Like a lot of people on here, I have a certain fascination with conspiracy theories even when I think they're completely nutty. Alex Jones et al can try to posture as 'patriots' all they want but ultimately they're just entertainers - witness the fact that it's more important to make DVDs about all these global crises than actually doing the much more difficult work to try to change them. And that's fine because there is something oddly entertaining about a nutcase with a bullhorn.
But it's this 'rebel' posturing that kind of bothers me. A conspiracy theory allows one to assume the role of the noble dissident bravely striking a blow against the empire, fighting the good fight while everyone else either 'just doesn't get it' or are 'in on it' themselves. The sheep. And the scarier the theory, the better - a 9/11 'truth' youtube video would not be complete without ominous music and solemn narration and even rumors that the evildoers actually - my god! - worship SATAN! So clearly a big part of the conspiracy agenda is to promote fear.
The rub here is that a culture of baseless rumors and fear of an all powerful authority presence is exactly the sort of environment required to facilitate the facistic sort of rule they're warning us about.
For example a conspiracy theory would have us believe that the CIA was responsible in the JFK assassination. They planned the whole thing, executed it perfectly, and then kept it covered in the face of forty+ years of unprecedented investigation. That's pretty frightening and more importantly it's paralyzing. What would be the point of voting or running for office or even voicing an opinion if all that were true? The CIA's got the whole on thing on lock so why bother? On the hand, we can look at the CIA as - via Bugliosi - "men who were committed and passionate enough to not be above whatever it took - including assassination of foreign leaders, even breaking bread with organized crime - to carry out their mission 'in the national interest.'" Now this is by no means a defense of the CIA and in fact my position is quite the opposite. I have serious concerns about some of things that are carried out in the name of 'national defense,' both in terms of their geopolitical effects as well as with my own morals of right and wrong. But how are we to address real concerns when there's an ever present chorus of 'truthers' who have the political depth of a GI JOE cartoon? What's a little military coup in Latin America compared to a Global Satanic Plan For World Domination(tm)?
So I submit that not only can these conspiracies impede real investigation and oversight, but they also have a corrosive effect on the culture. The Patriot Act said that THEY are watching every book you take out at the library and yet even though I know that's just a baseless rumor, why do I feel a slight pang of panic when I take Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" to the front desk? Why do we still drive the speed limit even on a lonely road even when we're fairly certain there are no cops around? Because fear and the possibility that our fears are real is what often controls our behavior. That's not to say that it's always malevolent, but it is the basis of law and authority.
I might be wrong on some of this & I'm curious to know what others think about it but I do know that removing the whole 'rebel' cache from the arsenal of the conspiracy theorist pretty much takes all the fun out of it for them.
But it's this 'rebel' posturing that kind of bothers me. A conspiracy theory allows one to assume the role of the noble dissident bravely striking a blow against the empire, fighting the good fight while everyone else either 'just doesn't get it' or are 'in on it' themselves. The sheep. And the scarier the theory, the better - a 9/11 'truth' youtube video would not be complete without ominous music and solemn narration and even rumors that the evildoers actually - my god! - worship SATAN! So clearly a big part of the conspiracy agenda is to promote fear.
The rub here is that a culture of baseless rumors and fear of an all powerful authority presence is exactly the sort of environment required to facilitate the facistic sort of rule they're warning us about.
For example a conspiracy theory would have us believe that the CIA was responsible in the JFK assassination. They planned the whole thing, executed it perfectly, and then kept it covered in the face of forty+ years of unprecedented investigation. That's pretty frightening and more importantly it's paralyzing. What would be the point of voting or running for office or even voicing an opinion if all that were true? The CIA's got the whole on thing on lock so why bother? On the hand, we can look at the CIA as - via Bugliosi - "men who were committed and passionate enough to not be above whatever it took - including assassination of foreign leaders, even breaking bread with organized crime - to carry out their mission 'in the national interest.'" Now this is by no means a defense of the CIA and in fact my position is quite the opposite. I have serious concerns about some of things that are carried out in the name of 'national defense,' both in terms of their geopolitical effects as well as with my own morals of right and wrong. But how are we to address real concerns when there's an ever present chorus of 'truthers' who have the political depth of a GI JOE cartoon? What's a little military coup in Latin America compared to a Global Satanic Plan For World Domination(tm)?
So I submit that not only can these conspiracies impede real investigation and oversight, but they also have a corrosive effect on the culture. The Patriot Act said that THEY are watching every book you take out at the library and yet even though I know that's just a baseless rumor, why do I feel a slight pang of panic when I take Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" to the front desk? Why do we still drive the speed limit even on a lonely road even when we're fairly certain there are no cops around? Because fear and the possibility that our fears are real is what often controls our behavior. That's not to say that it's always malevolent, but it is the basis of law and authority.
I might be wrong on some of this & I'm curious to know what others think about it but I do know that removing the whole 'rebel' cache from the arsenal of the conspiracy theorist pretty much takes all the fun out of it for them.
