the Truth about conspiracy theories: everyone’s wrong and evil
if you don’t agree you’re sheeple
I don’t mean to insult you but are you aware you are a simpleton? Don’t worry, apparently I am as well because everyone who doesn’t see what’s going on is a simpleton or just blind to what’s really going on. Once someone has consciously accepted a conspiracy theory, which is frequently after investing considerable time, it’s very easy to view those who don’t accept this alternate version of events as simply having been fooled by the conspiracy. It’s easy to see the value this has in perpetuating in-group, out-group dynamics but it’s less telling then its counterpart.
if you don’t agree you’re evil
This insult is reserved for other conspiracy theorists who don’t agree with you on the precise details or for those who once professed belief in a conspiracy but changed their minds. The famous writer Norman Mailer once believed in a JFK conspiracy that was until he began to research Lee Harvey Oswald and as it became known that he changed his mind Mailer himself was considered “in on it.” Similarly in Jon Ronson’s documentary Secret Rulers of the World Alex Jones implies that David Icke, who advocates a very similar type of global conspiracy that Jones does but attaches the claim that these rulers are reptilian humanoids, may indeed be working with this global conspiracy. While such pernicious claims are popular among disagreeing conspiracists obviously you see a lesser version of this argument in politics all the time as the opposing side is more often than not considered morally reprehensible. Still this is nothing approaching the level of evil claimed by conspiracies. In fact I’d argue nothing in real life approaches the levels of evil proclaimed to exist by grand conspiracy theories.
…and that’s some extreme evil
Often for the global conspiracy theories the evil present in these is a Mr. Burns and Darth Vader, Cthulhu meets a James Bond villain type of evil. According to Alex Jones’ film Endgame not only are secret organizations the Bilderberg Group, composed of only a few hundred of elites, secretly controlling the entire world economy and all governments to ensure they maintain all of the world’s money and influence but they are also committed to forcibly reducing the world population by 80% and locking up the remaining people into large prison camps while using advanced technology to keep themselves alive forever. And depending on who you ask groups like this may or may not be involved in child sacrifice and possibly rituals with their blood. This is particularly evident in conspiracies surrounding “the Jews” as the infamous fabrication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion advocates in what has rightly been called a warrant for a genocide.
Generally speaking people aren’t so evil and even psychopaths haven’t committed all of the ‘evil for the sake of evil’ acts often proposed by conspiracy theorists. On the other hand conspiracists often correctly remind us of human rights abuses under governments. Real heinous programs like COINTELPRO are often cited as evidence that governments can and will spy on it’s citizens but unfortunately conspiracists don’t often put these deeds in perspective and are frequently cheerleaders for argumentum ad Hitlerum. To give an example to those who don’t know what that is: “If you were hoping for a great speech from me today and have been disappointed I’d like you to know who else gave great speeches, Hitler!” They also draw heavily from fiction, particular dystopian sci-fi, which is evident in the affinity for the new super technology which Big Brother is going to use to secretly spy on you and those undetectable nano-thermite explosives which we all know were used to bring down The Twin Towers.
Ultimately though while this name calling can serve as a defense mechanism from any criticism the real secret to the conspiracy theories being demonstrated false are in their ever-compassing nature and seeing causal links between all events. This is where I will pick up next and week.
