[JockoManning]

Their first major such efforts were in 1915 & 1917 with major newspaper acquisitions. They have bragged about doing it.

[semantic]

Well, in many respects, it goes back further than that. Consider the War of 1812: the Bank of England was determined to once again control the colonies through finance and taxation. When that failed, their efforts simply shifted to co-opting existing institutions. Hence, the fight between Jackson and the 2nd national bank.

Dial back through history, and the same themes repeat. Power struggles over money/taxation, and the ability to acquire critical resources, are usually the crux of the issues. It may seem a mystery to those not sufficiently engaged, but once understood, it's really not that difficult.

I mean, compared to designing mach x weapons, satellites, complex AI programs, etc, the sh!t is trivial. That's why Trump says they aren't that smart. Rather, they are merely clever psychopaths. Poster boy Stroke is a prime example; a nut like that can go far in a corrupt system.