The Finders
Hello all;
I recently came across some interesting information on “The Finders” that I don’t think anyone has picked up yet (The original Finders thread would not take my comments):
The guy who started MasterCard was a “Finder”
In the early ‘90’s I was writing for “The Portland Free Press” with editor Ace Hayes. While writing a series on CIA contract airline Evergreen Aviation I was contacted by conspiracy gadfly Stew Webb (I have my own thoughts on Webb) who conference-called me with a woman named Sivia Tamarkin who had some early information on “The Finders”.
The information stuck with me and I recently wrote a post on my Blog (
http://dojorat.blogspot.com/2010/08/did ... ntity.html) regarding “The Finders” and the movie series “The Bourne Identity”.
Most of the information I reviewed has already been posted in this thread, from open-source information, except this piece of the puzzle:
There is a guy named Michael Phillips that was hanging with “The Finders” around the 1970’s.
Phillips appears to be very well connected, and currently runs a website called “Pro Commerce” (
http://phillips.blogs.com/goc/2008/01/the-finders.html). As you might figure by the title of his blog he is very capitalist but is certainly a deep thinker. I do not agree with much of his writing, but it is coming from an interesting angle.
According to Wikipedia, Michael Phillips created MasterCard in 1966.
Here is what Michael Phillips wrote about his connection with “The Finders”:
Jan 04, 2008
The FindersI recently spent three months reading a 550 page manuscript about the Finders, a Washington D.C. middle-class commune. It took so long to read because I put it on my Sony Reader and only read it on airplane flights. I also deliberately read every word carefully, it was so beautifully written and so engrossing. The author of the manuscript was a long time member of the group who has an extraordinary ability to remember conversations. When it is published I will let you know I first met the Finders in the mid 1970s when they opened a small branch operation in San Francisco and came to let me know they were available to help me. I was a well known author at the time, was the treasurer and business manager of Glide a magnet institution and was deeply involved in the counter-culture. From then on, I have stayed in touch with the Finders, I've known several of the members very well and followed their history. I also visited them in D.C. on many occasions.
The Finders were a middle-class commune. By that I mean (and they mean) that most of the core group were well educated, some came from prestigious universities and many had held important jobs. The core group was close to their teacher Marion D. Petty, a self educated, retired Army non-commissioned officer.
What fascinated me most about the Finders is that they followed one of Petty's main Daoist teachings: live every moment fresh. That meant that every day they had a group meeting and decided what to do that day. They were serious and often they just plain disappeared for days, weeks months or years. They arrived and they moved on without notice.
I always learned from the Finders. They used their Daoist teachings to learn how the world worked and they learned a great deal. I've written one blog with a story from the Finders.
In future blogs I will recount some of the interesting stories from my encounters with the Finders.
Posted by Michael Phillips on Jan 04, 2008 at 04:48 AM | Permalink
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After I wrote my post on the finders in my silly little Blog, I received a comment from Scott Phillips.
Scott also runs a martial-art-related blog, and I have nothing against him personally. We have sparred verbally, and if Scott has a problem it is that he is a self-proclaimed expert in everything Chinese. He has constantly picked (verbal) fights with readers of my Blog and other forums.
Here is what Scott wrote when he read my post on the Finders:
“Scott said...
Funny!
I stayed with Finders, of course, with my dad Michael Phillips and my sister when I was 10. It was fun. All those hippies in suits. They were a community center in Washington DC with info about every possible counter culture resource. Because they made it widely known that they would help anybody at any time for any reason, it was a fun place to be. People would come in saying they needed a couple of guys to move a sofa, done. Bigger crazier jobs too of course. All the time. When you are that helpful people throw money at you, it was really interesting to see.
I don't know if you remember but devil worship back then was kind of like global warming today. Everyone seemed to believe it was happening and so they pointed a lot of fingers. I know a guy who was arrested for devil worshiping near Fishermans Wharf here in San Francisco, he had to explain to the hearing judge that Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan is an internal martial art from China...good for your health!
P.S. I can neither confirm nor deny any involvement with the CIA.
AUGUST 13, 2010 6:40:00 PM PDT
So, for what it’s worth, Michael Phillips was a “Finder”, he started Master Card, and his Son and Daughter also stayed with the cult.
Here’s more from his Wiki bio (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ph ... consultant):
You might know Michael Phillips from any of the following activities:
Finance:
Bank of America, co-founder of the marketing research department. 1964-1968. Founder of the Bank PR and Marketing Research Association.
Bank of California Vice President, including a lawsuit to end
employment discrimination. 1968-71
President of Point Foundation (Whole Earth Catalog funds).
1972-74
Business and Portfolio Manager of Glide Foundation. 1971-81
Creator of Cashets.com, an attempt at online micro-payments system, 2002-2004
Marketing:
Organizer of MasterCard (click for history), Corporate Cash Management and Simplified Checking Charges. 1966-70
Pioneer in international portfolio investment for non-profits.
1971-1978
Organizing:
President of SCOPE, a blue ribbon public education group to improve and integrate the S.F. public schools. Organized the first Educational Fair in 1964 which led to the creation of the Portola Institute and stimulated the Whole Earth Catalog. 1963
Active organizer of the Corporate Social Responsibility movement and was the first foundation social portfolio activist. 1971-1978. Convened the first national conference on Corporate Social Responsibility in 1972.
Organizer and lead plaintiff in the first and most influential class action on behalf of women and minorities. With Robert Gnaizda at Public Advocates as attorney, a settlement was reached in 1972 with five major banks and Savings & Loans. The settlement set affirmative action goals which put banking in the forefront of "equal employment" in the U.S. for the next quarter century.
Funded and helped organize the first national prostitutes union:
Coyote with Margo St. James. 1972
Funded and helped start the leading telephone sex switchboard, SFSI. 1973. Changed the policy of SIECUS (National Sex Education) to encourage an active sexual life.
Co-organizer of the 1st San Francisco International Book Fair, originally called The Friends of Books and Comics. 1973.
Founded the: International Committee for a New Planet. ICNP was the basis for bringing Swedes to theWest Coast to study new business models. Basis for funding Gerard ONeil's project to create a new planet at L-5. 1973
Founder of the Briarpatch Network. June 1974. The Briarpatch Network was the subject of the book Honest Business. After extensive training of organizers in Europe, from 1978-1984, the Briarpatch was brought back to the U.S. by the German Marshall Plan as Small Business Networking.
Started the Glide Third World Tours of San Francisco. 1975. This project was started during a strike by Grayline Tours and was the beginning of independent tour companies in San Francisco as well as neighborhood walking tours.
Organized a campaign to stop the anti-Japanese whaling ban
movement. 1976
Co-organizer of New Years Xmas tree burn on Ocean Beach. 1976. Burns on the beach continue to this day. Original inspiration for Burning Man.
Created 6th Street Park, the first public facility for poor black
alcoholics. 1978-81
Co-founded the Common Good School to provide advanced
training for community organizers. 1980
Co-founded The Noren Institute, a school for small businesses.
1981-87. Classes visited businesses. Source of the books: Marketing Without Advertising and Running a One Person Business.
Founded: The Project to Label Gene-Altered Food; 1992 Organized a national conference in 1996.
Co-founded The National Project to Stop Human Germline Engineering; 1998
Expert Witness for Minority Community:
Expert witness on business matters on behalf of consumer
rights and minority communities.
Working with Public Advocates, the Greenlining Coalition and
the Greenlining Institute.
Successful in winning many cases against AT&T, Pacific Bell,
Pacific Gas and Electric and major insurance companies.
1983 to present.
Business consultant -- Clients:
Sweden:
Newspapers, Airline, Banks, Consumer and Producer Co-ops, Swedish Royal Institute.
Japan:
Major Womens' Clothing Designer, Ad Agency, Graphics, Building Maintenance, Electronic Suppliers, Banks, NTT. Partner in Dynax a Social Science Think Tank in Tokyo.
U.S.:
Department Stores, Computer Software, Manufacturing, Medical Equipment, Food, Education,
Publishing, Hotels, Arts, International Trade, World Bank.
Two case studies: Japan and Sweden
Don’t know what to do with this information, but it may cross-reference with other topics on “The Finders”.
