explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1274: Open Letter

2013-10-07T18:22:10Z

108.13.108.44:

If you believe in a shadow government, it seems likely that you would actually see a goverment shutdown as part of the conspiracy. {{unsigned ip|108.13.108.44}}

:Is this another shadow fact? http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1272 --[[User:MauroVan|MauroVan]] ([[User talk:MauroVan|talk]]) 09:33, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

I guess Randal is only right as long there is only ONE group involved ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 11:01, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Randall knows ''exactly'' which group is in control, but has been forced by them to leave their name completely off of the aforementioned list. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.212.190|178.98.212.190]] 13:25, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

I removed the words 'Self-proclaimed' from the description of Scientology. It's so vague to be meaningless. Aren't most religions and churches self-proclaimed? Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc all started with somebody claiming secret knowledge. It should either be applied to all religions, or none.[[Special:Contributions/154.20.80.41|154.20.80.41]] 13:50, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Is "Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen" really a Half-Life 2 reference? The phrase is generic enough that it actually appears before Half-Life 2 was released ([http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x372352 example]). --[[Special:Contributions/75.119.250.35|75.119.250.35]] 15:21, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Agreed, people have been using the "Concerned Citizen" phrasing for years. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:It's not just the wording, but the context, so it does seem to be a reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.13.108.44|108.13.108.44]] 18:22, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Wow! The actual group secretly running the government is so powerful they had themselves removed from the explanation table, apparently! (There's no Trilateral Commission entry right now.) [[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 16:29, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Fixed. :) [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1274: Open Letter

2013-10-07T09:26:16Z

108.13.108.44: Created page with "If you believe in a shadow government, it seems likely that you would actually see a goverment shutdown as part of the conspiracy."

If you believe in a shadow government, it seems likely that you would actually see a goverment shutdown as part of the conspiracy.

1274: Open Letter

2013-10-07T09:08:20Z

108.13.108.44: CFR is Council on Foreign Relations - get your conspiracies straight ;)

{{comic
| number = 1274
| date = October 7, 2013
| title = Open Letter
| image = open_letter.png
| titletext = Are you ok? Do you need help?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
Under some circumstances, the United States Federal Government {{w|Government_shutdown_in_the_United_States|can temporarily shut down}} pending budget legislation from the United States Congress. These shutdowns are typically due to political disagreements between the President, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

Over the years, various conspiracy theories have been proposed claiming that the United States Government is not controlled by publicly-elected officials, but rather by one or more organizations that secretly control the actions of the government (sometimes termed a {{w|Shadow_government_(conspiracy)|"shadow government"}}).

[[Randall]] jokes on the {{w|United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013|US government shutdown in 2013}}, that has been ongoing for a week and is still current as of the time of this comic, by writing a letter to the shadow government, telling them that this situation is embarrassing and asking them to fix the problem.

This comic may also be subtly arguing against the plausibility of the aforementioned conspiracy theories if one assumes that a shadow-controlled government would be more likely to operate with a singular purpose and therefore be less susceptible to paralyzing political disagreements. That is to say, if an outside organization were controlling the US government, then it would demonstrate more competence than the US government is currently exhibiting. Randall previously alluded to this in the title text to [[1081|comic 1081]]: "Really, the comforting side in most conspiracy theory arguments is the one claiming that anyone who's in power has any plan at all." This is one of several comics in which Randall expresses dismay at how many intelligent people can fall for absurd conspiracy theories; see comics [[258]] and [[690]], among others.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Addressee !! Brief Description
|-
| {{w|Freemasonry|The Freemasons }}||
|-
| {{w|Illuminati}} ||
|-
| {{w|Scientology}} ||
|-
| {{w|Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency|FEMA}} ||
|-
| {{w|New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory)|The New World Order}} ||
|-
| {{w|Federal_Reserve_System|The Federal Reserve}} ||
|-
| {{w|Citigroup}} ||
|-
| {{w|Halliburton}} ||
|-
| {{w|Google}} ||
|-
| {{w|Vatican|The Vatican}} ||
|-
| {{w|Bilderburg_Group|Bilderburg}} ||
|-
| {{w|Walmart}} ||
|-
| {{w|Rothschild_family|The Rothschilds}} ||
|-
| {{w|Knights_Templar_(Freemasonry)|The Knights Templar}} ||
|-
| {{w|High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program#Conspiracy_theories|HAARP}} ||
|-
| {{w|United_Nations|The UN}} ||
|-
| {{w|Skull_and_Bones|Skull & Bones}} ||
|-
| {{w|Bohemian_Grove|Bohemian Grove}} ||
|-
| {{w|Political_activities_of_the_Koch_brothers#Political_activity|The Koch Brothers}} ||
|-
| {{w|Soros_György|George Soros}} ||
|-
| {{w|Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta|The Knights of Malta}} ||
|-
| {{w|Council_on_Foreign_Relations|The CFR}} ||
|-
| {{w|ExxonMobil|Exxon Mobil}} ||
|-
| {{w|Zionism|The Zionists}} ||
|-
| {{w|Vril#Vril_society|The Vril Society}} ||
|-
| {{w|Reptilians|The Lizard People}} ||
|-
| and everyone else who secretly controls the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States US Govenment] ||
|}

==Transcript==
:[The picture shows a letter.]
:October 7<sup>th</sup> 2013
:To: The Freemasons, the Illuminati, Scientology, FEMA, the New World Order, the Federal Reserve, Citigroup, Halliburton, Google, the Vatican, Bilderburg, Walmart, the Rothschilds, the Knights Templar, HAARP, the UN, Skull & Bones, Bohemian Grove, the Koch Brothers, George Soros, the Trilateral Commision, the Knights of Malta, the CFR, Exxon Mobil, the Zionists, the Vril Society, the Lizard People, and everyone else who secretly controls the US government
:Can you please get your shit together?
:This is embarrassing.
:Sincerely,
:A Concerned Citizen

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Politics]]