Conspiracy Theorists Aren’t All Wrong. They Just Focus on the Wrong (Imaginary) Conspiracies
Real conspiracies are undermining our society — while absurd “fake” conspiracies grab our attention
Lately, I’ve been reading about the persistent streak of conspiratorial thinking and conspiracy-mongering that weaves through American history — and is especially strong today. And my reading tied into something I’ve long been pondering: Are ALL of these conspiracy theories just plain wrong, or are some of them really onto something?
No matter how I tried to “figure it out,” though, something about my inquiry didn’t feel right. The whole subject began to feel like being trapped in quicksand.
But I still wanted to discover… the truth. My uneasiness made me realize that somehow my “quest” needed a major reset.
Then I hit on a different way of perceiving the entire subject: There indeed are some ongoing, significant conspiracies happening — just not the ones that most “conspiracy nuts” flock to and believe in.
This finally made more sense to me, and I started digging into the vast issue of “fake” or imagined conspiracies vs. ongoing, devastating real conspiracies.
Here’s what I found so far. (Warning: these are my preliminary thoughts and conclusions about a huge, complex subject, not a comprehensive finished product.)
In general, most of the conspiracy-mongering in the U.S. has emanated from the far right and so-called “conservatives.” Dating back to the post-WW II era, we had the anticommunist Red Scare, which soon morphed into the nightmare of McCarthyism in the 50s, followed by the paranoia of Goldwater and the John Birch Society in the 60s and 70s (and beyond).
Then, after the fall of communist Russia (1991), the focus of right-wing paranoia shifted to the global elite and their supposed “One-World” ambitions, and through the 90s this paranoia kept growing until the “New World Order” became a huge, scary bugaboo for the right. After the 9/11/2001 terror attacks, angry conspiracy theories began circulating that claimed 9/11 was an “inside job” that our government used to justify its desired “War on Terror.”
More recently, right-wing paranoia and conspiracy-mongering have focused on “liberals,” Antifa (antifascists), and the Black Lives Matter movement and persistently accuse these groups of working to undermine America and destroy our society.
In my opinion, most of these conspiracy theories are way, way off base or are only politically motivated. The underlying intention of most of them is to spread far-right views, and de-legitimize — and ultimately destroy or sideline — the left and “liberal” views.
But that’s not the whole story. A few conspiracy theories are not as politically motivated and seem to have some real substance to them.
9/11: An accurate and probable conspiracy theory?
Take the conspiracy theory around 9/11, for instance. I’m no paranoid “conspiracy nut,” yet my partner and I have had several discussions about 9/11 and who was really behind it — and we are not at all confident in the “official” explanation(s). There are some very odd things that happened that day that simply don’t make sense.
For example: If you watch video footage of the two main towers collapsing, you can clearly see several explosions way down in the mid-sections of the buildings that look like… controlled demolition blasts. Factually, that’s probably the only way those buildings could have collapsed (pancaked) the way they did, since they were built to withstand missile or airplane strikes.
But this is just a “crazy” conspiracy theory, according to the media, our government, and most Americans.
Then there’s the completely inscrutable collapse of Tower 7, which was not even hit by a jet plane or anything else. Tower 7 was not nearly as tall as the Twin Towers — but it was still a giant 47-story building! And it wasn’t directly impacted by the fall of the Twin Towers, either — so why did it collapse? The official explanation is that it was brought down by multiple fires throughout the building — which would make it the only steel-frame skyscraper in history brought down by fire(s).
Uh, I don’t think so. Plus, there are other major problems (which I won’t go into here) with the “official” account of 9/11.
My personal belief, and that of my partner as well, is that al Qaeda (and the Saudis?) DID plan and carry out the 9/11 attack… but it also conveniently served the interests of those in our government who wanted war against certain Middle Eastern nations and Islamic terrorists — so our leaders let it happen.
Then, within 5 days, we declared our War on Terror — soon to be followed by the restrictive, intrusive Patriot Act… and our nation and the world would never be the same again.
Of course, we’ll never know the complete story of what really happened on 9/11. I’m pretty sure it didn’t go down the way we were told it did, though.
I also suspect there was some kind of conspiracy involved, followed by a complex cover-up. The evidence that something else or something additional was going on is just too strong.
Most conspiracy theories are NOT accurate or probable
But most current conspiracy theories don’t rely on, or even have, much corroborating evidence. These days, we’re inundated by all sorts of bizarre, destructive conspiracy theories, and most of them don’t even bother with real, verifiable supporting evidence. They’re generally just seething cesspools of paranoia, ignorance, innuendo, and hate.
The main things most of them have in common are 1) hatred or distrust of the government, 2) hatred and distrust of “liberals” and the left, 3) hatred of Jews and non-whites, and/or 4) desire to intimidate or even eliminate such “undesirable” humans, and institute a “better” America based on a combination of white supremacy and Christian theology.
Take the repulsive “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. This one neatly combines three of the four items mentioned above: #2, 3, and 4. According to the “Great Replacement” theory, liberals, leftists, and Jews are all conspiring to import vast numbers of non-whites into the U.S., so immigrants and their many children will soon outnumber the “real” (white) Americans, impose their own (barbaric) customs on us, and take over (ruin) our society.
Come to think of it, this theory often includes #1 also, distrust of government — because if our current society and government are overrun and controlled by liberals and Jews, then they can easily pursue their evil agenda and manipulate our border policies and immigration laws… which means the #!%&! federal government is also in on the plot!
Not only is this theory a persistent mainstay of (white) Euro-fascist regimes everywhere, but it hits on every baseline indicator of hate crimes, antisemitism, Christian Nationalism, racial persecution, and dehumanization of non-Christian “others”.
In truth, this isn’t really a “theory” at all; rather, it’s a set of deep racial aversions and ethnic hatreds in search of a grand fascism-friendly “unifying concept”.
Lo and behold, the big winner is … the Grand Conspiracy of the “Great Replacement”, a hateful, paranoid “theory” behind which angry whites, intolerant Christians, bigots, racists, anti-Semites, and other malcontents can all unite and then hopefully conquer and rule.
Yes, it truly IS that bad — and that dangerous.
Then there are (and I know I’m about to piss some folks off) … the persistent unfounded anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and their disastrous real-world effects.
Most people alive today simply don’t know the history of contagious diseases and the public health fight against them and are unaware of the massive, dire consequences of once-common diseases like smallpox, measles, and polio. In our lifetimes, we simply haven’t had to deal with them — precisely because public health measures and vaccines helped us control and effectively get rid of these scourges.
But now, due mainly to poorly informed anti-vaccine paranoia and rampant disinformation, more and more well-meaning people and parents have been refusing vaccines — despite vaccines’ stellar track record in vastly improving public health — with the predictable result that these and similar dangerous diseases are starting to make a comeback.
That’s right. Poliomyelitis and measles are serious diseases, and they’re coming back — and public health experts are worried sick.
The saddest part of all this is: With our current knowledge of infectious diseases and vaccines, this is almost entirely preventable.
Lies, delusions, hyper-partisanship, and other destroyers of democracy
Another potent, destructive conspiracy theory is the “stolen election” B.S. inspired by Donald Trump’s ongoing lies about election fraud costing him the 2020 election. It’s crystal clear that Trump is a devious manipulator and a pathological liar — yet the election fraud conspiracy theory he instigated is still going strong and has infected much of the Republican Party and many of its prominent candidates for public office.
Some, like Kari Lake in Arizona, have gone so far as to say they may NOT honor the results of the upcoming Nov. 8 election if they don’t win. And she’s running to be their governor!
The subtext here is: If Republicans win an election, it’s legitimate and “all good” — but if a Democrat wins, that automatically means fraud is involved, and the results should be thrown out. That’s nuts — and deeply fascistic.
I mean: Seriously? An election is only valid if you win?! That’s an absurd and very dangerous proposition in a democracy — yet many Americans have been sucked into this craziness and think it somehow makes perfect sense. That’s the power of group-think brainwashing (as I’ve written about elsewhere) and highly partisan conspiracy theories.
Speaking of the power of group-think brainwashing and weird, irrational conspiracy theories: The all-time champ has to be the utterly absurd nonsense of QAnon that has infected and corrupted the minds of millions of Americans (and many others worldwide).
Over the past 3–4 years this bizarre conspiracy theory — which Wikipedia defines as an anti-Trump “cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic sexual abusers of children operating a global child sex trafficking ring” — has moved from the lunatic fringe of the far right to center stage and has achieved a modicum of acceptance among many Republicans.
Excuse me, but that’s terrifying. And I think that should be terrifying to any clear-thinking, democracy-supporting American.
This craziest of all conspiracy theories is SO off the wall and so utterly insane that I’m not even going to try to “explain” its preposterous nonsense. It’s not worth the effort, or my time.
I mention it in passing, however, because it’s a very grim, jolting reminder of just how twisted, dangerous, and downright crazy conspiracy theories can be. Feel free to research it on your own (if you want to be both horrified and disgusted).
Yes, there are REAL, dangerous, ongoing conspiracies
Now I’m going to switch gears. I’m going to dive into some of the real, ongoing conspiracies that have been deeply impacting and/or threatening our society and our world.
Often the delusional, nonsensical, or hyper-partisan conspiracy theories I’ve mentioned serve to conveniently distract people — a lot! — from real events and conspiracies happening around us. OR they heavily promote a specific partisan or sociopolitical “hidden agenda”.
Take the aforementioned “stolen election” conspiracy theory that insists (against ALL evidence) that the 2020 election was rigged and “stolen” from Trump. That’s just the obvious surface message — but the deeper agenda or purpose is to manufacture intense distrust of our voting processes and our entire election system in order to pave the way for losing candidates like Trump to cry “Fraud!” and try to overturn election results they dislike.
Scarily, the even deeper agenda is to cripple or kill off our democracy: to foment such powerful distrust and anger that our election systems and democracy itself can’t function anymore — and then autocratic, manipulative “strong men” like Trump and all the ambitious Trump wannabes waiting in the wings can step in and take over.
It’s truly perverse and fiendishly clever: Here we have a manufactured, phony “voter fraud” conspiracy theory that attacks and libels Democrats and liberals with unending, loud fraud accusations. But (surprise, surprise!) the actual, ongoing conspiracy — the real ongoing fraud — is being perpetrated against our nation and our election system by Donald Trump, many Republicans, and Fox “News” and right-wing media.
It’s a great object lesson in using lies and paranoid conspiracy-mongering to hide and yet simultaneously support an ongoing real conspiracy aimed at manipulating and defrauding the American public.
And I already see an emerging pattern here: Rampant right-wing conspiracy theories tend to target the left, “liberals,” and their supposed conspiracies — usually without any accurate, factual evidence… while right-wingers themselves are usually the ones to actually perpetrate real sociopolitical conspiracies.
And next comes this: While the hapless lefties scramble to “prove” these conspiracies are really happening, the right attacks them mercilessly for their “liberal hysteria” and “canceling” conservative voices!
The “vast right-wing conspiracy” is REAL
Back in the late 90s, I remember Hillary Clinton speaking despairingly about President Clinton being persecuted and hounded by a “vast right-wing conspiracy” that was overspreading the country. (And Hillary made a similar claim in this 2016 interview.)
At the time, they were demonized and became the butt of smirking jokes for making such “ridiculous” claims — but it turns out she was right.
When the above-referenced interview with Hillary Clinton took place, it was just before the 2016 election — and we all know how crazily that turned out. Most commentators say that election was the biggest political upset in U.S. history.
Since almost everyone was predicting a Clinton win — what happened? A bizarre, unprecedented constellation of factors, including massive Russian interference, shrill Republican attacks over her email and her “missing server,” then-FBI Director Comey’s inexplicably idiotic actions that sabotaged her campaign at the last minute, and many folks’ unreasoning hatred for her, all contributed to her electoral defeat by Trump (though she won the popular vote).
In truth, the lead-up to the 2016 election was a total shitshow — and it was dominated by constant character assassination and nasty conspiracy theories spread by the Russians, Donald Trump, and the Republicans. Then the final coup de grace was executed by that (Republican) boy-scout-turned-democracy-destroyer Comey.
So ultimately, Hillary Clinton really was taken out by a vast, loosely-coordinated right-wing/Russian conspiracy that manifested in many different ways throughout our society — and was highly effective.
Another massive right-wing conspiracy underlies the continuing fierce debate over global warming/climate change. The fact that there is any debate at all, at this point, shows that concerted efforts to de-legitimize climate change science have been remarkably effective — because the actual science around climate change has been proven again and again and is embraced by almost all scientists.
As I’ve written elsewhere, it’s now been thoroughly documented that a multi-pronged, right-wing/capitalist conspiracy has existed for some time. And its campaign against climate change facts and science is still very active.
To quote another article:
“Since the early 90s, there’s been a concerted effort — a conspiracy, really — on the part of right-wing groups and think tanks, pro-capitalism ideologues, and fossil fuel producers and refiners to cast doubt on, undermine, and ultimately destroy the credibility of global warming/climate change science.
Their efforts have been so successful that the U.S. has lagged behind other Western nations in its (very weak) commitment to combat climate change, while the fossil fuel companies and their supporters run the show and largely dictate our national policy agenda regarding fossil fuels and climate.”
Here we have a well-funded, multi-decade conspiracy that deeply affects humanity’s and other species’ current — and especially future — quality of life on Earth. Yet the frightening truth about this vast conspiracy is that it’s “hidden in plain sight,” which makes it doubly hard to grok the full intensity of what’s happening.
Meanwhile, its pernicious, multiplying effects are exceedingly grim and all too visible — especially here at home.
I’m referring to the fact that a sizable and very loud minority of Americans still believes (thanks to this highly effective conspiracy) that climate change is a total hoax. Unsurprisingly, this vocal minority is adamantly opposed to transforming our current economy and lifestyles and adopting much-needed changes.
Put differently: This ongoing conspiracy, in its shortsightedness and sheer deviousness, may have condemned our planet and our civilization to utter ruin and collapse.
That’s what happens when real and dangerous conspiracies go unchallenged and are allowed to steamroll over the truth and democracy… while idiotic or meaningless “fake” conspiracies get lots of media and social media coverage and keep diverting our attention away from what really matters.
Truth matters. Untruth kills and destroys.
In this article, I have only scratched the surface of the vast subject of conspiracies and conspiracy theories. Yet even a quick, superficial exploration reveals some very disturbing patterns and horrific realities.
As we speak, real and highly dangerous conspiracies are steamrolling over the truth and democracy… while idiotic, absurd, “fake” conspiracies constantly redirect us away from what’s really happening and what matters most.
The problem — and it’s a doozy — is that either way, sanity, social responsibility, and democracy lose out, big time… but in very different ways and for different reasons.
That’s why it’s so important to differentiate clearly between real ongoing conspiracies and illusory “fake” conspiracies — and to contrast and comprehend the insidious, escalating dangers of both.
Our civilization and our very survival may depend on it.
