The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire

2017, Conspiracy  -   19 Comments
9.08
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Ratings: 9.08/10 from 144 users.

In the days of the British Empire, London served as the world's most impressive financial center. As the empire began its decline, anti-colonial sentiment became more rampant and greater numbers of British territories began to strive for independence. The financial stronghold of its capital city began to deteriorate as well. The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire recounts how the country transformed to become a global financial power in the face of these challenges, and how their continued prominence shapes the world we live in today.

The City of London banking network began constructing a web of overseas jurisdictions in the wake of the empire's demise, and hid these monies offshore where they were sheltered from meaningful outside scrutiny. They started to indulge in unregulated forms of lending using U.S. currency. This wealth was accumulated through any means necessary, including a laundry list of nefarious acts of fraud, tax evasion, drugs and arms trading, and additional covert operations. It's a system rife with corruption. Some of the money was stripped from poor countries, depriving these struggling economies of their capacity for badly needed growth and infrastructure development.

Throughout the film, we are presented with a tale of two Londons. One is the bustling epicenter much romanticized by the United States and other parts of the world while the other is a freewheeling market run by elite business players who cleverly shirk the gaze of international financial regulations.

"In Britain, bankers are a protected species," confesses one interview subject who is part of a chorus of whistle-blowers, financial insiders and social justice activists who populate the film. We are told that as much as $50 trillion dollars reside in overseas accounts that act as tax havens; many of the most robust of these havens are British.

The end result is a system that works to benefit the wealthiest individuals. Meanwhile, the hard-working taxpaying citizens continue to struggle and suffer.

Featuring a collage of authentic newsreel footage and insights from a team of top financial investigators, The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire is immaculately researched and well presented portrait of a complex global conspiracy.

Directed by: Michael Oswald

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19 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Simon Marks

    Why the hell is this in conspiracy category?

    1. Evergrowing

      this must be one of the most stupid questions I ever heard, seriously

  2. Phil

    Supurb expose, thanks from Jersey. You have done an excellent job, I hope the People get what you are saying : ) Banking and politics are front for an elite clique of criminals. Order followers protect them. People, change your behavior and end the scam being played on you!

  3. Sammy

    I just hope that they don't poison our salmon with the biggest gold mine in north america. This type of money has no acountibility as far as environmental remediation. If a corporation is a person then corporations should be bound by borders and laws likewise. Liberty and justice will prevail

  4. Geo

    So which is worse: govt greed, corporate greed, or individual greed?

    One causes tyranny, oppression, and the theft of power from the people, the other does eventually if the govt greed is too great by worming its way into govt, and the last one, for the most part only causes jealousy and hatred among those that don't think ...especially again, when the govt greed is too great and then they park their money elsewhere rather than supporting (causing it to grow worse) a greedy tax monster govt.

    The USA came into being, essentially as a tax revolt due to a greedy govt in England wanting to tax/steal more and more from the colonies to pay for wars elsewhere. Taxation with no representation, no benefit. The Founders of the once great usa would be rolling their graves at the taxation of today.

    You will never solve tax avoidance without first dealing with govt socialistic greed. Trump proved this by lowering tax on overseas operations so companies would bring their dollars home to invest in our own economy and move some of those operation back onshore and create decent jobs. That alone has helped more minorities than any recent president. Yet the Democrats despise Trump for actually helping those they claim to want to help. Those at the top of the Democrat party really don't want to help anyone, they want to keep them down and needing "free stuff" so they can buy their votes.

    1. Geo

      Rather than pissing into the wind, why don't those gathering together crying for others to pay taxes, instead pool their meager funds times a lot of people, to get a tax haven and high return on their investment so they all could put the govt on a diet until it became more reasonable in its tax policy, thereby not requiring tax havens?

      Trying to force others to pay for the things(services) you want means YOU are not paying for what you want, which is wrong any way you look at it. Unless you think it fine for me to steal from you because I want a new bicycle or box of diapers or such.

      Govt is the problem, always was and always will be, since there are those who will use it to take advantage. And who permits the govt to become a problem? The people.

      So it will have to be the people who have to turn off the propaganda media screens, gather together to see to it themselves that wise decent incorruptible folks are running for all offices from all parties.

      Unless you prefer the horse manure bravado of those shouting for revolution. And what will you get? Dead. And most likely an even worse govt run by the nimrods fomenting the revolution by the current govt policy, so they can take even more advantage of you.

    2. common terry

      native "americans" think "america" is a racist invader lie

  5. Markobarko

    At the end it is us, the people, who "eat" people. And no law and no government will change that, since this is the nature, of a human kind.

    1. Camilo

      If you take our society as an example to describe ''human nature'' then you are sh*ting out of the WC''

  6. joshua

    The important documentary exposes the City of London (an arm of the Mafia head of the snake, the Vatican.) - a separate and private sovereign state from England and London - which owns and controls one-half of England's Parliament - the City has the power to stop any law coming into force. England is a fascist nazi state run by the Vatican Mafia and is not a free country and never has been a democracy. The money is printed by the private company called the 'Bank of England', based in the foreign power jurisdiction of the City of London (hence, why the Bank of England cannot be named in any court in England). The Bank charges 8% on each pound it prints for the government of England and all our taxes go to pay that interest which the City of London then hides in offshore Trusts - in which it has hidden 500+ Trillion to date according to the documentary. This and the world taxes paying off Rothschild (Vatican agent) central bank interest is then used by the Vatican to buy real assets and obtain real wealth and simply buy the world thru corruption. We can only stop this by printing our own debt free money - and shutting down the City and Bank of England and the Freemason Mafia - but if we do this the Vatican will do an Iraq or Libya on us! No country unless it is under suppression from a foreign power has to pay taxes.

    1. Dave

      I have never read so much rubbish in my life.

      - The City of London is the Financial district in London.Much like Wall St is in NYC. It is not a separate entity
      - England is part of the UK. London is the capital of the UK. You might want to get your geography correct first.
      - The City DOES NOT have the power to stop any law coming into force. If that were teh case, then the regulatory impact of CRDVI and SMCR would have been thrown out as it forces FS businesses to act as per the Goverment and Regulators demand. Not only that, the EBA (the European Regulators) also force rules upon the City in order to trade within the European block.
      - The UK is not facist, nor a Nazi state. If anything, the UK is far too moderate for its own good. To think the Vatican has any sort of impact is laughable.
      - The Bank of England is not a private business. It is the Central Bank of the UK. Every country has one - the US for example has the Federal Reserve.
      - The printed money you speak of is quantatative easing. UK taxes does not go to pay the interest on the printed money. Currently the UK has a debt pile of £1.8tn due to overspending and running a deficit which was increased due to the 2008 crash. Taxpayer money services the interest payments on the debt which is around £50bn a year. (and this will decrease if and when debt mountain is reduced)

      Your suggestions are absolutely crazy and would lead to world wars. Do not make out that you are British, you are clearly American, and not one of the clever ones either. If you intend to shut down the City (what parts by the way? Retail Banks? Investment Banks? Asset Managers? Credit companies? Private Equity? Insurance? Consultancies? The list is endless), then you have to shut down every FS company globally. They are all interlinked. Kiss goodbye to the freeworld.

      Your post is the most confused, whackjob thing i have ever read.

    2. K.E. Greene

      Hi there, Dave. When illustrating to people how you believe them to be wrong, generally better to use correct examples ----- The Bank of England may not be, but the US Federal Reserve is, in fact, a private business and NOT an US government institution.

    3. Joshua

      The Bank of England was created in 1694 and The Bank of England was 'nationalised' in 1946. Note the dates 1694 and 1946 - both are the same number scrambled - both add up to 20 in occult numerology (1+6+9+4 = 20) 20 = (0+1 = 1) = 1.
      Occult: 1694 = 20 = 1
      and 1946 = 20 = 1
      and 1946 - 1694 = 252 = (2+5+2 =9) = 9
      Hence the BofE which is built on former pagan temple is owned and controlled by the satanists and their highest occult number is: 911
      Hence the same people who own and control the BofE also brought down the Twin Towers in the USA on 911, which was an occult sacrifice to Satan, Lucifer the devil.

  7. Mamierouen

    This documentary is frightening but absolutely true. It is amazing that anyone would have the courage to make it. Their lives are in danger. And there is more that these corrupt people do, assassination, identity theft, persecution and human rights denial to even these company's Clients. This program does not address that the clients are also at the mercy of the money mad, power mad, lying lawyers who bribe and control profit seeking corrupt government officials, police, media, accountants, doctors, hospitals, immigration, ad infinitum. Even the agencies meant to put an end or make public the truths are corrupt.

  8. Devil Travels

    So this is what really makes outsourcing government services so lucrative and so inefficient. And the solutions at the end of the video will never occur since the people who can make them happen tend to be chosen to benefit from the perpetuation. The voters are easily manipulated to insure this.

    1. Sokami

      Hence why revolution is required if we want to eventually establish a much better status quo around the world. Without strong Working Class movements which can successfully lead revolution, the inevitable result in the long run is that fascism will be funded by Capitalism when Capitalism is suffering a major collapse. This has happened before - Adolph Hitlers rise to power can be credited by the massive amount of support that wealthy Germans and major American corporations provided him, and the Nazi War industry was dependent on vital materials from American Corporations (recommended documentary: Hitlers American Business Partners).

  9. Urban dweller

    "...in the face of these challenges..." What? ??????? The " challenge of usurping another country's resources/economy? The challenge of how to do evil acts and make them work for "you?" WOW!

    1. Pete

      This whole doco is talking about the evil of the new machine, a hidden empire of the elite screwing things up for the rest of the world. You sound angry as if it was praising them. Did you watch the documentary?

    2. Sokami

      I think it's pretty dumb that this documentary is categorized under "Conspiracy". A conspiracy implies that there is a one-off inside plot to accomplish a specific short-term goal. This Documentary is not analyzing a "inside plot", this is simply how the global financial system has evolved to work by design - mostly as a result of the loss of empires, and the near collapse of the capitalist system from the great depression, and to do whatever it takes to counter the inevitable falling rate of profit. The system is so internally volatile and contradictory, that this sophisticated global scale of financial manipulation is the only thing that keeps the Capitalist system "functioning", so that it does not implode from its own contradictions.

      This Documentary thoroughly analyzes the mechanics by which the Political and Financial system operates by, in other words how the system itself works and its impact on human societies around the world, with a focus on the Financial infrastructure of Britain. Not only have major leaks of information revealed a significant part of this picture in recent years, but signs that Capitalism would evolve in this direction have been known about well in advance, going back long before the great depression, as empires were beginning to crumble. By analyzing key moments in the financial history of Capitalism and Empires, it can be further analyzed why the Global Financial System has evolved in the way it has evolved, as thoroughly described and analyzed by the Documentary. The fact that it focuses on the nature of Britain's financial system is refreshing, since so many other documentaries focus on analyzing the American Financial and Political system.

      While there are all sorts of actual scandals that can and certainly do develop within the context of the Financial system that this documentary describes, It must be stressed that analyzing the Financial system itself should not be listed under "Conspiracy". It should be listed under Politics.