“Collectives … are not military powers. They are economic powers. Their focus is on trade, resource acquisition and building their alliance amongst worlds such as your own.” — The Allies of Humanity, Book 2, “The Collectives”
Life in the cosmos, it turns out, isn’t all that different from life on Earth.
The scale is much larger and there’s an infinite variety of intelligent life, but all in all, there are certain realities of existence that are true everywhere.
The need for resources is universal. Whether you’re a tiny micro-organism or an alien empire, you need certain resources to survive. That makes trade especially important — it’s the lifeblood that keeps many alien civilizations going.
According to the Allies of Humanity material, a true account of life in the universe by our freedom-loving neighbors, Economic Collectives have filled this niche. The Grey aliens that interfere with humanity belong to such Collectives so it’s worthwhile to discuss what they’re all about.
Sit back, read on, and keep an open mind.
1. Collectives can span hundreds of worlds
Worlds that become members of Collectives gain access to resources but, in a very real way, give up much of their freedom and sovereignty. It’s like joining an inter-planetary trading network that’s run like a giant mega-corporation, except that you’re a minority shareholder who doesn’t control who the CEO is or what she does. Once you join a Collective, your world must abide by their rules. Or else.
Unlike alien empires spanning many planets, Collectives do not have a centralized home world. There’s a hierarchical leadership but it’s not situated on a particular planet — the same way a giant corporation on Earth may exist in many countries without having particular allegiance to one over another. They operate more akin to a network of influence.
This diversity makes Collectives highly multi-racial, which can sometimes be a problem with regards to unity. Think about it. Each race has their own concerns, priorities and ambitions. When you join a Collective, you subjugate all of this in exchange for the Collectives’ greater good. This can cause friction. They’re constantly struggling to keep their members in line. Worlds sometimes decide to leave a Collective but it’s not easy.
2. Collectives are typically not permitted to have their own military
Given the vast economic power wielded by Collectives, alien races do not trust them. They don’t permit them to have a military of their own beyond a small security force to protect their cargo ships. This makes sense. Imagine if Google had a huge military — 
it’d be a problem.
For this reason, Collectives tend not to venture too far off beyond their zone of control as they wouldn’t otherwise be able to protect themselves. Sometimes, especially when trading in unstable regions, Collectives will hire mercenary forces to guard their trading routes.
The lack of a military option has led Collectives to cultivate alternative ways to wield power and influence. They employ more subtle, ingenious means to get their way. Collectives use psychic / mental powers to influence the minds of other races, infiltrate worlds with their agents, and ultimately do anything short of starting wars to advance their own interests. Aliens tread with caution when dealing with them lest their own sovereignty be jeopardized.
“It is an interesting fact of life that wherever Collectives exist and compete with each other, other nations have established their own defenses against them so that the Collectives cannot intervene in these worlds’ trade, commerce and internal affairs. Because we are talking about many nations within a region, many of which have their own military establishments, the Collectives then must abide by certain rules of conduct or face very grave consequences. Being without significant weaponry of their own, they must utilize negotiations, diplomacy and influence as their primary means of accomplishment.” — Allies of Humanity, Book 2, “The Collectives”
3. Collectives are always looking for new members
Like corporations striving to increase their profits, Collectives are constantly seeking to grow in size and influence.
Resource-rich worlds like ours that are just emerging into this greater panorama of life are prime targets. Such worlds are naive and will believe anything the Collectives say. Established alien worlds who know all about Collectives try to keep them at arm’s length. Emerging worlds, however, have no idea. We’re easy pickings to them.
4. Collectives use a cloned worker class to get the job done
Collectives use clones that are designed to be highly efficient and, above all, loyal. They keep them in line by fine-tuning their genetic code, brainwashing them from birth, and maintaining constant influence over them via the Mental Environment.
Clones makes sense when you think about it. Given the vastness of space that Collectives operate in, you’d need to be sure that your workers are doing their jobs — even when you’re unable to monitor them directly.
This said, the Allies detail that there have been clone revolts in the past. This is always a threat. All sentient life, even worker clones, have a soul. The soul is by nature creative and expressive. In spite of the biological engineering and constant brainwashing, you can’t completely stamp out their free will!
5. Collectives have weaknesses. We can protect ourselves
“You may feel helpless. You may think that a foreign power with foreign technology would have a strength that would be insurmountable, but you are dealing with a small group of resource explorers who are posing as great technological powers.” — Resisting the Intervention
The best defence against Collectives is to remain self-sufficient. If we don’t need their trading goods, then the Collectives can’t 
Collectives also do not know how to deal with free worlds very well. They are themselves highly rigid, hierarchical, and uncreative. They don’t want their member worlds to think for themselves. This makes us a threat to them.
Our freedom also makes us unpredictable, which makes it harder for their almost-robotic worker class to deal with us.
The leading minds that run these Collectives are not guided by the power of Spirit, the most powerful force in the Universe. Nor are their worker clones. This means that their intentions can be discerned, their plans discovered, and their secrets revealed by those that walk with Spirit. If humanity can cultivate this power, we’ll become a threat to them. Spiritual power remains existent in our world. This is a key advantage that we have over them.
Learn more
Let this be just the beginning of your education about how the universe really works. We recommend the following free texts:
- The Allies of Humanity. A great starting point. The Allies of Humanity group of aliens come from different worlds. All of them have experience dealing with Collectives. A few of them even come from worlds that used to be part of Collectives but later threw them out.
- Quotes about Collectives in Wiki-format. Quickly get up to speed without having to read entire books.
- Trade and Commerce in this Region of Space. Chapter 4 of the always fascinating Life in the Universe book. Learn about how alien races trade with each other.
- The Power of Knowledge. Skills in the Mental Environment can help keep the human race free and sovereign. Read more about what this means and how we can use these talents against the Collectives.