David Icke: Threat or Menace?

Every field of study needs its mavericks.  Progress is made by those who continually challenge the accepted, who shake the pillars of conformity and resist stagnation, sometimes through wild theories of pure speculation and conjecture.

But there's a definite line between esoteric and crazy.  I leave it to you to decide upon which end of the continuum David Icke falls.

Meet David Icke.  Icke is a former soccer player and journalist from Britain.  In 1991, while on a visit to Puno, a pre-Inca burial site in Peru, Icke claimed to have had a mystical experience.  Fast-forward a few years and he begins to publish books, books that claim to tell exactly who and what are running the world and to what nefarious ends.  To Icke's way of thinking, humanity is the product of a breeding program set forth by the Annunaki, a race of reptoids from the planet Draco.

Quick aside: "Reptoids" have indeed been reported by those claiming to have had alien encounters.  This race of alien is said to be more malevolent in nature.  There are sporadic reports of people sighting bipedal reptile creatures or "lizard men" as in this dubious case in South Carolina.  An illustration of a purported "reptoid" appears at right via Wikipedia.  

These aliens have the human race inside a three-dimensional hologram that appears to us as a "five-sense illusion."  The only reality is the Absolute, a realm of intentionality, reincarnation, and multiple worlds traveling on similar but different frequencies. 

There is a shadow government that rules the world, composed of nefarious and Luciferian entities such as the Royal Family, The Bilderberg Group, the IMF, the UN, the Tilateral Commission, The Council on Foreign Relations, and maybe the Girl Scouts (that last one is my own addition, but there's just as much evidence for it as what he argues.  But I digress...)  These rulers are in fact, reptoids in disguise, capable of shape-shifting at will.  Icke is critical of religion, reserving special disdain for Christianity and offering a thinly concealed hatred of Jews.

Well if that isn't just an "everything and the kitchen sink" stew of conspiracy and Fortean phenomenon. Let's try to break this down, shall we?  

Reptoids: sure, they could exist.  If one accepts that one alien race is visiting the Earth, why not more?  Bipedal reptiles are not a far leap.  Scientists have speculated that such a race could have arisen right here on our world if the dinosaurs had not gone extinct.  Plus, they're a good choice for an antagonist in a myth arc.  People are scared of reptiles like snakes and with good reason.  Several of them are poisonous and an aversion to them is probably hardcoded into our DNA as a means of survival.  Just look at all ways in which art has drawn upon snakes as symbols of evil.  The entire mythology of the dragon probably arises from this.

Then there's the notion of "a matrix."  It's not too difficult see how such a thing could exist, as a metaphor if nothing else.  Societal norms, religion, government, they all serve to squeeze the individual into a matrix of "how things should be."  If you have attributes or inclinations that go beyond such parameters, you being to feel that something is not right.  This leaves you open to people like Icke.

I cannot see inside the man's mind or soul, so I cannot say for certain whether or not Icke really believes in what he is saying...or if he just found a product to market.  Because that's how he seems to me: a huckster, a Madison Avenue ad exec watching the cultural trends to see which product to pitch next, an opportunist looking for rubes, a New Age televangelist not too far afield from Jim Swaggert or Jerry Falwell.  If anything, he is reminiscent of Marshall Applewhite, the leader of the Heaven's Gate cult, many of whom committed suicide upon the appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet as they believed it a sign that a spacecraft was coming to pick them up.  I certainly hope that Icke's "ministry," "campaign," "ad blitz" or whatever you want to call it, does not have such destructive ends (and it should be noted that there is no indication thus far that it could.)

Say what you want about him, but I believe Icke really knows how to spot a business opportunity.  The late 1990s were a perfect time to launch his conspiranoia empire, what with UFO subjects back on the front burner thanks to pop culture memes such as The X-Files.  With glossy, eye-catching covers, Icke got his books out not just to "tell the truth," but to give the public a bit more of what they wanted.  Case in point: In 2001, Icke released his book Children of the Matrix, hot on the heels of the hit movie.  What does the cover of that one feature?  Green binary code scrolled down a black background...identical to Matrix movie posters.  Between book sales and public appearances, Icke sure has raked in the cash.  All while damaging those that wish to take endeavors such as UFO studies seriously.  

We live in troubled times.  People are out of work.  People are tussling with the ravages of mental and spiritual depression.   It would be great to pin the majority of our societal ills on evil alien overlords who look like reptoids and are all out to get us.  Rather convenient, really, providing a single, fixed target for the source of our afflictions.  I believe that this notion would especially resonate with the sick and with the disenfranchised young.  I think that Icke knows this. 

If you want to indulge in his baseless paranoia, be my guest.  Check his web page, read the material, and make your own decisions.  

Personally, I won't be impressed until he has his own theme park like von Daniken.

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