I understand yer point, but still believe you tend to give these secret societies more Power than they actually have. Fer instance, did you know that me, Taxman, and Bob J are all FraternityBrothers and when we meet, we give each other a secret handshake?! And, considering we all tend to be RightWingZealots to one degree or another, there would be those on the Left who would therefore accuse our fraternity as being a ToolOfConservatism. Considering John "TheDuke" Wayne is also a Member, they might be onto something...LOL!!
I feel much the same way about the Bilderburgers and the CFR...a group is made up of individual members, and it's those individual members who git things done...and decide the CommonIdeology of the Group.
FReegards...MUD
BTW...did I ever tell you the story about a coupla EX-FReepers called BlackJade and ChaseR?!