Ep. 15 | The CIA, the Cold War, and Feminism: Who’s Really in Control?
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Ep. 15 | The CIA, the Cold War, and Feminism: Who’s Really in Control?
[00:00:00] Hello, And legends. Welcome back to controversial as fuck. This is obviously the podcast. Where we always peel back the layers on what society takes for granted. And we shine a light on the darker corners of our history and. of current. Events. So if you're tuning in to stir the pot, To challenge your perspectives potentially.
Then you're in exactly the right place. This is the place for you. I have another doozy for you today. So in today's episode, we're setting out on a gripping journey. So this one is going to go back into some dusty archives. On the cold war, it sneaks into the hidden agendas of the CIA and scrutinizes, the feminist movement, like never before.
So we're talking about none other than Gloria Steinem, who was an icon of feminism. As well as her alleged ties to CIA operations, which already sounds bloody fascinating. Doesn't it? So today it's just you and me. We don't have a guest. It's just you and me. We're exploring a whole bunch of [00:01:00] questions that might actually turn what you thought. You knew on its head as always. That's that's our emo here in controversialist. Fuck world.
So we're going to ask some questions, like how deep do these connections actually go?
And what's the real impact of these. Intertwined history is on our society today. Let me be clear. We're not here to peddle any like finalized treats. I'm not here to say that everything that I'm saying today in this episode is the final truth. Right. I'm not here to sell you on a neatly packaged conclusion at the end. Instead. This episode is all about opening up Pandora's box of questions.
Some might even call them conspiracies. Heck I don't give a damn I love a good conspiracy theory. But here we actually believe in questioning everything. I think I've made that clear right? From the launch of controversial as fuck. That is what this podcast is all about. It's about questioning everything going deeper than what we've been told on [00:02:00] surface, whether that is social movements or the political landscape, or just society at large the system at large, whatever it is. It's about questioning everything. So in this episode was the feminist movement used as a pawn. For social engineering during pivotal historical moments.
That is what we're going to be exploring. And look, that's a wild thought in itself. But in this podcast, wild thoughts are welcome. Absolutely. Welcome. In fact, they're a must. So get ready to have your assumptions challenged and possibly leave with more questions than answers, which. To some people that's going to be frustrating if you're the type that you're like, I actually need a definite yes or no.
I need a Definite answer. I need the Definite. Truths. Look, you're still going to thoroughly. enjoy this episode. But you are going. To end up with more questions than answers. I'm not going to lie. Other people love that. It's like it makes, it gives you that. Thirst and that drive to go and do your own research even further. So, no matter which [00:03:00] side of the fence you're on, whether you want answers or. You're the type that's like not, I love having these questions.
You're going to get something out of this episode today and look, that's the essence. of controversial as fuck. Right? That is the essence of it. As I said before, it's about questioning and searching for truth and searching for what is real. In what can often be perceived as a very fake world? Now let's dive in to the conversation. We're about to unravel this complex web and see who's really been in control.
But before we actually do that, I just want to say off the cuff, I feel this on my heart right now to say, I'm not against you. If you consider yourself a feminist, I don't hate you. I mean, make that clear. I don't hate anybody. Like I don't hold hate in my heart. I'm very big on that. Like, I think that just makes you sick.
I don't hate anybody. I especially don't hate to, if you're a feminist, I don't even hate the feminist movement. I see flaws in it. I see where it's contributed to. You know, the destruction of society and of the family unit and [00:04:00] all of that. I've gone into it many times, but I don't hate the feminist movement I don't hate you. If you consider yourself a feminist. I have. seen where people have become quite public about, you know, speaking out against the feminist movement, speaking out against, you know, women's movements in general, and and this is by women and they can sometimes. Come across as very anti-woman.
They can come across as almost bitter at women and one person that I will mention. And listen, this is not about her, but I just want to point it out. She goes by just pearly things. Her name is Pearl. I believe. And look, I don't disagree with a lot of what she says, so this, I don't want to make this personal, but I don't disagree.
Like she actually has raised some very good points about the feminist movement and why she has disagreed with it. A lot of things we would probably agree on. My only concern is when I listened to her speak. I do hear in her tone and look, this may actually mean more about me than about her.
Right. But she does come [00:05:00] across as quite like hateful of women and almost like just. Spiteful in, a way against women. And I don't want to go down that road. The reason is. This is actually coming from lived experience. What I speak on is from my own mistakes in life is from my own.
Areas. You the repercussions of decisions that I've made in my life? No, I've never called myself a feminist, but if I look at the thread throughout my life, I still had. These little pieces of the feminist movement and their ethos in me at some parts of. me Throughout life. So, yes, sure. I've never been raging feminist.
I never considered myself a feminist. I never said I was a feminist. Like I've never done that, but just in the same way that people say the patriarchy is systemic in society, I would also say that the values of the feminist movement is systemic in society and it's systemic in women at large.
So even though I wasn't a feminist, didn't call myself that I still definitely had [00:06:00] parts of it in me without even realizing it. It's not until now that I can see it. So when I speak about. The feminist movement. And I point out what I don't like about it, or I point out things that I think are, you know, women being perpetual victims and all those things that I say, I want to make it clear.
I don't hate women. I'm I'm a woman. I'm with you, man. I've. walked away. This will get me emotional. I've walked away from two marriages, right on paper. They are two big fucking red flags. Right. Two major big red flags to a lot of people that would look like holy shit, don't touch her. She's a bag of mess.
Right? And I always speak about things. How on paper, things can look one way, but when you get to know the individual, it can be very different. Same with the feminist movement on on paper, the feminist movement may seem wonderful, but when you dig deep into it, it's like, Ooh, there's some red flags here.
Right? So So the reason why I'm saying all this is to say. Yes. I'm speaking about the feminist movement. Yes. I make it clear that I don't agree with it. Yes. I make it clear that I don't want it to be labeled as a feminist. And I don't want my [00:07:00] name associated with the feminist movement because I disagree with it.
So strongly now. But it comes from lived experience and it comes from mistakes. And so I just want my heart to be heard in this message is what I'm trying to say.
I think it's incredible. And it's vital to question things. I think it's vital to point out flaws in a movement point out flaws in the system, but not to the point that it makes us self-righteous and I'm picking this up in myself.
I don't want to come across as self-righteous or as though I have all the answers in life. Again, this all comes from lived experience from making mistakes from fumbling my way through life. Through not learning from lessons the first time and, and through not taking ownership for my own shit in life and all of that.
So everything that I point out. Trust me, it's likely been stuff that's been in me throughout the years. So. There I've said my piece. All right, let's get into it. Who is Gloria? Steiman let's start with that. So, We're going to zoom in on a figure who stands at the crossroads of the discussion of feminism, right?
Her name is [00:08:00] Gloria Steinem. She was born March 25th, 1934. Right? She is. Uh, journalist, but she's not just a journalist. She was like a towering figure in the world of social political activism. Particularly known for her role in the search of the second wave of feminism in the United States, which is during like the late 1960s, early 1970s.
So she was seen as like a pioneer in that timeframe for the feminist movement. And still today, she still gets quoted all the time. People absolutely adore her in the feminist movement. She is seen as a big pioneer in, in the. The world of feminism. She also was a co-founder of Ms. Magazine. So M S not Mrs.
Not Ms. M S Ms. Magazine. And she's been honestly, a very powerful voice for women's rights for over five decades. Right? So she's a big name. In feminism. But this is where it gets really interesting. And this is what kind of led me down this path of digging deeper into all of this, [00:09:00] because she has a past connection with the CIA. Yes.
You heard that, right? The CEO. Right. You could look at this in a few different ways. We're going to cover all this as we go through it. But in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Steinem's engagement with the CIA has been openly acknowledged by her and has sparked a flurry of speculation. Right. Was she merely an agent?
Was she an operative or was it something even more complex? And that's what we're going to be digging into today. Now as the title of this episode says, we're talking about the CIA, the cold war and feminism, and who's really in control. So. Why am why. the cold war. Why feminism? Why the CIA, this is all going to make sense as you stick along with me, but let's set the scene first.
What even is the cold war. So just in case you're listening and you're like, I actually don't even know what that cold. War is. Or what it was about. I'm going to set the scene for you. So I want you to imagine. A world where the two strongest teams aren't actually fighting each other [00:10:00] directly. But instead they're in this like nonstop game of strategy and secrets and, you know, showing off power that's that's what this was basically. Like right.
This was the cold war. So it was a time of major tension that was spread all over the world from the end of world war two in 1945. Until the Soviet union. Fell apart in 1991. So from 1945 at the end of world war two and to 1991, when the Soviet union actually fell apart, that that was basically the cold war.
Right? So unlike most wars, because when you think of war. You think of soldiers for writing? That's not what this war was about. Instead it was about spying. About spreading powerful messages and the scary threat that nuclear weapons could be used at any time as well. So this was a lot about trying to gain dominion and power, but through spying and again, through spreading powerful messages of. Of the way that they [00:11:00] believed life should be lived. So I want to talk about some key elements of the cold war quickly.
So it was an ideological conflict. Again, it wasn't fighting. Enormous shooting each other. It was all about ideas and thoughts and how they believed life should be lived. As a group of people as a country, as a culture. So the coal. So at the core of the cold war was a big disagreement over big ideas.
That's what it was about. Big ideas. How countries should be run. The United States led a group of countries called the Western democracies, right. And these Western democracies, which again, United States led. They liked cat cat.
They liked capitalism. So this is where businesses are private.
So, this is where businesses are privately owned. Right? So again, America led to this group. Uh, where it's all about capitalism and you own your own businesses. They're [00:12:00] privately owned and it's all about democracy where people have freedom. Freedom and can vote. Right. On the other side, you had the Soviet union, which was headed by the Eastern block and I'm going to get into what the Eastern block is in a second.
Right? Just shelf that for two seconds. But this group that the Soviet union headed was pushing. For communism, so complete opposite. It's where the government controls a lot of things and there's very tight. Uh, state control over everything. Right? So complete opposite. Ideological. Ideas and ways of, you know, living and ways of country's being run complete opposite. Both the us and the Soviet union raced to build up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Right. That's pretty scary. That's a very scary situation. And this was known as mutual assured destruction or mad, which meant that if either side actually used. These weapons, it would lead to total destruction on both sides. So nobody would win. [00:13:00] Right. Thank God that it didn't get to that point. Instead of fighting each other directly, the us and the Soviet union often supported different sides in other countries, wars it's, it's kind of crazy. When you think about it, right?
So they weren't even their own fights, but by helping one side or the other side of a complete separate war that really had nothing to do with them. That was how they tried to spread their influence. So big examples were in the wars in Korea, in Vietnam, in Anistacio right. So these weren't there wars to fight, but they would get involved with one side or another. And I guess it's a way of forming alliances and, and, you know, Spreading their influence on how they believed the world should be writing and how they believe countries should be run. Spying was a major part of the cold war.
So American spies in the CIA and then Soviet spies in the KGB was always trying to gather secrets and sometimes even plan to secret missions to disrupt the other side. So [00:14:00] this buying game was another way that they tried to outsmart each other without open fighting. So again, it wasn't about fighting physical, fighting. Like a war where there's like a bullets and guys dying.
It wasn't like that. It was all about ideological ideas spreading the way that they believe life should be spying on each other, trying to outsmart each other, very like espionage kind of cool in a way.
Now I am going to go through what is the Eastern block and the only. The reason is, is because I actually mentioned it now, I, you may already know all of this information, so I'm not trying to come across as though I'm teaching you something new, but just in case there's someone listening. Who has no idea about any of this?
I thought let's get the basics down first. So when we talk about the Eastern block, we're referring to a group of countries.
That we're friends and allies of the Soviet union during a period known as the cold wars. As I said, the cold war, you had the Soviet union. So their allies, they were known as the Eastern block.
These countries that included places like Eastern. East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, [00:15:00] Romania, Bulgaria. Right? So all these countries, they actually worked closely together under the guidance of the Soviet union. Right? So these were allies, they were strong allies. They shared similar political views and often helped each other. Economically and militarily through a group called the Warsaw pact.
Now I won't get into all that. But just so you can see what I'm getting at here. They are allies. They help each other. They help each other economically. with military power. And they are strong allies in the Eastern block. The government had a lot of control over everything, right.
These are mostly countries that believed in communism. There was only one political party, which is the communist party that was in charge. And it didn't allow for much freedom for people to choose different leaders, or if you wanted to speak out against the government, that was just a big no-no right.
So complete opposite to how America believed, you know, America believed in democracy and. Still does to this day. Apparently and. That's a whole nother story. whereas communism it's like, no, you [00:16:00] never speak out against the government. Right? The economy is also controlled by the state in a communist country.
Right. Which means the government decides what would be produced and how resources would be used, which is very different again, to. To a Western country where businesses operate independently of the government. So life in a communist country is very different from life in a Western democracy like the United States or Western European countries, where people have more freedom to express their opinions and. You know, economies in these countries are driven by individual businesses rather than the actual government itself. In the Eastern block.
So again, the opposite of that, the government would keep a close watch on people. And those who disagreed with authorities could face serious. Serious consequences. This is why I personally would never want to live in a communist country. From what I understand of it. I would struggle big time with that. So the Eastern block was important during the cold war because it showed how the Soviet union wanted to [00:17:00] spread its ideas. Ideas of communism and protect itself from what its source is like threats from these Western countries. So this group of countries played a big role in the politics in the economy and even the culture of the world during the second half of the 20th century.
So that's just so you understand what the cold war was, what the Eastern block is. Obviously they're linked up with the Soviet union, their. They're allies. What is the Soviet union? Let's talk about that quickly. So I want you to imagine the Soviet union as like a huge team, but it's made up of smaller teams, which were different republics or different countries, but they're all mean coached by one strict leader, right.
Which is the communist party. From when it was formed in 1922, until it's suddenly broke apart in 1991, the Soviet union was one of the most powerful groups in the world. So you imagine that it's like this big team made up of lots of smaller teams, which are different countries or different republics.
It's a whole bunch of countries, basically all coming together to form what was [00:18:00] considered the Soviet union. So some key points to point out just real quickly before we move on. picture one big team, one leader, the. Communist party was like the only coach of this big team. If you want to put it that way, they decided everything.
From what jobs people did each day to big plans for the country's economy. The government. Owned everything from factories to land, they controlled all the resources and decided who would work, where and how goods would be shared amongst people. They use something called five-year plans to set goals and. To try to make the economy stronger. They had a classless society.
So in theory, there were meant to be no rich or poor people. Everyone was supposed to be equal. Government provided important things like education and healthcare for free to everyone trying to make sure everyone had what they needed. Right. So again, it's one of those things that on paper, it sounds pretty good maybe to some people, but again, the government has the, the ruling over everyone.
The Soviet [00:19:00] union, wasn't just sitting on the sidelines.
It was very active in world politics. So they weren't just some small players, you know, doing their own thing, leading the rest of the world to themselves. It was led, as I said before, by a group called the Warsaw pact, which was a team of communist countries that they promised to protect each other.
It's like a big club that would stand against another club, which is called NATO. We won't get into that now. Now by the late 1980s, the Soviet union started to have big problems. The economy was not doing well. People were unhappy and they wanted more freedom. All these issues led to the breakup of the Soviet union in 1991. This didn't just change the map of Eastern Europe.
It also ended the cold war and changed how countries interacted worldwide. Why does this matter? Why does this matter to our discussion today about feminism? How the crap did I get from the cold war to bringing it to feminism? Well, The history of the Soviet union and the major events of the [00:20:00] cold war provided background to understand the actions of people like Gloria Steinem. And her connections with the CIA. So as we dive into her story, remember that these big historical events helped shape the decisions. And the movements that affected many aspects of life far beyond what we might see at first glance.
So let's get onto the CIA Y. Why was it created in the first place and what even is the CIA? So the CIA or central intelligence agency, as it is known is a part of the United States government that focuses on gathering information about other countries that is it's primary thing.
It is meant to focus on gathering information about other countries, right? And it is a part of the United States government. This information that they gather on other countries is what's meant to actually help America make decisions and stay safe. That is what the CIA is meant to be about. And that is why it was actually created.
So it was created in 1947, [00:21:00] right after world war two ended. So president Harry S Truman, he signed something called the national security act because the us realized that it needed a better way to collect and manage information about other countries and obviously potential threats. Right? So this is why it was established. The purpose or the main job is to collect.
As I said, intelligence, which basically means they need to find out important secrets and information from around the world. And they do this through espionage, which is another word for spying. Right. They basically go and spy. Everybody knows this. This other countries do that here in Australia, we a thousand percent have spies living in our country from other countries that are gathering Intel and information about the Australia government.
That is a thing we would have spies from Australia in other countries. So the gathering information on other countries. Okay. So the CIA that is its sole purpose. That was the main job is to gather Intel is to gather secrets. It's espionage. I finally so fascinating. I feel like in another life I was [00:22:00] probably a CIA operative, but a really damn good one, a very sexy, fine one.
If I just say so myself.
Now a big part of how the CIA actually gathers its information is through human intelligence. Right? It's it's humans. That means it's using people like agents and informants, and these individuals provide details about what's actually happening in other countries. Otherwise known as spies. Now the cold war roles.
So during the cold war, which was a time of high tension, Tension between the us and the Soviet union, which. Is now mostly brusher. The CIA was very active. So its goal was to stop the spread of communism, right. A system where the government controls all parts of the economy. And society. Now that, to me sounds good.
Right? That actually sounds good to me that the CIA's main role was to stop the spread of communism because obviously. America didn't want it to become a communist country. Right. So to actively try to stop the spread to me. That sounds good. They had [00:23:00] covert operations. So the CA carried out many secret missions during the cold war.
These missions included spying on the Soviet union, helping groups that were against communism. So any groups that were against it, they would help support that. Right. And trying to influence governments in other countries to support the us rather than the Soviet union. So they were active, right? So many secret missions. That we wouldn't even know about. That occurred.
Some that we do know about some that we wouldn't know about. Right. So during the cold war, they would influence other governments to try to support the U S they wouldn't want. Other countries to band together and to become allies with the Soviet union, because that would just increase their impact and influence on the world.
America wanted to increase their influence on the world. As opposed to obviously communism and to the Soviet union. So,
let's go a little bit deeper into the CIA. I just want to talk a little bit about some of their known operational strategies. Now don't worry. This is all going to make sense when I bring it back to feminism for you.
So obviously the CIA has a very [00:24:00] long rich history of carrying out secret operations.
I mean, that's their, that's their main goal, but to influence. Influence political and social movements, both inside the us and in other countries. Think about this for a second. The CIA was set up to spy on other countries and to gather Intel and information on other countries, right. To protect America.
But what has come out over the years is the CIA. And I'm not going to get into this too deeply. That will be a whole nother episode one day. I'm sure. But. The CIA actually. I actually has a massive hand in social movements, both inside of the us and in other countries. And that is where they get a lot of criticism and a lot of backlash from the public because they are not meant to be influencing social movements. It's within their own country.
That is not meant to be the goal of the CIA that is actually social engineering. So that in itself needs to be looked into heavily. First of all, you've got operation chaos. So the background on that is this operation started in 1967 [00:25:00] during president Lyndon B Johnson's timing office. And grew even bigger under president Richard Nixon.
Right? So the aim was to find out, so this is operation chaos. The aim of operation chaos was to find out. If foreign countries were behind the anti-war and civil rights movements in the us during the Vietnam war. So the CA I a was worried that these movements might be influenced by countries like the Soviet union or China who were against us policies. So the methods of operation chaos to achieve its goals. The CIA used several tactics and I'm just going to mention some of them.
So again, this is all to do with operation chaos. Infiltration. This meant that they would plant spies within groups to report back on what they were doing. So these spires would essentially pretend to be part of a movement. And I really want you to pay attention to this part, right? Because I'm going to come back to operate. Operation chaos. Spies would pretend to be part of a [00:26:00] movement.
So it could be a social movement. But they were secretly working for the CIA. Right. And this was a way of reporting back on what's actually happening within a movement and giving that information back to the CRA this wasn't operation. This. Is not a conspiracy. Okay. Let me make it clear. By the way, the CIA actually invented the term conspiracy.
As a way to try to stop people from looking into things. And that what they would do is basically try to get everyone's scared and embarrassed to want to dig deeper into things. Basically they got the general population, too. You know, call everybody a conspiracy. Theorist as a way to deter them from digging deeper.
So I'm not against conspiracy theories here on this podcast, shore. Not all of them are true, or have, you know, any form of strong foundation, but a lot of them actually fricking do. And this one here is not a conspiracy. Operation chaos is a legit operation by the CIA. And as I said, that will infiltrate social movements that were plant [00:27:00] spies in them that would pretend to be a part of the movement, but they were secretly working for the CRA.
This is a fact. The CA also kept a close watch on key individuals and groups. They listened to phone calls, they would read actual letters like mail. They followed people to gather, information. They had psychological operations. So. These are tricks to confuse, to scare, to influence the minds of people in a movement, right?
This could involve spreading false information to create distrust amongst members to try to manipulate public opinion against the movements. This was one of their ways, right? So operation chaos was controversial because it involves spying on American citizens. Remember CIA was created to spy on other countries to spy on other world leaders, To spy on people from other countries to gather Intel, to bring that Intel back to America, to protect America.
It was solely to protect America, but here we are, we already have one operation [00:28:00] amongst. Probably so many, we can't even begin to comprehend where it was actually them spying on American citizens, which is actually illegal for the CRO. That is an illegal thing for them to do. So when the public found out about operation chaos, there was a lot of anger and it actually led to investigations
So a lot of American citizens felt very violated that. Their rights were violated. Their trust was violated that they had in their own government and this operation raised serious legal and ethical questions about the limits Of government surveillance.
So now the one I'm going to talk about is operation Mockingbird. So I'm sure you've heard of this one. This is basically the CIA's influence on media. That is still happening today. Still happening today. So operation Mockingbird allegedly started in the late 1940s or early 1950s, the goal was to influence the media, right?
So to spread propaganda that supported US's interests and countered communist ideology. So that's what it apparently started for. [00:29:00] I would say it's still happening today, but for a different reasons. Right. But yeah, they infiltrated media, so they used several strategies to control the news. So they would recruit journalists.
So the CA. I actually recruited journalists from major news organizations and they use them as spies and its propagandists. So you imagine they still today have journalists on their payroll that are there to spread propaganda? I'd say this was massive during COVID for example, where propaganda was spread to cause fear amongst citizens so that they would go and get the vaccine. Thousand percent. So these journalists were instructed to actually plant stories that the CIA wanted published.
So whatever the CIA wanted to be published, whatever narrative they wanted, the general population to believe they would just infiltrate the media through the journalist and get them to promote whatever it is that they said that they wanted promoted. They also funded magazine secretly of course, because it's illegal. They [00:30:00] funded magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets to promote stories. That were favorable to us policies. They also set up some front organizations.
So these were fake groups that seemed legitimate, but were actually controlled by the CIA. And they would publish articles and reports that aligned with the CIS goals. So operation. Mockingbird caused a lot of questions to come up about the independence and credibility of the media. This is still today when it was revealed, it led to growing public mistrust in the news.
As people wondered whether the information they were getting was actually truly unbiased. Or was it being manipulated by the government now? Come on. I doubt there's. Oh, no, there is. I doubt anyone listening to my podcast would actually believe what the media says. Like, I'd be very surprised if you listening, you highly intelligent individual who listens to my podcast. Actually believes the media.
I'm sure you're very well aware that it is completely biased. It is [00:31:00] completely manipulated by the government and that this is still going on today.Now just real quickly before we get into the feminist part of it, I just want to mention something called the Congress for cultural freedom, or it was called the CCF. So this was set up in 1950, right? So this is all around similar timeframes. It was to promote cultural freedom and to fight against communism during the cold war.
So this was a movement that was secretly again, funded by the CIA. I'm pointing this out because I want you to hear it. The CIA funds movements, right? Secretly, cause it's not, it's illegal to fund movements within their own country, right. That support whatever narrative they're wanting to push a K.
It is illegal for them to be doing social engineering in their own country, but it happens. They secretly. Fund. So the CIA secretly funded the CCF, the Congress for cultural freedom. Which it used to push Western democratic values and counter Soviet influence. Again, like. That sounds good. [00:32:00] Right. The CCF brought together intellectuals, writers and artists that were against totalitarianism.
So their main goal was again to. To counter Soviet propaganda. By promoting democracy and freedom through cultural events, right? Publications, conferences. So the CIA was funding. This group that was having an influence in promoting Western ideologies through again, cultural events, publications, conferences. You know, the CA helped fund them to support around.
They say 40 magazines and journals worldwide. Right. Spreading anticommunist messages and highlighting progressive ideas like feminism. Hear me out. I really want you to pay attention here. So here we have the Congress for cultural freedom, the CCF, which was a group that was set up in 1950, which was funded secretly by the CIA. To promote Western ideology.
Right? So that communism wouldn't be seen as such a great [00:33:00] thing. Okay, but it would also help to fund and to support messages and, progressive ideas like feminism. This is important for this episode. In the late 1960s journalists uncovered the CIA secret funding. Right?
So this, the journalist actually uncovered it. Uh, causing a scandal and it damaged the credibility of the CCF, right? So despite the controversy, the CCF had a lasting impact on the cultural and intellectual scene during the cold war. And it showed how the CIA used social movements to promote its agenda.
So I'm just painting a picture, right? You've got the CIA, you know, what their role is, you know, what they're meant to be doing, but they secretly fund operations illegally that promote whatever they want to promote, be that through the media, be that through. Uh, individuals be that through different groups.
This is a thing. Quickly. What is feminism now? I encourage you to listen to episode six, I go deep into, you know, feminism, my [00:34:00] views on feminism. If you haven't already listened to that, definitely take a listen. I'm just, this is going to take like two minutes going to talk about what is feminism before I get into the link of that with the cold war, the CIA, et cetera.
So feminism is a movement that advocates obviously for women's rights and equality between the sexes, it's evolved through several waves. So we're in the fourth wave. Currently a feminism. The first wave started in the 19th and early. Early 20th century. And that was more about the women's suffrage movement, which was the right to vote women being given the right to vote because prior to that women couldn't vote, but also things like property rights and access to education, right.
They just, they wanted things to be equal amongst men and women. So then we had the second wave of feminism, which was around the 1960s to the 1980s. So this is the movement where Gloria Steinem really had a massive impact in which was the second wave of feminism. So this wave. Broadened its focus then to include workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, so like abortion, sexual [00:35:00] liberation.
Right? And that's when we had things like the contraceptive pill coming to play. So women could sleep around and not have any responsibility from having casual sex and hookups and one night stands and all of that. Also, there was the fight against domestic violence and marital rape, right? So this is all to do with the second wave of feminism.
Then the third wave of feminism was from the 1990s to the two thousands. And this was where it came into more about like intersectionality where it wasn't just seen as cause originally feminism was seen as like white women's feminism. Also, it started to address the varied experiences of women, of different races, of ethnicities, of sexual orientations and economic backgrounds.
And then you've got the fourth way wave of feminism, which was from around 2010 until present. This was heavily driven by social media. So this wave addresses issues such as sexual harassment, body shaming. Body shaming then turned into what I consider the obesity glorification movement. Right. body positive movement. [00:36:00] And also, started to dress like the me too movement and the gender pay gap and all of that.
Right. So that's what feminism was about. Let's talk about the potential CIA involvement in feminism. Um, why, why would they even want it to be involved? So given a CIA's history of influencing social movements and media. It's plausible. Now, remember, I'm not saying this is a definite, but bloody.
It's highly plausible.
And I'm going to raise some questions for you to ponder at the very end of this episode, but it's plausible that they might have seen feminism. Originally as a tool to counter Soviet collectivism. Cause that's what it is. Collectivism. And instead promote American individualism. Okay. Like that on paper, I, you can understand, right?
They're trying to stop the spread of communism in their country. Feminism is very anti-communism.
It's a very like individualistic kind of [00:37:00] movement. When you think about it. So I want to explore why the CIA might've been interested in promoting feminism and how they could have been involved. Countering communism. That's one. Again, during the cold war, the United States was engaged in fierce ideological battles with the Soviet union.
Right? So by supporting feminism, the CIA might've aimed to showcase the benefits of American democracy and individualism over Soviet communism. Right. Which communism emphasized collective control, right. It limited. Your personal freedoms. So this ideological contrast could weaken the appeal of communism and strengthen support for American values. Okay.
That doesn't sound so bad, even though it's all legal. For the CAA to be, you know, funding, social justice movements within their country. It doesn't sound so bad when you, when you hear it like that. Also economic participation, encouraging women to join the [00:38:00] workforce. Could significantly boost economic productivity and government revenues.
Okay. So with more women working, there would be an increase in household incomes. I made that clear in, episode nine, where I talk about the first wave of feminism and it's linked to the industrial revolution and the federal reserve. So if you haven't listened to episode nine, I highly recommend that you listen to that.
Definitely, but there would definitely be an increase in household incomes, right? If you support feminism, you are supporting an increase in household incomes. You're supporting, you know, higher spending, greater economic growth, right. This economic Bruce would benefit the state. Cause you've got to think, but what's what's how does this help the CIA?
Well, the CAA is the government. It's a, it's a branch of the government, right? This economic Bruce would benefit the state through increased tax revenues. Which could be used to further us interests, both domestically and abroad. Additionally, a more robust [00:39:00] economy, right? So strong I would also help to enhance the USDA's ability to compete with the Soviet union on a global stage.
So more money. More influence. Let's talk about Gloria Steinem is Rob her initial involvement. She actually admitted to working with the CIA in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She has admitted to this. Now she has said yes, she worked for them and then she didn't. Right. And then she got big in the feminist movement.
That is, that is one line of thinking. That could be true. Okay. I'm trying to be very neutral in this episode. It's hard, but I'm trying. Okay. That is one thing. Yes. She could have worked for them and then not. Okay. Because in her time, she was actually, organizing youth festivals that promoted pro American propaganda.
Right. So she was a part of these youth festivals. They were aimed to counter communist influence amongst young people and to promote American values. That was her role. So she worked [00:40:00] for the CIA in these youth festivals, promoting American propaganda, basically.
But there is potential continuation. It is speculated that she might've continued working with the CIA, but covertly using her influence to push feminist ideals, right.
Aligned with broader American interests. So if Steinem's role extended beyond her public involvement, she could have been strategically placed within the feminist movement to guide its direction in ways that supported us goals. That's not a stretch to me. And I want to ask you, is that a stretch to you?
You think about it. She has admitted to working for the CIA and then she said she left. And then she got big in the feminist movement. Again, that is possible. The other side is that she actually didn't leave the CIA, she publicly left, but then continued in a covert operation, infiltrating the feminist movement with a huge backing by the CIA and was working for them [00:41:00] covertly because they could then manipulate social movements right through her. Key integral role in the feminist movement.\ In the late 1950s and the early sixties, when she worked for the CIA that she's admitted to that part, she has, again, she organized the anticommunist student festivals.
She openly has acknowledged her association with the CIA during that period. Right. That is she's acknowledged that. The CIA funded those festivals, right. They aimed to counter Soviet influence among young intellectuals. And to promote pro-American values. They wanted to get the young people on board with the American values.
Okay. Again, when you look at it just on paper, you'd be like, well, yeah, like that's, that's not a bad thing, right? Right. We're going to get a little bit deeper. Why would the CIA. One to promote feminism. This is a question that I asked. I was like, okay, sure. Right. They wanting to counter Soviet influence. Okay. [00:42:00] But, but why, like beyond that, what would be the point? Right. Promoting individual rights and freedoms. Right? So if they supported the feminist movement, Including gender equality, it could serve as a powerful ideological tool against the Soviet collectivism. Right? So it would showcase the benefits of a American democracy. Brasi of individualism. And, you know, they could undermine the appeal of, of communism. As I said, they could also influence through the economy.
So encouraging women to join the workforce, it could boost the economy. Right. And which also increases government revenue. That makes sense like that. To me, I'm like, yeah, that's, that's Dodge, like that's a bit dodgy to be financially backing a movement. Might the feminist movement and helping to infiltrate women's minds as much as possible to, you know, make them feel like they are oppressed and they're living under this terrible. Patriarchal society and you need to get in the workforce and get your kids into the school system.
And. All of that, right? That does. Does. [00:43:00] Help to get the government's hand in the family union and to increase revenue.
But then I went a little deeper and I was like, what are the broader implications though? Okay. So still again, most people who hear that would be like, yeah, but that's not so bad. Right.
You've increased revenue for your country. You've given rights to women that they, you know, said that they wanted what's what's the harm. Well intelligence agencies like the CIA might have had a vested interest in promoting social changes that could weaken traditional family structures. Hear me out for a second. By encouraging women to seek independence from traditional family roles. The CIA could undermine the patriarchal family structure.
Right. And by that, I mean, like having a man as the head of the home, And, you know, the woman being the main home keeper. That doesn't mean it couldn't work. By the way. I'm not saying that the CIA is the ones that have supported women to not have to be homemakers if they don't want to be. I still believe in freedom of choice, a [00:44:00] thousand percent.
Right. But they were, if the CAA has funded and backed the feminist movement and infiltrated it by a, a plant being Gloria Steinem. Right. As a covert. Or perceive, right? They are. Uh, able to help women be independent from traditional family roles, which means the CIA could actually undermine the patriarchal family structure. Potentially increasing the state's control over individuals and society as a whole. So again, by doubling the number of working adults per household, the government would increase a textbook incomes. Which could be used to fund public projects and to strengthen the economy, but also women's increased participation in the workforce meant that children would spend more time in state run institutions, right?
Such as schools and daycare centers, rather than being raised solely within the family unit, which is how it was traditionally done. This shift allowed the state to have a greater influence over the [00:45:00] upbringing and education of the children, potentially promoting specific agendas or ideologies through the school system.
So think about it. If a government wanted to, cause this is a question I raised. If a government wanted to have control over its people. But it didn't want it to, it didn't want it to be a communist country because if you just, if, if the American government one day just said, okay, tomorrow we're turning into a communist country, they would be the biggest internalized war if within their country where everyone's like, no, the crap that ain't happening right there would be massive pushback by the people that just, it just wouldn't happen. What's another way that they can actually infiltrate and done in a more covert secret way, but actually probably having even more influence. It's by infiltrating these social justice movements. Right. Because then as I said, you've got the kids being raised by the state to have state
specific agendas and ideologies being infiltrated into the children's mind. You've basically told women that they are [00:46:00] oppressed when originally most of them didn't actually believe that they were oppressed. That is a thing. Looking into it for yourself. Right. So you've got more women entering the workforce.
You've got the role of the state in raising and educating children, which has increased. This shift allows the state to have a greater influence over the upbringing and the education of the children. Like that's scary when you think about it. And yes, you might think I'm just wearing a tinfoil hat, but you think about, this is the same. Groups. So the CIA infiltrates, the media infiltrates through different operations, right? Trying to socially engineer, how the government wants things to be how the government wants things to be run. Why wouldn't they go and promote these social justice movements that basically help the government's agenda in the long run.
And obviously I've mentioned the word social engineering a lot.
So just to explain social and engineering involves changing societal structures, right. To achieve specific outcomes. So you are literally changing. The fabric, the [00:47:00] structures of a society, because you, you have a goal in mind. So by supporting feminism, the CIA could actually aim to create a more flexible society that aligns with American capitalist values.
So this could involve dismantling traditional family structures and promoting a workforce that includes both men and women, increasing productivity, increasing economic growth, increasing the chances of your children being raised by the state. So the idea that Gloria Steinem could have been used, like in a similar way to how the CIA infiltrated other movements to me, it's honestly not far-fetched at all. You think about it. If she was part of an infiltration strategy, she might have operated within feminist circles to gather information, to influence the direction or to stay the movement in ways that aligned with the broader us intelligence goals. Makes sense to me, similar to other infiltrations. Exactly how, like we've seen this in other operations at the CIA [00:48:00] has, run. Gloria Steinman could have reported back on key figures on internal conflicts and on strategic plans within the feminist movement. If this is true. this involvement could suggest that parts of the feminist movement was subtly guided to ensure they didn't ally with communist ideologies or disrupt at broader us interests. That's one way of looking at it. This story does raise significant ethical concerns about the manipulation or the genuine social movements for political ends and how the trust of activists and the public might have been exploited.
If this is true, right?
Let's just picture that for a second. If this CIA funded feminism, if the CIA actually had an operative, a covert operative in Gloria Steinman. Right. These shock and betrayal amongst the feminist movement would be huge. They would feel deeply betrayed by that revelation because their activism, which they believe is grassroots and autonomous could have actually been influenced by covert government operations.
Right. [00:49:00] There would be a massive sense of disillusionment at. You know, the thinking that the ideals that they fought so hard for could have been actually co-opted by much larger agendas and what they could even imagine. This would be something that the CIA would want to deeply keep hidden and secret.
If that was the case, there's no way that they're going to just go and admit to something like that. And just in case anyone's thinking, look, the CA does not infiltrate. Like let's go back to even just like operation Mockingbird for a second. There is modern day influence on media. Like that, that's a thing, even fact checking, right?
That is, that is absolutely being infiltrated by the government. Right? So fact checking organizations, this became prominent during like the COVID pandemic, for instance. And it was seen as a way to combat misinformation. Right? And, you know, their soul purpose, they said was to verify information that was being disseminated, especially on social media platforms.
But these organizations were selectively [00:50:00] fact checking information that contradicted government and corporate narratives. You think about it, they were able to do it by saying it is misinformation. But the only thing that was deemed as misinformation was anything that spoke out against the government or corporate narratives, such as the safety and efficacy of for instance, the COVID-19 vaccines.
So any criticism of fact checking, which I'm part of that, by the way, I think fact checking is just, it's absurd because they're not actually checking for facts. They're checking for who's a dissenter who is a dissenting voice, and let's silence that voice as much as possible because they're basically trying to
Silence
Anyone whose opinion is labeled as misinformation. Okay. That's just one example. Also with vaccine safety early in the pandemic, there was statements that were questioning a hundred percent safety of, you know, the efficacy of these vaccines. Right. They were flagged as misinformation. However, as more data emerged, as we know, it became clear [00:51:00] that these vaccines were not a hundred percent effective.
They were not a hundred percent safe. They absolutely came with side effects that we didn't even know about. And still probably don't even know about some of these side effects. Right. So critics could argue. Argue that initial fact checking efforts just suppress legitimate scientific debate. That's what it was for also any discussions about the effectiveness of lockdowns right.
Mask mandates. They were also. You know, scrutinized and. Anyone who questioned it, anyone who, even if they were experts in their field, if they held an opinion that was different to what the government wanted. Then it was instantly labeled as misinformation. Right. But only to be revisited and revised and actually they would be validated down the track. And this is the thing.
This still happens today. Then we've got big pharma, right? The pharmaceutical industries. They have significant financial stakes in the widespread distribution of vaccines. That's not a. [00:52:00] Conspiracy, like, come on. This created a perception though, that fact checking and media narratives were aligned with the interests of these corporations to maximize profits, money exchanges, hands, right. You think about it, there is big money to be made with these giant pharmaceutical companies and that money isn't just for them that gets handed to those that support them.
For instance, the government, for instance, the journalists that actually support the narrative pushed by the government and big pharma. Like this is not a conspiracy governments around the world, implemented various policies to control the pandemic. Right. And it relied on media to promote compliance.
So. Critics would argue that dissenting views were suppressed. To ensure public adherence to these policies. Still goes on today.
Another one is social media platforms, use algorithms to control the spread of information. So again, during the pandemic posts would be flagged by fact checkers, right? And they were [00:53:00] often demoted or removed.
They would completely lose platforms. Because they had a dissenting opinion. It's not because what they were saying was wrong. It was not what the government or whoever was behind. It was wanting to be said, Any content that would question official narratives or promoted alternative viewpoints would instantly be shut down and labeled as misinformation.
I mean, honestly, we could go on for days. There is a continual manipulation of information, right? And it leads to the erosion of trust in mainstream media. And in fact, checking organizations, most highly intelligent individuals that you speak to like individuals like you and listening. Would be able to clearly see that mainstream media. Is not to be trusted that these fact checking organizations and not to be trusted, right.
A lot of us have turned to alternative sources for news and for information. Because they say it's to combat misinformation, but honestly it is just silencing freedom of speech. And I'm all about preserving freedom of speech. Critics argue that [00:54:00] heavy handed fact checking and content moderation, infringes on this fundamental right of freedom of speech. I'm one of those people that says that.
So the influence of the CIA and other government agencies on media has evolved from direct recruitment and funding during, like for instance, the cold war to more subtle and complex interactions in this digital age that we find ourselves in through things like fact checking and, you know, media consolidation and social media algorithms.
These are modern tools, but they absolutely shape public perception. They control narratives, but I do also believe wholeheartedly that journalists today. A lot of them still would be getting told, literally this is what you're going to be reading from a script. And it is provided to them by the government, right?
This is the narrative we want pushed out. This is what you're going to say. That's why you can turn on all the different news channels and you'll hear the same freaking story all the time said the exact same way. So one of the questions I had is okay. Why not. Just become a communist country. And as I mentioned before, obviously there would be so much [00:55:00] pushback, right? Like if they, if the governor wants complete control of its citizens, Just become a communist country. And then I said, yeah, but they would, there would be pushback. It's just not possible.
It's not feasible. That that would happen. So then I started to raise questions around. Well, what about a subtle influence? So by promoting feminism and other social movements that could lead to changes in a societal structure, right? Without the. very obvious imposition of communism. So it could be a way more effective and sustainable way to actually influence society instead of one day, just announcing, Hey, we want control of you and there being an all-out civil war.
Instead, what would happen is they could. Very subtly start to manipulate the societal structures and the whole fabric of the society. Way more sustainable, way more effective. Also by encouraging individualism and breaking down traditional family units, which feminism a thousand percent has had a massive hand in the government can actually create a more flexible and controllable society. [00:56:00] Because you're not a family unit, you're not as strong a family unit anymore. Right. That it's not as promoted to be that strong family unit.
There's a lot of broken families. There's a lot of, you know, women not having children these days. And. I mean, I could go on for days, but you can control society a lot easier when you break down a traditional family unit. Also feminism and individual rights, they align with the democratic ideals and they could be promoted without the backlash. The shift to communism would provoke. So, yes, it could be Theoretically possible for the us to adopt, you know, socialist or communist policies under its own government. But it would obviously require significant political and social shifts. So this could happen through democratic processes. If enough of the population supported the changes, which just wouldn't happen in America. In practice, the resistance from various political economic and social groups would make such a transition extremely difficult.
I just couldn't see that happening. Whereas, if you infiltrate [00:57:00] in subtle ways, then yeah, that's a much easier and more sustainable way of actually being able to have control over the population. I mean, think of COVID I think at the level of control that government had and how easily everyone bended, how by infiltrating our minds, but infiltrating the family by breaking down the family unit, it all leads into one into another.
I know I'm going to sound like a crazy tinfoil hat lady right now. But they all get into. Okay. At the moment to reflect so far diamond, she Haya there is. Our connection evolution of feminism stubble, hint at play these questions right. [00:58:00] I have questions to you, trying to be neutral, to think for yourself, intelligent individuals that I'm going to bring to you. Do you. And others really the direction. Movement that they did. They infiltrated. The feminist leaders over info. That changed how we stern and the movement. So if you are listening to you. If this, if the CIA did the feminist own agenda change, do that movement. Now change it at all. Question could premise them have been [00:59:00] away traditional families and push political agendas. Question for possible manipulate manism by have affected. I'm relationship Lighty today. In-depth. Depth in that episode, nine first wave of Um, or reserve. If you haven't listened to that, but, you know, relation of feminism by.
CAA by. whatever gender role. Gender roles. The end relationship it today. I do now to move movement statement and art hide by powerful agendas, because if fruit let's just pull hat on for a second. The CIA. [01:00:00] Has infiltrator in agendas of controlled state. What controls social movements. And is there anything we can do that is so these, but they're about thinking, figuring out how we tell movements real a future, if that's our goal, right. And vigilance and the movement and the movements. This is why I support just on Facebook. I know what's underneath it. Uh, movement could be legit. Some that I would heavily might actually be. [01:01:00] but I'm still going to do. And I'm going to make the weed thing sometimes. Nope. I definitely don't. I would say the feminist movement is one of the supported it, and now they're like, Ooh, going, or I hear that a lot about the feminist movement, but until this controversial, I went through all different things.
There. He questioning everything, even at the end of the thing There. at lap path. And we questioned, we always, we didn't just whatever the stations are trying to tell you, questioning. Thanks for being here.
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