Loose Change - Part II
- Thread starter Kiwiwriter
- Start date
- Status
Thanks. It's an interesting lead into the CT mind. 9/11 was a stressful event, to say the least, and the fear of terrorism and future events like this is definately stressful as well. The Cts probably aren't able to handle that much stress so they channel it in these paranoid narratives. At least, that's my initial assumption. This lead is definately worth researching.
Kiwiwriter
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,108
Why conspiracies?
I think William Manchester hit it on the head when he wrote about the wave of conspiracy theories in the Kennedy assassination.
Manchester said that humans need balancing on the scales for events of such titanic nature. The idea that someone as towering as Kennedy should be killed by such a worthless waif as Lee Harvey Oswald doesn't make sense, and does not do justice to Kennedy. We want the villain to be a super-villain, not just some mope, mook, mutt, loser, or jerk, as cops would say.
People also have trouble with ambiguity and open endings. Centuries of moral fables, fairy tales, and soap operas have created a demand in humans that everything be tied up neatly by the last minute of the show. We expect the killer to be the special guest villain. We expect Kojak and Steve McGarrett to snap their fingers and point out the villain. We further expect the villain to break down and confess under the lash of cross-examination by Jack McCoy or Perry Mason. We also expect John Wayne to win all the battles (even if he dies in the final scene) and that a bunch of Japanese, ragheaded Arabs, redcoated English fops, or sneery drug dealers are nowhere near as smart, capable, or clever as our generals, patriots, and detectives.
Conspiracy theories provide neat and pat endings to these disasters. They play into our fears of the unknown, demonize the usual suspects, and tap into the cynicism Americans have festered since Vietnam, Watergate, and all the other idiocies since then. Remember that the United States ground to a halt to investigate Monica Lewinsky's semen-stained dress...while Osama and his pals were scouting targets for their second attack on the World Trade Center. We cannot accept that the other guy hates us enough and is smart enough to wreck our lives...it has to be the result of a hidden and treasonous cabal that is selling out our nation, our values, our rights, our moral fiber, and our heritage.
Conspiracy theories turn a random and ambiguous world into a neat and coherent whole package...it's all the Jews' fault. It's all the Masons' fault. Big Oil did it. The bankers did it. The Communists did it. God did it. It's all in The Bible. All in Das Kapital. All at the Mason's headquarters. All in Christian Rakovsky's confession to the NKVD in 1937.
The world becomes orderly, and those who feel victimized by the world have convenient scapegoats and targets to blame for their own failures. It's not my fault my business failed...Big Oil destroyed me. It's not my fault I couldn't get into a good school...Affirmative Action quotas beat me out. It's not my fault I'm not rich and powerful...the Jews have all the money.
They also enable people to be lazy. What's the point of trying? Elections are rigged. The Jews have all the money. Better you just sit back in your chair and whine about the conspiracy on an internet forum of like-minded losers than actually try to make your life and world better.
Conspiracy theories are perfect for fanatics. As Churchill said, "They won't change their opinion and they won't change the subject."
I think William Manchester hit it on the head when he wrote about the wave of conspiracy theories in the Kennedy assassination.
Manchester said that humans need balancing on the scales for events of such titanic nature. The idea that someone as towering as Kennedy should be killed by such a worthless waif as Lee Harvey Oswald doesn't make sense, and does not do justice to Kennedy. We want the villain to be a super-villain, not just some mope, mook, mutt, loser, or jerk, as cops would say.
People also have trouble with ambiguity and open endings. Centuries of moral fables, fairy tales, and soap operas have created a demand in humans that everything be tied up neatly by the last minute of the show. We expect the killer to be the special guest villain. We expect Kojak and Steve McGarrett to snap their fingers and point out the villain. We further expect the villain to break down and confess under the lash of cross-examination by Jack McCoy or Perry Mason. We also expect John Wayne to win all the battles (even if he dies in the final scene) and that a bunch of Japanese, ragheaded Arabs, redcoated English fops, or sneery drug dealers are nowhere near as smart, capable, or clever as our generals, patriots, and detectives.
Conspiracy theories provide neat and pat endings to these disasters. They play into our fears of the unknown, demonize the usual suspects, and tap into the cynicism Americans have festered since Vietnam, Watergate, and all the other idiocies since then. Remember that the United States ground to a halt to investigate Monica Lewinsky's semen-stained dress...while Osama and his pals were scouting targets for their second attack on the World Trade Center. We cannot accept that the other guy hates us enough and is smart enough to wreck our lives...it has to be the result of a hidden and treasonous cabal that is selling out our nation, our values, our rights, our moral fiber, and our heritage.
Conspiracy theories turn a random and ambiguous world into a neat and coherent whole package...it's all the Jews' fault. It's all the Masons' fault. Big Oil did it. The bankers did it. The Communists did it. God did it. It's all in The Bible. All in Das Kapital. All at the Mason's headquarters. All in Christian Rakovsky's confession to the NKVD in 1937.
The world becomes orderly, and those who feel victimized by the world have convenient scapegoats and targets to blame for their own failures. It's not my fault my business failed...Big Oil destroyed me. It's not my fault I couldn't get into a good school...Affirmative Action quotas beat me out. It's not my fault I'm not rich and powerful...the Jews have all the money.
They also enable people to be lazy. What's the point of trying? Elections are rigged. The Jews have all the money. Better you just sit back in your chair and whine about the conspiracy on an internet forum of like-minded losers than actually try to make your life and world better.
Conspiracy theories are perfect for fanatics. As Churchill said, "They won't change their opinion and they won't change the subject."
Keep in mind too that most of the posters at LC are in their late teens/early 20's. I've even seen a kid over there that was 14! That means he was 9 years old when he experienced the shock of that day. Couple that, perhaps, with a lack of parental influence to help put things in perspective, and you have a pretty scared confused kid.
(Total armchair psychologist over here, sorry if I'm way off base)
kookbreaker
Evil Fokker
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2001
- Messages
- 16,532
I think I've said it before, but if it were five years ago, these kids would be screaming 'Free Mumia' and spreading false details about that case.
911 just gave them something bigger to yell about. Who cares about a guy who shoots cops in the back, we've got the President killing thousands of his own citizens!
Kiwiwriter
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,108
Thank you
No worries, mate. Conspiracy theories and theorists interest me, because they seem to be everywhere...it depresses me that people will accept an anti-Semitic web page full of Biblical drivel over one of my press releases.
Their forensic style is interesting...shrill stuff, often poorly or badly-researched, usually stuffed with inside jargon. They demand debate, but on their terms. And if they don't win the debate (usually achieved by making their opponent explode or convert), they claim it's rigged. Show them the truth, they ignore it and mark you down as an "enemy." Then they use the tactics they denounce...against their opponents. It's a topsy-turvy world, a mix of Lewis Carroll and George Orwell.
And when I was having a miserable time as a kid, I saw my schoolteachers as being a conspiracy against me...25 years later, I can recognize my own wrong thinking and some of the signs.
No worries, mate. Conspiracy theories and theorists interest me, because they seem to be everywhere...it depresses me that people will accept an anti-Semitic web page full of Biblical drivel over one of my press releases.
Their forensic style is interesting...shrill stuff, often poorly or badly-researched, usually stuffed with inside jargon. They demand debate, but on their terms. And if they don't win the debate (usually achieved by making their opponent explode or convert), they claim it's rigged. Show them the truth, they ignore it and mark you down as an "enemy." Then they use the tactics they denounce...against their opponents. It's a topsy-turvy world, a mix of Lewis Carroll and George Orwell.
And when I was having a miserable time as a kid, I saw my schoolteachers as being a conspiracy against me...25 years later, I can recognize my own wrong thinking and some of the signs.
azazal
Ninja Wave: Techno Ninja
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2005
- Messages
- 985
Oh they do, they're about 5.56mm across, weigh in at about 55 grains. But for some reason, we're not allowed to administer them
Belz...
Fiend God
Something Ninjas know a little about!
Belz...
Fiend God
And yet some of the best movies have non-homerian structures...
patchbunny
Graduate Poster
Ok, I have to ask... what's with all the ninjas?
Kiwiwriter
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,108
Homer, Homer, Homer
Yes, but 14-year-olds of all ages have grown up with NYPD Blue, All My Children, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Star Trek, X-Files, Dawson's Creek, Dynasty, and The Brady Bunch.
Yes, but 14-year-olds of all ages have grown up with NYPD Blue, All My Children, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Star Trek, X-Files, Dawson's Creek, Dynasty, and The Brady Bunch.
chipmunk stew
Philosopher
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 7,448
A small joke blown up to ridiculous, gargantuan proportions.
See my sig
Oh, and don't miss: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1676520#post1676520
Hutch
A broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barret
Well. I'm going to grab the glory as the one who got the first spark lit, although others have done much more than I to carry it forward:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1676422&postcount=1131
Gravy
Downsitting Citizen
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2006
- Messages
- 17,078
Belz...
Fiend God
Yes, but 14-year-olds of all ages have grown up with NYPD Blue, All My Children, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Star Trek, X-Files, Dawson's Creek, Dynasty, and The Brady Bunch.
HEY! What do you have against Star Trek ?
rwguinn
Penultimate Amazing
The Brady Bunch was Troof! We know this because
"The troof is often painful", y'know!
Hawk one
Emperor of the Internet
Airlines and all that are a-ok with me that are contacted... I'm not sure I'd like to contact the victim's families...
...I'm not saying I can't see that it may be or become necessary. But even so, it still feels like a crappy thing, possibly having to point them to such grave-pissing as LC...
- Status