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The Open Conspiracy cover

The Open Conspiracy

HG Wells•1928

  1. Chappy's Book Notes•332 books

The Open Conspiracy

HG Wells•1928

Length
4h 18m•~180 pages
Read
Dec 18th - 20th '24
PhilosophyPolitics
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The summary and key takeaways below are auto-generated. I ran an AI pass based strictly on my handwritten notes for this book. I haven't done my own pass over them yet.

I read a book once and take handwritten notes as I go, then leave them alone. Weeks or months later I come back and write the key points and summary from those notes.

The delay is on purpose. Having to rebuild a book out of my own notes does far more for my recall than a second read-through would.

This one has only gotten as far as the AI pass. I'll come back and redo the takeaways and summary myself soon!

Summary

H.G. Wells envisions an open conspiracy against the fragmented, wasteful, and war-prone nation-state system—not a secret plot but a transparent, voluntary movement toward political, social, and economic unification of the world. The conspiracy requires a new religion focused on perfecting the self through service to the human race rather than escape into the supernatural, and a practical program: elimination of militaries, world directorate control of credit, transport, and staple production, population control, and universal human rights. The movement must resist premature orthodoxy, never become a single organization, and accept that the exact form of governance will emerge through action rather than theory.

Key Takeaways

  • Target: insufficient governments, widespread greed, waste, and war
  • Must have no secrets—transparency is the operating principle
  • Should supersede or amalgamate existing governments, not violently overthrow them
  • Shift from subordination of self to perfecting self through universal purpose
  • Three changes: psychology replaces sin, individuality is elevated, religion becomes adventure not determinism
  • Intelligent people can't follow 'final truth'—religious frameworks must be provisional
  • Recognize all government as provisional and our acquiescence in it as conditional
  • Protect against war; eliminate militaries as 'BS jobs'
  • World directorate for credit, transport, and staple production; population control through birth control; universal human rights
  • Can never become a single organization—it's a system of purposes, not an institution
  • Avoid premature orthodoxy or tradition that ossifies the movement
  • Resistance will come from existing privileged classes, including universities

Notes

  • Increasing speed of change / progress
  • “Moral progress vs material advance”
  • “The economic machine creeks”
  • Changeover imminent
  • Conspiracy against: fragmentary, insufficient govts, widespread greed, appropriation, clumsiness, waste
  • Language: realists vs nominalists
  • Education revolution
  • Religion:
    • Subordination of self
    • Universal purpose
    • To what end?
    • Can’t be “final truth” - intelligent people can’t fully follow
  • 3 changes in religion past vs present:
    • Psychic processes, origin of thought + feeling, sin → bad habits
    • Individuality: greater than
    • Religious determinism: dominion → adventure
  • Religion: perfecting self → escaping self
  • —
  • New world: politically, socially, economically unified
  • Can’t have military or patriotism
  • Exact form of governance unknown, but that’s okay
  • Open conspiracy must have no secrets
  • Individualism ↔ socialism
  • Militaries as a BS job to be eliminated
  • Finance + banking
  • Open conspiracy to supersede or amalgamate existing governments
  • Resistance: existing privileged classes
    • Eg. universities
  • —
  • First 3 issues to address:
    • Provisional nature of all govt.’s and our acquiescence in them
    • Protect against war
    • Credit, transport, staple production → world directorate serving race
    • Population control (birth control)
    • Human rights
    • Personal career → world directorate, general advancement of humans
    • Immortality of race > individual
  • Avoid premature orthodoxy / tradition
    • Can never become a single org
    • Movement, system of purposes
  • Science, business, etc.
  • “Old world business” for stable necessities
  • Free trade nationalism
  • Pacifist party liberalism