There are secret societies

I will not refute the R1 since that has little to with Secret Societies ruling our world instead I will use this round to refute R2. Rebuttal to argument (1): My opponent clearly has little knowledge on the Bilderberg so I fill him in. The Bilderberg conference consists of 120 to 150 people of the European and North American political elite, experts from industry, finance, academia, and the media, established in 1954. The group operates with a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its global market interests. We do not know exactly what they are discussing because like many important government decisions they are not videoed and are not released as soon as decisions are made. It is not abnormal for the government to have a bit of secrecty. If this was an alarming issue and people really suspected that they were keeping secrets from us then there would be riots and protests. The group's original goal of promoting Atlanticism, of strenghtening US-European relations and preventing another world war has grown; the Bilderberg Group's theme is to "bolster a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe", according to Andrew Kakabadse. In 2001, Denis Healey, a Bilderberg group founder and, a steering committee member for 30 years, said: "To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing." According to former chairman Étienne Davignon in 2011, a major attraction of Bilderberg group meetings is that they provide an opportunity for participants to speak and debate candidly and to find out what major figures really think, without the risk of off-the-cuff comments becoming fodder for controversy in the media. A 2008 press release from the "American Friends of Bilderberg" stated that "Bilderberg's only activity is its annual Conference and that at the meetings, no resolutions were proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued". However, in November 2009 the group hosted a dinner meeting at the Château of Val-Duchesse in Brussels outside its annual conference to promote the candidacy of Herman Van Rompuy for President of the European Council. As you can clearly see, the decisions may be secretive but the topics being discussed aren't secrets It would be extremely difficult for all 150 of them to keep this a secret. If even one of them disagreed with a decision they may decide to release it to the public. It would be far to difficult for them to contain this and keep it to themselves. Rebuttals to argument (2): Bohemian Grove is a 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground located at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's art club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, Bohemian Grove hosts a two-week, three-weekend encampment of some of the most prominent men in the world. The Bohemian Club's all-male membership and guest list includes artists, particularly musicians, as well as many prominent business leaders, government officials (including U.S. presidents), senior media executives, and people of power. Members may invite guests to the Grove although those guests are subject to a screening procedure. A guest's first glimpse of the Grove typically is during the "Spring Jinks" in June, preceding the main July encampment. Bohemian club members can schedule private day-use events at the Grove any time it is not being used for Club-wide purposes, and are allowed at these times to bring spouses, family and friends, though female and minor guests must be off the property by 9 or 10 pm. After 40 years of membership the men earn "Old Guard" status, giving them reserved seating at the Grove's daily talks, as well as other perquisites. Former U.S. president Herbert Hoover was inducted into the Old Guard on March 19, 1953; he had joined the club exactly 40 years prior. Redwood branches from the Grove were flown to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City where they were used to decorate a banquet room for the celebration. In his acceptance speech, Hoover compared the honor of the "Old Guard" status to his frequent role as veteran counselor to later presidents. The Club motto is "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here", which implies that outside concerns and business deals (networking) are to be left outside. When gathered in groups, Bohemians usually adhere to the injunction, though discussion of business often occurs between pairs of members. Important political and business deals have been developed at the Grove. The Grove is particularly famous for a Manhattan Project planning meeting that took place there in September 1942, which subsequently led to the atomic bomb. Those attending this meeting included Ernest Lawrence, U.C. Berkeley colleague Robert Oppenheimer, various military officials, the S-1 Committee heads such as the presidents of Harvard, Yale and Princeton along with representatives of Standard Oil and General Electric. At the time, Oppenheimer was not an official S-1 member due to security clearance troubles with the U.S. wartime Government, though Lawrence and Oppenheimer hosted the meeting. Grove members take particular pride in this event and often relate the story to new attendees This clearly shows that this is not a secret area. It is an area that politicians have a bit of fun at and discuss political problems. The most likely reason that politicians are reluctant to speak about it is because they do not only have fun. Some of the issues that are discussed there are most likely confididential - just because somebody is reluctant to speak that doesn't mean you should jump to the conclusion that they are running secret societies that are controlling the world. This is not enough evidence and therefore I reject the claim that secret societies are running the world. Sourceshttp://tinyurl.com...http://tinyurl.com...