Kennedy was clearly warning us against.
You’re not going to like this answer but he didn’t say Soviet Union because he didn’t need to. Everybody understood that ‘communism’ was ‘THE Global Conspiracy’ ever since McCarthyism took of.
Check out A conspiracy so immense : the world of Joe McCarthy by David Oshinsky to learn a little of what the attitude of the time was like.
Also sorry for the previously snippy response.
Thanks, apology accepted. Thanks also for the link, saved it.
In his entire speech, he never mentions Russia in any form. Meanwhile, he does refer to some enemy in plural form, that is advancing from around the globe, i.e. “those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe”, and “this nation’s foes”, etc. He also warned against religious involvement in politics in a different speech, which I think has gone mostly ignored at our own peril. People scoff at religion if they themselves aren’t religious, ignoring the fact that the leaders of the world are mostly very religious people (whether sincere in their religion or not). I mention this because I suspect these two were somehow connected in JFK’s mind.
For the sake of objectivity and truth, I’m trying to take into account my lack of any firsthand perspective. I just honestly cannot see how he was talking about the Soviet Union alone when I read what he said and how he said it. It honestly seems to me he had to be talking about something far greater.
Nah man sorry. You’re just wrong in this case. You’re missing the forest for the trees.
Communism was the conspiracy. China. Vietnam. Laos. Cuba. Yemen. Somalia. Congo. Mozambique. Afghanistan. These were the countries succumbing to the worldwide conspiracy he was talking about.
Not to forget that Kennedy increased US involvement in Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism. He sent more troops and military advisers to South Vietnam to fight Ho Chi Minh’s forces. His brother also served under McCarthy as his father was a major ally and raging anti-communist.
Also regarding religion, Kennedy was a devout Catholic, which was a massive issue for him during the election, giving him good reason to try and dissuade people from considering it as an issue for him. Back then Catholics were often questioned on their loyalty, with people concerned that the president would be answerable to the pope. Crazy I know.
You could be right, maybe I’m wrong… but maybe not. About religion, do you not find it odd that every American Pres since Kennedy has been found consulting with the pope concerning how to govern his own country, including those who’ve not been Catholics? Much of the world bows down to the pope and few seem to question it. I’d think atheists and people of other religions, even Protestants really, would kick up a fuss to see their leaders bowing down to this guy, but nope. There’s also the relationship and history between the RCC and Russia (something else I need to read up on).
Russian and Chinese communism
This could be as easily applied to the people who killed JFK
From his wording, I’d think it probably did/does.
With out any diligence this makes more sense and likely why they assassinated him.
Remember folks tupac was in killed in las vagas and killer was never found.
Brian Thompson the United Health Parasite was denied a claim to life in NYC and some how they found some rich Chad as a fall guy 🤡
Any guess as to what or who he was referring to specifically? Like, who is “they”?
Again talking out of my ass but the oligarchs who were in charge at during that time along with the spooks who colluded to kill him.
Speeches like these got them big mad.
Its like the business plot, we know rich people did a thing but the government covered it up so we won’t know what actually happened.
That the beauty of being the owner of the country. The state works for you even if you kill the president
Assuming he was telling the truth and he was right, it doesn’t sound like something that would have disappeared from the world any time soon. Which then makes me wonder if what he was referring to has anything to do with what’s happening today, cause there does seem to be a striking resemblance if we compare it to his description…?
Who are “they”?
Russian and Chinese communism
Yes, both have been forms of authorities rules.
And in light of OP’s question. To me “they” are all the authoritarians; both the extreme left and right winged.
Said the normie almost reflexively without doing any critical thinking 🤡
I’m not going to debate you, but I will laugh at you.
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How do you know that? Seriously asking.
In the quote he says he’s talking about the Cold War.
He makes reference to it, but also speaks of some kind of opposition from “around the world” that was working on “expanding its sphere of influence”. He also described this thing as operating in secret, not out in the open. Was Russia operating secretly? (I don’t know much about the Cold War.)
For those of us who lived through it, what he said was blatantly obvious at the time.
There were people that assumed he meant Jews, but they were always going to think he meant that.
Makes sense, I was too young to remember most of it. Still, does his description not strike you as resembling what we see happening in the U.S. today?
I disagreed with it at the time and do again now… there’s no grand conspiracy; people are just depressingly predictable in how they respond to economic and cultural pressures. Some people recognize the trends and attempt to ride them or even control them (or stop them), but with a few notable exceptions, history tends to just roll on regardless — which can look to some as if there must be some cabal of puppet masters calling the shots.
Sorry, do you mean you disagreed with what JFK was saying, that you didn’t believe him?
Yes they were operating in secret. There are many examples of their infiltration, such as the Cambridge Five.
Ok, I didn’t know that. I was too young still to remember most of it.
Probably the oligarchs. They have been trying to install fascist dictatorships for a very long time.
He was talking about worldwide communism. This was during the Cold War and no one would even think America was an oligarchy at the time. The audience knew it was the Soviets he was talking about primarily.
Bookmark worthy, thanks!
