What's the big deal with Gerald Celente?

I really need to offload...

I received an ATS newsletter the other day that seemed so proud and excited about itself for being able to boast an exclusive interview with predictions messiah Gerald Celente.

So what? Is everyone on ATS really so sold on this trends research guru that the world's number one website for "intelligent discussion" should bother to mail out a special invite to read 'what Gerald has to say next', as though we're all of course hanging Gerald's every next word?

Ooh Gerald, what trend is about to emerge next? Ooh Gerald, should I trade my pork bellies for Mexican Swine flu vaccines or Iranian uranium? It's just ... well I'm only asking because of course only you will know the answer.

Nothing personal, really. And no offence meant. None at all.

But surely anyone can see that a prophet is a prophet is a prophet is a 'trends research guru', can't they?

Next ATS will have us all believing in 'earth changes prophecies' or '2012 apocalypses' or that the world and the human race really are slave to some lizard-spawned reptilian civilization from Planet X that seeded human beings in the guise of the Anunnaki and which is now heading back to earth to cause wholesale death and destruction very very soon. Aaaaaghhh...!!!

Okay, I've had my rant. Below is a quote from an article that probably says it all a bit more eloquently.

The crazed doom-and-gloom prophets of our world have this troubling ability to occupy the airwaves, becoming strangely confused with qualified experts. Gerald Celente is the latest soothsayer operating on his hunches — now being celebrated on Digg, Reddit, and just about every damn aggregator imaginable.

His predictions sound suspiciously similar to the storyline for Brian Francis Slattery’s excellent new novel, Liberation, but Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is determined to deliver. By 2012, Celente forecasts revolution in America, food riots, and tax rebellions. In four years, America will become an undeveloped nation. Holidays will be about food rather than gifts. Mass hysteria, dogs and cats living together. Doom and gloom.

Source and full article: Gerald Celente, Futurist Fraud



[edit on 9-5-2009 by winston_boy]

reply to post by winston_boy


It's ok winston, you don't have to read the article if you don't like the man or his opinions.

It was distributed simply as the first article by the ATS Press Corps and a pretty good "get" imho.

That's why we have those now you know, people read them and they can make up their own minds.

reply to post by winston_boy


As hard as it might be for you to accept Winston_Boy, yes what Celente has to say is that important. It's important for the simple fact that he's been right every time. It's important enough that ATS thought wisely enough to alert all participants, in case they were interested in hearing the interview. It really is that important to listen to Celente. Plug your ears at your peril.

Okay guys, no problem. I'm genuinely up for everyone having their opinion, and if you feel that strongly about Celente's 'predictions' that's cool.

It just seems to me like there's some kind of 'Celente cult' going on here that makes me feel a tad uncomfortable. When you say things like...

As hard as it might be for you to accept Winston_Boy, yes what Celente has to say is that important.

And...

It really is that important to listen to Celente. Plug your ears at your peril.

Well that kind of makes me feel spookily like I'm talking to the cult's devotees or something.

I just was under the impression this was a site for free thinkers. Maybe I was wrong...

reply to post by winston_boy


No, you asked a great question. The people who listen to Gerald Celente are not cult followers or anything goofy like that. It's just that if you heard his predictions of 15 years ago (as I did at the time), you develop a lot of respect for what he has to say. And what he currently has to say is quite alarming. So it definitely pays to hear him out. For one thing, staying informed like that will probably save you a lot of money, or perhaps guide you as to how to make money during troubled economic times.

It's nothing more than that.


[edit on 9-5-2009 by Albertarocks]

Okay, fair point. But what would you say to Edward Champion, who wrote the above-quoted article and seems to put across a pretty convincing argument that it's all a numbers game -- that Celente has made a number of inaccurate predictions that seem to get swept under the rug, and that his so-called 'accurate' predictions are pretty much 'generalist' calculations?

As Champion puts it:

"Above all, don’t look at history, science, or specific statistics. Because Celente will boil them all down for you with one of his seemingly pithy and mysterious predictions. And he’ll be right. Because like a trusted astrology columnist or a two-bit faith healer, Celente leaves just enough room in his answer to wiggle out. And you swallow it every time. Because you’re too scared to think for yourself, or do a background check on the guy in the lobby waving his arms."

reply to post by winston_boy

I would say to Edward Champion that he's just envious that he has never had the foresight to be able to see what lies in the future as Celente has. Besides, if you just 'read the headlines in two newspapers each day', all you'd get is pure "mis-information". That's all the MSM does, is spin the truth into lies anyway.

It also takes a lot of research in most cases, a lot of work... to be able to see trends. Not all trends are clear on a day to day basis. Therefore, I'd accuse Mr. Champion of being too lazy to do it himself, and remind him that anybody can lie back on his couch eating Twinkies and take pot shots at successful people. I'd also tell him that I'm not particularly impressed with armchair quarterbacks. I'd advise him to offer something worthwhile to humanity, rather than cutting down those who have already proven their worth.

I'd sum it up by pointing out that if someone like Gerald Celente or Alex Jones come up with forecasts or predictions that I don't particularly like, but that turn out to be true... I'm going to listen to them and not the likes of Mr. Champion who so far, have offered me nothing of value.

Originally posted by winston_boy..seems to put across a pretty convincing argument that it's all a numbers game --

Well that's kinda the whole point I thought.

The fact that there are a few people out there who can do the math and read trends and policies that are likely to lead countries into a large pile of poo.

I don't think he's being hailed as a soothsayer or some kind of mystic meg,just a really clever bloke who does his homework well..

It's just a shame there aren't more people just as clever in those high paid jobs that run banks and governments into debt and leave the taxpayers to pay for their gonads-ups.

Too busy fiddling their expenses to actually study economic trends I guess.

In most of those examples, I don't think that the writer was saying that he was wrong, so much as criticizing the fact that this isn't profound stuff, which nobody ever claims that it is. This is the only so-called "wrong" prediction that I saw in that article:

“The Industrial Age is ending. All the systems are breaking down and that means disappointment and disillusionment for the people who grew up in the ’50’s.”

America's Industrial Age is ending, and has been for several decades. We're a post-industrial society; and we have a shrinking middle-class due to the fact that high-paying industrial jobs are being replaced with low-paying service sector jobs. This is an integral part of the "America will become the first undeveloped country" prediction. Look at Michigan. With the exception of a few counties, it's undeveloping as we speak. Houses are literally falling apart from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula.

Although Michigan is leading the charge, most major American cities have fairly substantial sections that resemble underdeveloped nations. One wrong turn, and you could be forgiven for thinking that you're in a Mad Max movie.

Here's another, similar article: Gloom followed by increasing doom. Taking a look at some of the highlighted predictions...

Voluntary simplicity, once merely a counterculture ideal, will finally become a reality in the twenty-first century. ....Moderation, self-discipline, and spiritual growth will be the personal goals of the future, not material accumulation.

This has actually become a very mainstream view. Of all people, CNBC analyst Erin Burnett has said -- on Meet the Press -- that we are going to have to live simpler lives, and that the "days of three cars in every driveway are over. The future might be two cars in every driveway, it might be one car."

The trend to convert lawns into gardens will have a significant impact not only on the way we eat but also on how we live and feel. ....Billions of dollars formerly spent on lawn care will either be saved or re-deployed into producing fresh food.

The huge demand for seeds and the growing interest in urban farming would seem to suggest that this could happen. I think that this has as much to do with concerns over the safety of store-bought food, as it does with our current economic woes.

Instead of being banished to nursing homes or retirement communities, large numbers of retirees... will move in with their adult children.

Elderly parents increasingly moving in with their children.

The videophone, meanwhile, will keep us in touch with faraway relatives. ...long-distance communication will be more like television.

Skype and webcam.

Regarding this quote:

According to Gerald Celente, Director of the Trends Research Institute and author of Trends 2000, the key to tracking trends is to read two newspapers every day with a purpose — either The Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times, plus The New York Times or USA Today. Look for stories with social, economic, and political significance, be it about the difficulties older suburbs face or the current currency crisis. (You’ll know by the headline or the first paragraph.) Skip the stories that are purely human interest or that are about something that hasn’t happened yet (for example, a jury resuming deliberation on a sensational trial).

When a crisis does occur, tune in to the extra in-depth analyses that you’ll find in accompanying background pieces probably in more than one of the newspapers. Read them as though you’re a “political atheist,” Celente recommends — not for what you want or hope, but for what is really going on, not only in your own profession or industry, but for trends that may directly or indirectly shape the future.

That's not the entire process. He also reads a mountain of trade journals; and it helps that he has a very sound understanding of sociology and the Austrian economic paradigm. I disagree with him on some basic things (such as what ended the Great Depression), but his understanding of socioeconomic cause and effect is sound.


[edit on 9-5-2009 by theWCH]

Hi winston.

I believe you are slightly missing the picture here winston_boy in the sense that it seems by your claim that you are surprised/outraged at a certain belief or theory displayed through ATS. This is a forum that covers many subjects and many views within each subject. Your mention of a "cult" would happen indeed if everyone on the board had the same beliefs and the same opinions. Then ATS would be an isolated group of people sharing a single cult-like mind.

Now I am sure there are specific subjects that brought you here - as all of us - but all you have to do is look at the board to realize that from aliens to religion, cryptozoology to politics, the paranormal to survival, etc.. this forum is not a single minded group of posters driven on pursuing a single state of mind but instead a place for everyone to share the information and opinions they have. Yes - sometimes the opinions displayed are passionate but that is part of the positive side of the forum in my opinion. There is a refreshing aspect to a forum where no one feels restrained to any particular view and just expresses their beliefs and their research.

To demand that ATS would put some subjects aside or not allow opinions/reports of news that you yourself do not agree with would in my opinion form what you called a "cult" - a forum that subscribed to one shared chain of thought and that shuns everything else.

As for your sentence "Next ATS will have us all believing..." I think you are again not quite seeing the picture here. ATS isn't supposed to have you believe anything. Contact the church closest to you for that. This is a forum where information is shared. That is all. If you come to ATS expecting to be told what to believe in then ATS would be no different than Celent or any other prophet.

As for the newsletter.. I can point out many emails that I get every day stating that I need to enlarge my package which I personally find much more insulting than any newsletter about Celente's views on the economy.

Hey InTrueFiction and All,

Listen, I didn't mean to offend anyone or cast a spear at ATS particularly. I was just surprised to receive an ATS newsletter specifically promoting (or at least seeming to promote) someone known for being a predictions guru. I would have felt the same if ATS had been seen to proactively promote the philosophies of Alex Jones or David Icke. By all means give people the space to discuss and debate these philosophies, as freely and passionately as they like. But this was not just an invite to discuss Gerald Celente's latest offering. It was an ATS Press Corps Featured Article in which ATS made no attempt to disguise what came across to me as being its somewhat fawning and heavily biased support for Celente.

Here's the first question from the interviewer:

"You are so brilliant and have a huge following at ATS. You are the world's number one expert on trends and predicting what will happen in the future with them. If you could, please give us some examples of the trends in past you predicted and they happened."

This doesn't say to me that ATS is "a forum where no one feels restrained to any particular view and just expresses their beliefs and their research", as you claim. On the contrary, it reads more like a Hare Krishna devotee seeking pearls of wisdom from their spiritual master. At the very least it says to me that ATS would rather have us believe in Celente than not. And that's my problem.

I guess have just come to expect a slighly less partisan approach from ATS. My mention of a "cult" was inspired not by my sense that "everyone on the board had the same beliefs and the same opinions", as you put it, but purely because ATS, in sending out the 'Celente newsletter', could easily be accused of attempting to influence its members' views rather than simply providing the space for them to air those views. And in my opinion that spells the beginning of a "cult" mentality.

Anyway, look, this is just my opinion. If it's the rule that ATS is above occasional criticism then I don't think that is particularly healthy either. Celente maybe the real deal, but that's not the point I'm making. I'm simply saying that I was surprised to receive an ATS newsletter promoting one person's point of view in what seemed to me to be such a categorical, ingratiating, almost devotional fashion.

I just think that level of sycophancy is dangerous and sends out the wrong message, that's all.

I do, however, absolutely agree about the package enlargement emails...!

I agree totally with you winston_boy it sounds like the interviewer was heavily biased (to say the least) towards this New Age Nostrodamus and that ATS wants us to swallow this hokum, hook, line and sinker. The guy is a fear-mongering wingnut prophet, and that`s why Alex Jonestown and him get along so well. The world has always faced one crisis after another and these prophets of gloom and doom make a big buck off of the fear of the people. Armageddon is near. The earth is doomed. Soothsayers have been crying this for centuries, and it`s a good bet since there always has been war, depressions, famines , and hurricanes. The guy has also made several wrong predictions and his "models" don`t work out. Gloom and Doom futurism as seen through a smoky crystal ball.

Celente isn't a doom and gloom guy actually. Just because you predict something negative doesn't make you a doom and gloom guy. If thats all he ever predicted then he would be. But he has and does predict positive things also. But he only sees negative for the US short term.

Negative trend predictions don't make him a doom and gloom guy. To imply otherwise is both illogical and incorrect...

[edit on 10-5-2009 by johnny2127]

Celente tells it like it is and is usually right. In a world of lies he is one who really just doesn't bullsh*t, which is of infinite value.

Great points on both sides of this matter .

Seeing how so many people here on ATS do find what he says to be of interest one can understand why we were given the " heads up "

Also , in the world of conspiracy Mr. GC is some what a celebrity so once again I can understand the pride of ATS having Mr. GC gracing our beloved pages .

I just hope the next time he can talk a little about massages ( inside joke for those that read his interview )

What I like most about him, are his snazzy scarves, and deadpan but camp delivery.

Really, I find Celente interesting to listen to sometimes, but I don't take him too seriously, he's trying to do something, that as far as we know, can't be done -- see the future. So I just take him as an entertaining guesser.

I think it's a bit strong at this stage to call his supporters cult like, but I do think they blow up his importance to a level that's not really deserved. Just because he was right sometimes in the past, doesn't mean he will be right again, and how many of his failed predictions do we know about?

He's not a prophet, he's just another talking head for TV when they want some exciting doom, and we should consider his predictions in these regards.