i do not think that the "illuminati" is real in the sense which you think it is, cswol.
i do not think that regular human beings are capable of organizing such a conspiracy with such great effectiveness.
however, the massive influence of money on politics is very real. there are certainly many kepy players on the world stage, extremely wealthy people who organize together to fund their goals, prop up governments that serve their interests, influence marketing in such a way as to propogate their ideas, etc.
for example.. i dont think 9/11 was an inside job, but its possible it was. but not in the sense which most people would believe. in the sense of just a few insiders, a few key military personell, a few top politicians, and a few top corporate heads getting together and putting a plan together. taking advantage of the fact muslims had been wanting to and planning to attack the world trade center, allowing them to carry out their plan by inhibiting intelligence agencies from uncovering the plot, and rigging the buildings so that once the terrorists crashed into them they would fall down in theatric fashion.
you see, i do not think a massive conspiracy involving many people is possible. and i do not think every conspiracy that ever occured were all pulled off by the same group of people. at different places and different points of time a few key people decided to do some fucked up shit. period. no massive , extremely organized conspiracy involving a secret group called "the illumaniti".
now, if your willing to consider aliens. then we can talk about massive hidden conspiracies.