So, been about three years since the "Georgia Guidestones" were destroyed after being vandalized.
Why a rant ?
Because of the manufactured mystery aspect of the Stones.
A mysterious individual engages a local firm to erect huge granite stones. Not only that, the stones are so arranged and carved that they can function as both a clock and a calendar. And to top it all off, they include "commandments" in several languages intended to guide humanity as to how to survive after an apocalypse.
I mean, think about it. This person revealed their identity to the local banker but told him to keep it secret. The project in 1980 cost some $100,000 and the money was sent by bank transfer.
Umm, that means there are bank records regarding the transfer, like ... whose account it came from. But no one has apparently ever shown any curiosity about that.
The other huge red flag is the property upon which the stones were erected. Who owned that property ? Let's get real, OF COURSE they knew about the construction and probably had a good idea of, at the least, the group behind the construction of the stones. But again, no one seemed curious about that.
Finally, there is the question of local planning officials, the mayor, etc. They knew damned well about the project and were happy with it, else it would NOT have been completed. I mean (again), one doesn't just go to one state in the USA from another state and fund the construction of such a project without collaborators. Just the permissions required can be a legal mess, but in this case, it was apparently no issue at all.
= = = =
Some people have dug into this affair. It seems likely the person who spoke to the banker and construction company in Elberton was a Doctor Herbert Kersten from Fort Dodge, Iowa. Kersten was known for having far ranging speculations on topics like overpopulation (something mentioned on the stones). As well, his writing style depicted in letters to the editor in his local newspaper resemble the style used in the written communications to the banker in Elberton.
As someone on find-a-grave asked, "why all the secrecy" ?
Continues ...
Moreover, one might ask, "what good did this project do ?"
Elberton officials appreciated the tourism associated with the Stones and moaned bitterly when they were destroyed, but that kind of "good" hardly matches the Olympian tone adopted by the commands that were etched into the stones. No, this wasn't about helping anyone directly, or to prepare, or in any other regard. It was an act of showing off, a way of saying, "look at what we can do and you yokels will never know who was behind it".
By why Kersten, and why a location in Georgia ?
Cav's take: Kersten was a Mason. He had met with other Masons over the years and at some point, the idea for a project like this had germinated. People put their money where their mouth was and someone in the group was either the owner of the land used for the project or had influence over the owner. The banker, the builder, the local officials ... all were in on it. Whether the last group were all Masons ... who knows. All they needed to know is that an ostensibly harmless construction project had potential to bring tourists and their spending to a rural corner of Georgia.
And why Masons ? Why, of course, because it was a huge stone (masonry) project. Just the thing they're good at, and, as a "secret" society, they are well practiced in lying when they believe that such behavior protects other Masons and does no overt harm. To be fair, the deceit involved is behavior that many groups would practice given the tribal instincts of people. But a project this large would have made a great Masonic secret that only those who were high enough in the organization would have knowledge of.
Of course, Kersten's family denied he had anything to do with the stones. Maybe they didn't realize he was a Mason, or didn't ask many questions about his trips, assuming they were related to his medical practice at the clinic he ran. Or perhaps they are lying to cover for him ... ultimately not important what the case was here.
= = = =
The Masons may not have realized that the monument would become mildly controversial. Some people didn't like the mystery behind it, or found the commandments and their multilingual presentation something reeking of globalist propaganda. IMO, a fair concern, after all, it wasn't like monuments like this were appearing in China, India, or the Middle East (where they would have been immediately destroyed as a monument to a false idol).
But at some point, someone, or some group, tired of the mystery theater and took direct action. Thus, after 42 years, the Stones came down. The locals who benefited from tourist dollars yelped ... but I think many simply didn't care.
As is clear from my comments here, I certainly don't miss the Stones. Had they been erected in full transparency (like asking locals there if they really wanted something like that in their area), I might feel differently. But the manufactured mystery was, as I mentioned, an act of showing off, and practically a dare to those who didn't like it ... to do something about it. And so they did.
Why a rant ?
Because of the manufactured mystery aspect of the Stones.
A mysterious individual engages a local firm to erect huge granite stones. Not only that, the stones are so arranged and carved that they can function as both a clock and a calendar. And to top it all off, they include "commandments" in several languages intended to guide humanity as to how to survive after an apocalypse.
I mean, think about it. This person revealed their identity to the local banker but told him to keep it secret. The project in 1980 cost some $100,000 and the money was sent by bank transfer.
Umm, that means there are bank records regarding the transfer, like ... whose account it came from. But no one has apparently ever shown any curiosity about that.
The other huge red flag is the property upon which the stones were erected. Who owned that property ? Let's get real, OF COURSE they knew about the construction and probably had a good idea of, at the least, the group behind the construction of the stones. But again, no one seemed curious about that.
Finally, there is the question of local planning officials, the mayor, etc. They knew damned well about the project and were happy with it, else it would NOT have been completed. I mean (again), one doesn't just go to one state in the USA from another state and fund the construction of such a project without collaborators. Just the permissions required can be a legal mess, but in this case, it was apparently no issue at all.
= = = =
Some people have dug into this affair. It seems likely the person who spoke to the banker and construction company in Elberton was a Doctor Herbert Kersten from Fort Dodge, Iowa. Kersten was known for having far ranging speculations on topics like overpopulation (something mentioned on the stones). As well, his writing style depicted in letters to the editor in his local newspaper resemble the style used in the written communications to the banker in Elberton.
As someone on find-a-grave asked, "why all the secrecy" ?
Continues ...
Moreover, one might ask, "what good did this project do ?"
Elberton officials appreciated the tourism associated with the Stones and moaned bitterly when they were destroyed, but that kind of "good" hardly matches the Olympian tone adopted by the commands that were etched into the stones. No, this wasn't about helping anyone directly, or to prepare, or in any other regard. It was an act of showing off, a way of saying, "look at what we can do and you yokels will never know who was behind it".
By why Kersten, and why a location in Georgia ?
Cav's take: Kersten was a Mason. He had met with other Masons over the years and at some point, the idea for a project like this had germinated. People put their money where their mouth was and someone in the group was either the owner of the land used for the project or had influence over the owner. The banker, the builder, the local officials ... all were in on it. Whether the last group were all Masons ... who knows. All they needed to know is that an ostensibly harmless construction project had potential to bring tourists and their spending to a rural corner of Georgia.
And why Masons ? Why, of course, because it was a huge stone (masonry) project. Just the thing they're good at, and, as a "secret" society, they are well practiced in lying when they believe that such behavior protects other Masons and does no overt harm. To be fair, the deceit involved is behavior that many groups would practice given the tribal instincts of people. But a project this large would have made a great Masonic secret that only those who were high enough in the organization would have knowledge of.
Of course, Kersten's family denied he had anything to do with the stones. Maybe they didn't realize he was a Mason, or didn't ask many questions about his trips, assuming they were related to his medical practice at the clinic he ran. Or perhaps they are lying to cover for him ... ultimately not important what the case was here.
= = = =
The Masons may not have realized that the monument would become mildly controversial. Some people didn't like the mystery behind it, or found the commandments and their multilingual presentation something reeking of globalist propaganda. IMO, a fair concern, after all, it wasn't like monuments like this were appearing in China, India, or the Middle East (where they would have been immediately destroyed as a monument to a false idol).
But at some point, someone, or some group, tired of the mystery theater and took direct action. Thus, after 42 years, the Stones came down. The locals who benefited from tourist dollars yelped ... but I think many simply didn't care.
As is clear from my comments here, I certainly don't miss the Stones. Had they been erected in full transparency (like asking locals there if they really wanted something like that in their area), I might feel differently. But the manufactured mystery was, as I mentioned, an act of showing off, and practically a dare to those who didn't like it ... to do something about it. And so they did.
Fire In The Hole
