After looking briefly at the Knights Templar, one of the main secret societies most modern groups seem to trace some of their roots back too, I decided to remain a bit more open to what secret societies actually do. At the time of the Knights Templar power rested in the hands of a small minority, Monarchs and the Church & freedom of movement was greatly restricted. The Knights Templar seemed to improve upon that situation.
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=8578.0 (Interesting documentary link there.)
However I had another crazy theory leading on from there that lead me to believe the date for getting your money out of the current financial system could be 20/10/2014 however, it has passed, so so much for that one
I would suggest secret societies by their nature have a limited pool of talent from which to draw (See Bush & Kerry
) even though they probably are at the best universities etc. I would also suggest that the average age of the highest members must be quite old, so if they have historically had significant influence, that balance of power will shift as freedom of information & money is opened up. I'm undecided whether that is a completely positive thing.