Colorado at center of 'global elite'

The world is controlled by 6,000 people, a group of "global elite" whose connections to each other are more important than their connections to any nation or government.

People as dissimilar as the pope, Bill Clinton and Bono are the real "deciders" in the world, according to David Rothkopf, author of "Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They are Making."

Rothkopf's superclass, a "few thousand people who effectively control ... two-thirds of the world's total assets," see nations and governments as irrelevant, pesky obstacles to the solution of highly complex global problems.

Although he writes that the superclass is not an organized group of conspirators, "the aligned interests of large segments of the superclass often produce the same outcomes that dark conspiracies might."

However, the book doesn't list any names. Rothkopf claims that would be an exercise in futility because "the day after it was published, (the list) would be obsolete."

"It's really not about whether there are 6,000 people or 60,000," he said. "The point that I was trying to make is that there is a very small international group of people with disproportionate power. In the '50s, C. Wright Mills wrote 'The Power Elite,' which was about the interlocking relationships between powerful Americans. All of them were under the umbrella of the United States, but the members of the superclass are often above the umbrellas of their, or any country."

Regardless of whether there are 6,000 or 60,000 members of the superclass, do any of them live in Colorado Springs?

Locally, opinions varied.

"I have no idea," said Susan Edmondson, executive director of the Bee Vradenberg Foundation. "But maybe there's someone out there in the tech world that I don't know about inventing something that will change the world."

Clarissa Arellano, the government affairs director of the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors, was more cynical.

"Well, I'm sure that there are one or two people in town who think they're part of the global elite -- but they aren't," she said. "This isn't the kind of place where you can exercise that kind of power. In America, most of the folks at the table live in one of the five power centers -- Chicago, Miami, New York, D.C. and L.A. Of course, there are people from Colorado who are part of it, Condoleeza Rice for example. But that's because she left. If she'd stayed here, she wouldn't be."

Mike Moran, director of communications for the Colorado Springs Sports Corp., cited two Colorado billionaires whom he thought deserved membership in the elite 6,000.

"Phil Anschutz and John Malone would definitely qualify," he said. "But do they actually live here, or just maintain a base? The state really isn't a venue for people at that level."

Katie Reinisch, communications director for the Democratic majority in the state House of Representatives, was skeptical about the book's premise.

"Isn't that just a vaguely better informed version of those conspiracy theories -- you know, the Trilateral Council runs the world?" she asked. "I'm not sure that there's anyone like that in the legislature."

Rothkopf said there is at least one Coloradoan on the list: Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

"Thirty years ago, Lovins was talking about 'soft power' (solar, wind, hydrogen), and it was a marginal subject," he said. "Now it's at the center. So Lovins is there."

He also said that Malone and Anschutz are likely among the 6,000, although "members of the superclass are not necessarily the super- rich, but people who have the ability to influence millions of people worldwide. That's why Bill Clinton remains a member, as perhaps does Jimmy Carter."

And while Colorado might be lacking members, the state is deeply involved with the global elite, Rothkopf said.

"Look at Aspen's airport in the summer, with the conferences at the (Aspen) Institute. That's one of the gathering places -- summer and winter," he said. "It's a pretty super-classy field. And you have to realize that the real currency of the superclass is not money, but access to other members of the group. Relationships are the currency of the group -- who you can call, how you can get things done. And places like Aspen, like Vail, like Telluride are where those interactions take place."

Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires
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