Difference between revisions of "Conspiracy theory"

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[[image:always-you-with-that-conspiracy-stuff.jpg|right|580px]]
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{{concept
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==Literal Denotation==
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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory
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A 'conspiracy' is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future, and a 'theorist' is someone who creates theories, so the literal denotation of a 'conspiracy theorist' is someone who theorises about conspiracies.  
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|description=An [[enemy image]] used to equate scepticism of government with craziness. It was developed by the [[CIA]] to try to contain doubt about the FBI's "Oswald did it, case closed" approach to the [[JFK assassination]]. It is now being associated with dangerous and violent insanity, in an effort to promote [[internet censorship]] of [[free speech]].
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|glossary=Declassified CIA memo# 1035-960 ("Countering Criticism of the Warren Report") reveals that this phrase was deliberately given associations of craziness, as though conspiracies do not happen. It is routinely used by the [[corporate media]] in their efforts to discredit suggestions that contradict [[official narratives]]. As with other [[enemy image]]s such as "[[terrorism]]", it is only used on this site inside quotation marks.
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|image=always-you-with-that-conspiracy-stuff.jpg
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|image_width=490px
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|so_called=1
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|constitutes=Enemy image, Ad hominem attack, Mindfuck, Thought stopping cliché
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|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Conspiracy_theory
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}}
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''Not to be confused with ideas about [[Conspiracy|conspiracies]], this is about the label given to [[dissenters]]''
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"'''Conspiracy theory'''" is a pejorative term applied to ideas which challenge an {{on}}. People interested in [[challenging ideas]] are called "[[Conspiracy theorist|conspiracy theorists]]". This usage stems from the [[US deep state]]'s efforts to promote the "[[lone nut]]" theory of the [[JFK]] assassination. The concept was later developed into a general purpose [[enemy image]] used to try to prevent the connection of [[deep event]]s that the {{ccm}} presented as isolated incidents. Post [[9/11]], it is the subject of [[#Pseudo-scientific study|pseudo-scientific study]] to limit [[freedom of speech]] by promoting the idea that the holders of such opinions are inclined to [[violence]] and deserve to have their [[civil liberties]] removed, in particular by subjecting them to [[internet censorship]].
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==Origins==
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The phrase was occasionally used before,{{cn}} but its modern pejorative connotations stem from efforts within the US government to [[JFK/Assassination/Cover up|cover up]] the [[JFK assassination]]. The phrase appears in a November [[1963]] memo by the [[US Deputy Attorney General]], [[Nicholas Katzenbach]], and later in a [[1968]] CIA internal memo that explains how [[Operation Mockingbird]] "assets in the media" are attempting to "counter criticism of the [[Warren Report]]".<ref>[[Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]]</ref>
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===Nicholas Katzenbach's memo===
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[[image:Nicholas Katzenbach Oswald memo section on the communist conspiracy theory.png|right|612px|thumbnail|The section of the memo that the sent on 25 November 1963 to the [[White House Press Secretary]] that contains this phrase.]]
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{{FA|Document:Nicholas Katzenbach on the importance of reassuring the US public about Oswald}}
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Within hours of the JFK assassination, the [[FBI]] were promoting an {{on}} that it was carried out by a "[[lone nut]]" who had no [[deep political]] motivation. Many people were unconvinced by this, particularly after Oswald himself was assassinated in police custody by another "[[lone nut]]".  
  
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==Influential 1967 Use by CIA==
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[[Nicholas Katzenbach]] sent a memo to [[Bill Moyers]] arguing that it was important then to persuade the public that "[[Oswald]] was the assassin," and that "he did not have confederates."
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[[image:Tinfoil Hat Guy.jpg|right|frame]]
 
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NYU Media Professor Mark Crispin Miller records that the phrase 'conspiracy theory' became popular in journalistic discourse as a label for describing commentators who publicly doubted the findings of the Warren Commission.<ref name="ug561">5 minutes into the first hour of http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/561</ref> An explanation for this is provided by the declassified [[CIA]] memo# 1035-960 entitled "[[File:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report |Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]]" examines the widespread disbelief of the Warren Commission report with concern:
 
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{{QB|"This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization [the CIA]... Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists..." The memo recommends that its recipients "employ propaganda assets [in the media] to answer and refute the attacks of the critics".|[[Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report |Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]]}}
 
  
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===Change of meaning===
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[[Document:Nicholas Katzenbach on the importance of reassuring the US public about Oswald|This memo]] remarked that: "{{t|the Dallas police have put out statements on the Communist ''conspiracy theory''}}."<ref>[[Document:Nicholas Katzenbach on the importance of reassuring the US public about Oswald]]</ref>
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Professor Miller suggests that an attempt was orchestrated by the CIA and their friends in the media to soil the phrase 'conspiracy theorist' with connotations of craziness, noting that since 1980 it has taken on an almost exclusively perjorative connotation, as if any and all conspiracies contrary to the {{on}} are necessarily unlikely in the extreme. As Miller notes, the reverse was ''assumed'' to be true in the public discourse only a century or so back; distrust of [[Project:definitions|authority]] used to be very common place, and formed the backdrop of a lot of political negotiations and some fo the laws passed in USA. Conspiracy was formerly understood to be a potent force.<ref name="ug561"/>
 
  
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Nowadays however, the label 'conspiracy theorist' has become an ''ad hominem'' attack used on those with opinions which threaten the powers that be, as if anyone harboring such thoughts can be safely dismissed as a victim of irrational paranoia, possibly even mentally unbalanced or dangerous. The {{ccm}} clearly have a vested interest in casting suspicion on anyone whose primary source of information is elsewhere as inherently suspect. Hence a set of often repeated stereotypes which lump the patently absurd together with well-founded doubts about the {{ON}} and label them all as 'conspiracy theory'.
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===Countering Criticism of the Warren Report===
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{{FA|Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report}}
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[[image:Document_Countering_Criticism_of_the_Warren_Report.jpg|thumbnail|420px|The now-declassified [[CIA]] dispatch "''[[Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]]''"]]
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Since the [[perpetrators of the JFK assassination]] wished to discredit any suggestion which challenged their theory, a decision was made to use [[Operation Mockingbird]] {{ccm}} assets to use the phrase "conspiracy theory" to do exactly that. Accordingly, they were instructed to use the phrase "conspiracy theory" to refer to anyone who publicly doubted the findings of the [[Warren Commission]].<ref name="ug561">5 minutes into the first hour of http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/561</ref> This is explained by declassified [[CIA]] memo# 1035-960, ''"[[Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]]"'', which reports the widespread disbelief of the Warren Commission report with concern:
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{{QB|"This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization [the CIA]... Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists..." The memo recommends that its recipients "employ propaganda assets [in the media] to answer and refute the attacks of the critics".<ref name=countering>[[Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report |Countering Criticism of the Warren Report]], [[CIA]] memo# 1035-960</ref>}}
  
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==Modern Connotations==
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===Pejorative connotations===
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[[Wikipedia]] states that "a ''conspiracy theory'' explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory</ref>
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[[NYU]] Media Professor [[Mark Crispin Miller]] records that the result of this [[CIA]] orchestrated effort was that it increasingly was loaded with connotations of craziness, to the point that by about [[1980]] it was an almost purely pejorative connotation, as if the {{on}} is never mistaken or mendacious. As Miller notes in the public discourse only a century or so back the reverse was ''assumed'' to be true; distrust of [[authority]] used to be very common place, and formed the backdrop of a lot of political negotiations and some of the laws passed in USA. Conspiracy was formerly understood to be a potent force.<ref name="ug561"/>
  
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The following is extracted from Peter Lavenda's Prologue to ''"The Most Dangerous Book in the World: 9/11 as Mass Ritual"'' a 2012 book by SK Bain. <ref>[http://trineday.com/paypal_store/product_pages/9781937584177-Most_Dangerous_Book/index.html The Most Dangerous Book in the World: 9/11 as Mass Ritual] by SK Bain. Trine Day Books ISBN 9781937584177</ref> To the extent that the terms 'Conspiracy Theorist' and 'conspiracy theory' have aquired a validity distinct from both their original dictionary definitions and the pejorative usage outlined above, this extract nails it:
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==Official narrative==
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{{QB|<poem>
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If its labelled a "conspiracy theory" it can be dismissed, with or without evidence.
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“They have one foot in the world of mainstream history and culture, what Robert Anton Wilson used to call “[[Project:Definitions|consensus reality]].” That’s the world where most of us live. We are all products of that world, and of the ideas and worldview it represents. We are trained in this world virtually from birth: school, church, government, media all conspire to present an image - a picture - of reality that will result in the development of perfect citizens in an easily-managed society. There is a social contract:
 
  
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:we contribute to this society with the expectation that we will receive goods and services in return. We obey the laws that are created by other people, believing that our best interests are being addressed thereby. We fight in wars declared by our governments in order to preserve our society - this carefully-structured, albeit artificial, society.
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The widespread belief in conspiracy theories has become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists, and experts in folklore since at least the 1960s, when a number of conspiracy theories arose regarding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Sociologist Türkay Salim Nefes underlines the political nature of conspiracy theories. He suggests that one of the most important characteristics of these accounts is their attempt to unveil the "real but hidden" power relations in social groups. The term "conspiracism" was popularised by academic [[Frank P. Mintz]] in the [[1980s]].
  
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'''And all is right with the world.'''
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The Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event." It cites a 1909 article in The American Historical Review as the earliest usage example, although it also appeared in print for several decades before.
  
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But conspiracy theorists have their other foot ... well, somewhere else. Not everyone is asleep to the darker mechanisms of reality. In fact, everyone becomes aware of them at some point in their lives. Everyone questions. The very nature of reality itself is at times so hostile to human life that human institutions must be challenged for their inadequate protection of their constituents. Conspiracy theorists seize on this inadequacy as evidence of the tenuousness of consensus reality. There are other forces at work, forces that are unacknowledged by the state, the church, the media because to admit their existence is to admit failure. Thus, when things go wrong, terrorists are blamed, or communists, or witches. This serves to rally the citizens around the government once again, instead of stopping to insist that explanations be given, that evidence is properly analyzed, that the guilty are apprehended and punished. And we once more go to war, against … someone, somewhere.
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The earliest known usage was by the American author Charles Astor Bristed, in a letter to the editor published in The New York Times on January 11, 1863. He used it to refer to claims that British aristocrats were intentionally weakening the United States during the American Civil War in order to advance their financial interests.<ref>https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Conspiracy_theory#Origin_and_usage</ref>
  
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Paranoia becomes institutionalized. It is appropriated by the government as its own prerogative. The state determines the nature and quality of the paranoia: it creates intelligence agencies whose sole purpose is to give a form to paranoia, to enshrine paranoia as one of the necessary qualities of an observant and caring state. To prove that paranoia is an acceptable characteristic of the paternalistic regime.
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===Big Tech soft censorship===
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On [[YouTube]], videos containing certain [[buzzwords]] or conspiracies come with a warning and a link to an external site. Wikipedia is used as an authoritative source to provide "context".
  
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The citizens are not allowed to become paranoid unless it is at government direction and sanction. Individual cases of paranoia are frowned upon. The state tells us that if we are not paranoid the way it is paranoid—and about the same things—it’s because we don’t have all the facts: about terrorism, fundamentalism, communism, foreign countries, weapons of mass destruction, sleeper cells. The state has all the facts: classified documents, wire-tap transcripts, intelligence feeds, high-altitude reconnaissance images, none of which the citizen is permitted to see.
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These warnings come up when searched in the [[UK]]:
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[[File:Abbie Richards-pyramid-small.jpg|thumb|420px|right|Info-graphic created by [[Abbie Richards]]; making perfectly clear what acceptable speculation is and at which point asking questions makes you a bad person. Note, she lists: "Vaccines have microchips" as discussions that are "dangerous to yourself and others", but does not mention "Vaccines have side effects" anywhere.]]
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*[[9/11]], Encyclopaedia Britannica
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*[[Chemtrails]], Encyclopaedia Britannica
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*[[Climate change]], [[Wikipedia]]
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*[[COVID 19]], [[NHS]]
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*[[Great Replacement]], [[Wikipedia]]
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*[[Holocaust]], Encyclopaedia Britannica
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*[[JFK/Assassination]], Encyclopaedia Britannica
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*[[Jo Cox]], [[Wikipedia]]
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*[[Illuminati]], Encyclopaedia Britannica
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*[[New world order]], [[Wikipedia]]
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*[[QAnon]], [[Wikipedia]]
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*[[Vaccines]], [[NHS]]
  
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'''It does not realize that the logical conclusion of all this paranoia is suspicion of the state apparatus itself.'''
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These and other topics also have a disclaimer on [[Twitter]] and [[Facebook]].
  
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What the conspiracy theorist often fails to realize, however, is that those working for the state are often just as clueless as the average citizen when it comes to the origin and function of the forces at work to subvert it. The strength of a conspiracy, after all, rests in the limited number of persons who are aware of its existence and parameters. No one has the entire picture. Each member of the state apparatus only has possession of a single piece of an enormous jigsaw puzzle. Putting together all these disparate pieces—particularly when one does not have the original picture to work from—is a soul-destroying enterprise that consumes decades of work and years of one’s life. This is especially true when the state has in its arsenal of lies the techniques of disinformation and misdirection, of false testimony and planted documents.  
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==Modern usage==
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As the [[internet]] allowed widespread access to diverse opinions, the label "conspiracy theory" has been working overtime as [[authorities]] try to sideline any competition to their favoured {{on}}s. It is associated with the word "[[extremist]]", which is used as a more general [[enemy image]], to describe anyone with significant disagreements with official points of view. A dramatic awakening since around 2005 has lead to increasingly aggressive (and unsuccessful) efforts to [[censor]] such alternative ideas. [[Mark Crispin Miller]] says in modern use, people use the term to describe idea that they "couldn't handle" if the turned out to be true.
  
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Anyone who works with this material eventually comes to that realization. But the motivation to keep digging is still alive; the urge to uncover one more piece of the puzzle, one more document, is perhaps a central characteristic not only of the conspiracy theorist but of human nature itself. The more intelligent of the theorists soon come to realize that Hansel and Gretel have left breadcrumbs everywhere, in no discernible pattern. Thus, the inclination among some of the best to stop looking for the children and start looking for the Witch.
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==="Conspiracy theorists"===
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{{FA|Conspiracy theorist}}
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[[image:Tinfoil Hat Guy.jpg|left|frame|300px]]
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Nowadays however, the label "[[conspiracy theorist]]" has become an ''[[ad hominem]]'' attack used on those with opinions which threaten the powers that be, as if anyone harboring such thoughts can be safely dismissed as a victim of irrational paranoia, possibly even mentally unbalanced or dangerous. The {{ccm}} clearly have a commercial interest in casting suspicion on anyone whose primary source of information is elsewhere as inherently suspect, so it is easy to see why they might wish to repeatedly lump together patently absurd ideas together with well-founded doubts about the official narrative under a single label:'conspiracy theory'.
  
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The deeper one delves into the conspiracy literature, the more one is struck by the tendency of some theorists to look beyond the documents and the tangible evidence of government malfeasance or political conspiracy to more transcendental sources of power. One begins with the government agents, the spies, the politicians, the military, and soon gravitates towards the secret societies: the Freemasons and the Illuminati (among so many others). This involves studying their texts, their social structures, their stated goals, their secret conclaves, their antinomian beliefs and practices.”</poem>
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===Wikipedia on Conspiracy Theories===
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[[Wikipedia]] noted as of January [[2018]] that “Theories involving multiple conspirators that are proven to be correct, such as the Watergate scandal, are usually referred to as "investigative journalism" or "historical analysis" rather than conspiracy theory.”<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conspiracy_theory&oldid=817459185</ref>
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Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories list of conspiracy theories] is an interesting read as a reflection of how {{ccm}} would like people to behave. The 'Conspiracy Theorist as defective personality' meme is present, with Wikipedia reporting that "The motivations for nations starting, entering, or ending [[war]]s are often brought into question by [[conspiracy theorists]]." This may refer indirectly to the neglect of economic reasons for war by the {{ccm}}. In contrast, economic motivations are not questioned by Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel page on cartel and anti trust law]. Acknowledging that "proving the existence of a cartel is rarely easy, as firms are usually not so careless as to put collusion agreements on paper" and that "Cartels usually arise in an oligopolistic industry", Wikipedia avoids the word 'Conspiracy' to describe those hidden arrangements, although American anti trust law such as the [[1890]] [[Sherman Antitrust Act]] uses the term. Back then, it seems, conspiracy theories abounded.
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The reframing of the term "Conspiracy Theory' is also brought to attention by [[Daniele Ganser]] saying the [[official narrative of 9/11]] is by definition (read: the "old" definition) nothing but another "Conspiracy theory". Needless to say that taking back the original meaning of such a major spin keyword (already loaded with the 'defective personality' meme after endless repetitions) can not be allowed by those who brought forth the spin in the first place.
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A German editor [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Phi Phi], (real name Dr. Philipp Heyde<ref>https://wikihausen.de/sueddeutsche-erwaehnt-wikihausen/</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHfiCX_YdgA</ref>) who describes himself as senior government official, in section [http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Verschw%C3%B6rungstheorie&diff=134239812&oldid=134185119 'Psychological Foundations'] remarks that 'Conspiracy Theories are similar to [[paranoia]], a mental disorder...' He goes on to associate this paranoia with the delusion of the people's Führer in totalitarian regimes. The English Wikipedia is more polite but adds 'schizotypy' to the long litany of 'thought disorders' prevalent amongst "conspiracy theorists".
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===Marginalisation===
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In the section on assassinations, Wikipedia notes that "the question of ''Who benefits?'' (''Cui bono?'') is also often asked, with conspiracy theorists asserting that insiders often have far more powerful motives than those to whom the assassination is attributed by mainstream society". In the case of the [[JFK Assassination]], since the majority of the US population doubt the Kennedy was killed by a "[[lone nut]]", this use of the adjective "mainstream" cannot be interpreted numerically. How then is it best understood? Since the [[US House Committee on Assassinations]], the official [[US government]] position is that Kennedy was probably killed due to a conspiracy, this "mainstream" does not necessarily even mean the "government narrative". The "mainstream" in question is the {{ccm}}, which loves to represent itself as "mainstream" as if any deviation from it is marginal and suspect.
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[[Barrett Brown]] describes a pattern that {{ccm}} articles mostly follow when they write about "conspiracy theory":<ref>http://archive.today/2023.03.30-191012/https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/russiagate-and-beyond-how-the-conspiracy</ref>
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{{QB|
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#The term “conspiracy theory” is never actually defined.
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#In the absence of any such explicit definition, the reader is left to guess at this  based solely on an array of examples provided by a given author.
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#Between halfway and two-thirds through the article, a psychologist or other subject matter expert is quoted providing a purely pathological explanation for belief in such conspiracy theories.
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#The apparent rise of belief in conspiracy theories is most always attributed largely to “the internet”, and rarely to the legacy press outlets of the sort that employ the author.
 
}}
 
}}
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===Inability to handle it===
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Media professor [[Mark Crispin Miller]] has advanced an alternative interpretation of the phrase "[[conspiracy theory]]" as used by the {{ccm}}. He suggests that it refers to an idea which, if true, the speaker would find it difficult to handle.<ref>http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/105819</ref>
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==Public attitudes to conspiracies==
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{{FA|Public attitudes to conspiracies}}
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Historically, conspiracy was understood to be an every present danger. The [[UK Prime Minister]], [[Benjamin Disraeli]], for example, said to Parliament in [[1856]]:
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{{SMWQ
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|subjects=European Deep state, Germany/Deep state, Italy/Deep state, France/Deep state
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|text=There is in Italy a power which we seldom mention in this House ... I mean the [[secret societies]]... It is useless to deny, because it is impossible to conceal, that a great part of [[Europe]] — the whole of [[Italy]] and [[France]] and a great portion of [[Germany]], to say nothing of other countries — is covered with a network of these [[secret societies]], just as the superficies of the earth is now being covered with railroads. And what are their objects? They do not attempt to conceal them. They do not want constitutional government; they do not want ameliorated institutions ... they want to change the tenure of land, to drive out the present owners of the soil and to put an end to ecclesiastical establishments. Some of them may go further...
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|source_URL=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19104/19104-h/19104-h.htm
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}}
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===Michael Parenti on Conspiracy theories===
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Journalist [[Michael Parenti]] has pointed out that politicians and corporate leaders naturally work to further their own monetary and power interests, often in a conspiratorial manner. "To believe otherwise is to believe in Coincidence Theory, the truly nutty idea that the interests of the very wealthy are magically maintained by chance, year after year."<ref name=loi>Land of Idols, St. Martin's Press, 1994</ref> In his "Dirty Truths" (City Lights Books, [[1996]]), Parenti points out that "conspiracy" can simply mean that ruling class individuals "are aware of their interests, know each other personally, meet together privately and off the record, and try to hammer out a consensus on how to anticipate and react to events and issues."
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{{QB|'''Incompetence theories''' distract from understanding malice. Limited hang outs are like using Newton's Laws to describe the way the universe works at the subatomic level. Newtonian physics is useful for building a bridge, but is an incomplete description of reality. http://www.oilempire.us/map.html }}
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{{YouTubeVideo
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|code=I-ofKI8QFWY
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|caption=Understanding Deep Politics featuring [[Michael Parenti]]
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|align=right
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}}
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[[Michael Parenti]] offers the following "alternatives" to [[conspiracy theories]]:
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*'''Somnambulist Theory''': The wealthiest 1 percent sleepwalk through life, never giving a thought to their vast wealth or how to keep it.
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*'''Coincidence Theory''': Things repeatedly happen by chance in ways that magically maintain the interests of the very wealthy, year after year.
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*'''Stupidity Theory''': The very rich are befuddled, incompetent and ineffectual. They just don't know how they keep that power.
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*'''Spontaneity or Idiosyncrasy Theory''': Stuff happens (in a way that keeps the system in place.) Again and again. Over long periods of time.
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*'''Aberration Theory''': Dirty tricks of the CIA and so forth are "atypical departures" from the norm.<ref name=loi/>
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The above theories would have us believe our inequitable tax system, corporate-owned media, unjust social conditions and other wrongful policies are momentary aberrations, isolated from the central goal of our political system. Again, that goal is protecting the money and power of the wealthiest 1%. Parenti points out that the wealthiest 1 percent naturally defend their interests, just as farmers or steelworkers defend theirs. He also notes that the CIA is by definition conspiratorial, "using covert actions and secret plans, many of which are of the most unsavory kind. What are covert operations if not conspiracies?"
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==Academic research==
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{{FA|Academic research into conspiracy theories}}
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===Pseudo-scientific study===
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On 15 January [[2008]], [[deep state actors]] [[Cass R. Sunstein]] and [[Adrian Vermeule]] of [[Harvard Law School]] published an academic paper entitled ''Conspiracy Theories'', by which claimed that "the best response [to "conspiracy theorists"] consists in cognitive infiltration of [[extremist]] groups".<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585</ref> This is typical amongst the genre in adding an academic gloss to the comforting lie that [[authorities]]' versions of events are more or less always reliable and well intentioned, and anyone who suggests otherwise is crazy and potentially dangerous.
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===Demonisation===
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[[File:NYT-rabbithole.png|right|560px|thumb|2021 [[New York Times]] article]]
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Late 2015 and early 2016 has the release of various papers on the topic of "conspiracies", which some have suggested may be indicative of an organised campaign to equate dissent with mental illness.<ref>[[Document:Elites Link Anti-Government Thought to Mental Illness]]</ref> Certainly, it is interesting that such superficial work has received wide press coverage. A 2016 paper by Oxford physicist Dr. [[David Grimes]], for example, was published by a supposedly highly reputable ''[[PLOS-One]]'' in spite of a simple statistical error and a very crude approach which ignored flew in the face of established historical evidence such as the existence of [[Operation Gladio]] and the [[Manhattan Project]]. The [[BBC]] reported on this paper uncritically under the headline "Maths study shows conspiracies 'prone to unravelling'", and cited Grimes' conclusions that “the [[Moon landings]] "hoax" would have been revealed in 3.7 years, the [[climate change]] "fraud" in 3.7 to 26.8 years, the [[vaccine-autism]] "conspiracy" in 3.2 to 34.8 years, and the [[cancer]] "conspiracy" in 3.2 years.”<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35411684 "Maths study shows conspiracies 'prone to unravelling'"]</ref>
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===Censorship proposals===
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In 2015, [[French President]] [[François Hollande]] compared "conspiracy theories" to [[Nazism]] and called for their dissemination on the [[internet]] to be made illegal.<ref>[[Document:The State Against The Republic]]</ref> Since around that time [[censorship]] by US based [[social media]] platforms has steadily increased, along with the implementation of so called "[[fact checkers]]" to legitimize the {{on}}.
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==Cultural references==
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The second series of [[Douglas Adams]]' ''[[Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy]]'' concludes with the protagonists having finally located the ruler of the universe (a.k.a. the "man in the shack") who makes the ''real'' decisions ascribed to the President of The Galaxy, whose "job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it."<ref>https://medium.com/@tessmadera/donald-trump-is-zaphod-beeblebrox-496469e5d4b9</ref> The posthumously produced series three of the [[radio]] series (produced after Adams' death) diffuses this plot by suggesting that this was a psychotic episode. In the radio adaptation Trillian describes the idea of the secret ruler of the universe as a "conspiracy theory".
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{{SMWDocs}}
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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==See Also==
 
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{{UG |link=212 |type=episode |desc=the term "conspiracy theory"}}
 
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[[Category:Conspiracy Theory]]
 

Latest revision as of 14:34, 10 November 2024

Declassified CIA memo# 1035-960 ("Countering Criticism of the Warren Report") reveals that this phrase was deliberately given associations of craziness, as though conspiracies do not happen. It is routinely used by the corporate media in their efforts to discredit suggestions that contradict official narratives. As with other enemy images such as "terrorism", it is only used on this site inside quotation marks.

Concept.png "Conspiracy theory" Glossary.png 
(Enemy image,  Ad hominem attack,  Mindfuck,  Thought stopping cliché) SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png 4
Always-you-with-that-conspiracy-stuff.jpg
Interest of• Chip Berlet
• Ingrid Brodnig
• COMPACT - Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories
• Marie-Eve Carignan
• Aleksandra Cichocka
• Conspiracy Files
• Conspiracy Watch
• Correctiv
• Yusuf Desai
• Karen Douglas
• David Grimes
• Todd Leventhal
• Mark Crispin Miller
• Karl Popper
• Jan-Willem van Prooijen
• Nathalie Van Raemdonck
• Anna Zetchus Smith
• Marianna Spring
• Stop Funding Hate
• Cass Sunstein
• Robbie Sutton
• Adrian Vermeule
Subpage(s)•"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"
An enemy image used to equate scepticism of government with craziness. It was developed by the CIA to try to contain doubt about the FBI's "Oswald did it, case closed" approach to the JFK assassination. It is now being associated with dangerous and violent insanity, in an effort to promote internet censorship of free speech.

Not to be confused with ideas about conspiracies, this is about the label given to dissenters

"Conspiracy theory" is a pejorative term applied to ideas which challenge an official narrative. People interested in challenging ideas are called "conspiracy theorists". This usage stems from the US deep state's efforts to promote the "lone nut" theory of the JFK assassination. The concept was later developed into a general purpose enemy image used to try to prevent the connection of deep events that the commercially-controlled media presented as isolated incidents. Post 9/11, it is the subject of pseudo-scientific study to limit freedom of speech by promoting the idea that the holders of such opinions are inclined to violence and deserve to have their civil liberties removed, in particular by subjecting them to internet censorship.

Origins

The phrase was occasionally used before,[citation needed] but its modern pejorative connotations stem from efforts within the US government to cover up the JFK assassination. The phrase appears in a November 1963 memo by the US Deputy Attorney General, Nicholas Katzenbach, and later in a 1968 CIA internal memo that explains how Operation Mockingbird "assets in the media" are attempting to "counter criticism of the Warren Report".[1]

Nicholas Katzenbach's memo

The section of the memo that the sent on 25 November 1963 to the White House Press Secretary that contains this phrase.
Full article: Document:Nicholas Katzenbach on the importance of reassuring the US public about Oswald

Within hours of the JFK assassination, the FBI were promoting an official narrative that it was carried out by a "lone nut" who had no deep political motivation. Many people were unconvinced by this, particularly after Oswald himself was assassinated in police custody by another "lone nut".

Nicholas Katzenbach sent a memo to Bill Moyers arguing that it was important then to persuade the public that "Oswald was the assassin," and that "he did not have confederates."

This memo remarked that: "the Dallas police have put out statements on the Communist conspiracy theory."[2]

Countering Criticism of the Warren Report

Full article: Rated 4/5 Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report
The now-declassified CIA dispatch "Countering Criticism of the Warren Report"

Since the perpetrators of the JFK assassination wished to discredit any suggestion which challenged their theory, a decision was made to use Operation Mockingbird commercially-controlled media assets to use the phrase "conspiracy theory" to do exactly that. Accordingly, they were instructed to use the phrase "conspiracy theory" to refer to anyone who publicly doubted the findings of the Warren Commission.[3] This is explained by declassified CIA memo# 1035-960, "Countering Criticism of the Warren Report", which reports the widespread disbelief of the Warren Commission report with concern:

"This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization [the CIA]... Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists..." The memo recommends that its recipients "employ propaganda assets [in the media] to answer and refute the attacks of the critics".[4]

Pejorative connotations

NYU Media Professor Mark Crispin Miller records that the result of this CIA orchestrated effort was that it increasingly was loaded with connotations of craziness, to the point that by about 1980 it was an almost purely pejorative connotation, as if the official narrative is never mistaken or mendacious. As Miller notes in the public discourse only a century or so back the reverse was assumed to be true; distrust of authority used to be very common place, and formed the backdrop of a lot of political negotiations and some of the laws passed in USA. Conspiracy was formerly understood to be a potent force.[3]

Official narrative

If its labelled a "conspiracy theory" it can be dismissed, with or without evidence.

The widespread belief in conspiracy theories has become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists, and experts in folklore since at least the 1960s, when a number of conspiracy theories arose regarding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Sociologist Türkay Salim Nefes underlines the political nature of conspiracy theories. He suggests that one of the most important characteristics of these accounts is their attempt to unveil the "real but hidden" power relations in social groups. The term "conspiracism" was popularised by academic Frank P. Mintz in the 1980s.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event." It cites a 1909 article in The American Historical Review as the earliest usage example, although it also appeared in print for several decades before.

The earliest known usage was by the American author Charles Astor Bristed, in a letter to the editor published in The New York Times on January 11, 1863. He used it to refer to claims that British aristocrats were intentionally weakening the United States during the American Civil War in order to advance their financial interests.[5]

Big Tech soft censorship

On YouTube, videos containing certain buzzwords or conspiracies come with a warning and a link to an external site. Wikipedia is used as an authoritative source to provide "context".

These warnings come up when searched in the UK:

Info-graphic created by Abbie Richards; making perfectly clear what acceptable speculation is and at which point asking questions makes you a bad person. Note, she lists: "Vaccines have microchips" as discussions that are "dangerous to yourself and others", but does not mention "Vaccines have side effects" anywhere.

These and other topics also have a disclaimer on Twitter and Facebook.

Modern usage

As the internet allowed widespread access to diverse opinions, the label "conspiracy theory" has been working overtime as authorities try to sideline any competition to their favoured official narratives. It is associated with the word "extremist", which is used as a more general enemy image, to describe anyone with significant disagreements with official points of view. A dramatic awakening since around 2005 has lead to increasingly aggressive (and unsuccessful) efforts to censor such alternative ideas. Mark Crispin Miller says in modern use, people use the term to describe idea that they "couldn't handle" if the turned out to be true.

"Conspiracy theorists"

Full article: “Conspiracy theorist”
Tinfoil Hat Guy.jpg

Nowadays however, the label "conspiracy theorist" has become an ad hominem attack used on those with opinions which threaten the powers that be, as if anyone harboring such thoughts can be safely dismissed as a victim of irrational paranoia, possibly even mentally unbalanced or dangerous. The commercially-controlled media clearly have a commercial interest in casting suspicion on anyone whose primary source of information is elsewhere as inherently suspect, so it is easy to see why they might wish to repeatedly lump together patently absurd ideas together with well-founded doubts about the official narrative under a single label:'conspiracy theory'.

Wikipedia on Conspiracy Theories

Wikipedia noted as of January 2018 that “Theories involving multiple conspirators that are proven to be correct, such as the Watergate scandal, are usually referred to as "investigative journalism" or "historical analysis" rather than conspiracy theory.”[6]

Wikipedia's list of conspiracy theories is an interesting read as a reflection of how commercially-controlled media would like people to behave. The 'Conspiracy Theorist as defective personality' meme is present, with Wikipedia reporting that "The motivations for nations starting, entering, or ending wars are often brought into question by conspiracy theorists." This may refer indirectly to the neglect of economic reasons for war by the commercially-controlled media. In contrast, economic motivations are not questioned by Wikipedia's page on cartel and anti trust law. Acknowledging that "proving the existence of a cartel is rarely easy, as firms are usually not so careless as to put collusion agreements on paper" and that "Cartels usually arise in an oligopolistic industry", Wikipedia avoids the word 'Conspiracy' to describe those hidden arrangements, although American anti trust law such as the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act uses the term. Back then, it seems, conspiracy theories abounded.

The reframing of the term "Conspiracy Theory' is also brought to attention by Daniele Ganser saying the official narrative of 9/11 is by definition (read: the "old" definition) nothing but another "Conspiracy theory". Needless to say that taking back the original meaning of such a major spin keyword (already loaded with the 'defective personality' meme after endless repetitions) can not be allowed by those who brought forth the spin in the first place.

A German editor Phi, (real name Dr. Philipp Heyde[7][8]) who describes himself as senior government official, in section 'Psychological Foundations' remarks that 'Conspiracy Theories are similar to paranoia, a mental disorder...' He goes on to associate this paranoia with the delusion of the people's Führer in totalitarian regimes. The English Wikipedia is more polite but adds 'schizotypy' to the long litany of 'thought disorders' prevalent amongst "conspiracy theorists".

Marginalisation

In the section on assassinations, Wikipedia notes that "the question of Who benefits? (Cui bono?) is also often asked, with conspiracy theorists asserting that insiders often have far more powerful motives than those to whom the assassination is attributed by mainstream society". In the case of the JFK Assassination, since the majority of the US population doubt the Kennedy was killed by a "lone nut", this use of the adjective "mainstream" cannot be interpreted numerically. How then is it best understood? Since the US House Committee on Assassinations, the official US government position is that Kennedy was probably killed due to a conspiracy, this "mainstream" does not necessarily even mean the "government narrative". The "mainstream" in question is the commercially-controlled media, which loves to represent itself as "mainstream" as if any deviation from it is marginal and suspect.

Barrett Brown describes a pattern that commercially-controlled media articles mostly follow when they write about "conspiracy theory":[9]

  1. The term “conspiracy theory” is never actually defined.
  2. In the absence of any such explicit definition, the reader is left to guess at this based solely on an array of examples provided by a given author.
  3. Between halfway and two-thirds through the article, a psychologist or other subject matter expert is quoted providing a purely pathological explanation for belief in such conspiracy theories.
  4. The apparent rise of belief in conspiracy theories is most always attributed largely to “the internet”, and rarely to the legacy press outlets of the sort that employ the author.

Inability to handle it

Media professor Mark Crispin Miller has advanced an alternative interpretation of the phrase "conspiracy theory" as used by the commercially-controlled media. He suggests that it refers to an idea which, if true, the speaker would find it difficult to handle.[10]

Public attitudes to conspiracies

Full article: Public attitudes to conspiracies

Historically, conspiracy was understood to be an every present danger. The UK Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, for example, said to Parliament in 1856:

“There is in Italy a power which we seldom mention in this House ... I mean the secret societies... It is useless to deny, because it is impossible to conceal, that a great part of Europe — the whole of Italy and France and a great portion of Germany, to say nothing of other countries — is covered with a network of these secret societies, just as the superficies of the earth is now being covered with railroads. And what are their objects? They do not attempt to conceal them. They do not want constitutional government; they do not want ameliorated institutions ... they want to change the tenure of land, to drive out the present owners of the soil and to put an end to ecclesiastical establishments. Some of them may go further...”
' [11]

Michael Parenti on Conspiracy theories

Journalist Michael Parenti has pointed out that politicians and corporate leaders naturally work to further their own monetary and power interests, often in a conspiratorial manner. "To believe otherwise is to believe in Coincidence Theory, the truly nutty idea that the interests of the very wealthy are magically maintained by chance, year after year."[12] In his "Dirty Truths" (City Lights Books, 1996), Parenti points out that "conspiracy" can simply mean that ruling class individuals "are aware of their interests, know each other personally, meet together privately and off the record, and try to hammer out a consensus on how to anticipate and react to events and issues."

Incompetence theories distract from understanding malice. Limited hang outs are like using Newton's Laws to describe the way the universe works at the subatomic level. Newtonian physics is useful for building a bridge, but is an incomplete description of reality. http://www.oilempire.us/map.html

Understanding Deep Politics featuring Michael Parenti

Michael Parenti offers the following "alternatives" to conspiracy theories:

  • Somnambulist Theory: The wealthiest 1 percent sleepwalk through life, never giving a thought to their vast wealth or how to keep it.
  • Coincidence Theory: Things repeatedly happen by chance in ways that magically maintain the interests of the very wealthy, year after year.
  • Stupidity Theory: The very rich are befuddled, incompetent and ineffectual. They just don't know how they keep that power.
  • Spontaneity or Idiosyncrasy Theory: Stuff happens (in a way that keeps the system in place.) Again and again. Over long periods of time.
  • Aberration Theory: Dirty tricks of the CIA and so forth are "atypical departures" from the norm.[12]

The above theories would have us believe our inequitable tax system, corporate-owned media, unjust social conditions and other wrongful policies are momentary aberrations, isolated from the central goal of our political system. Again, that goal is protecting the money and power of the wealthiest 1%. Parenti points out that the wealthiest 1 percent naturally defend their interests, just as farmers or steelworkers defend theirs. He also notes that the CIA is by definition conspiratorial, "using covert actions and secret plans, many of which are of the most unsavory kind. What are covert operations if not conspiracies?"

Academic research

Full article: Academic research into conspiracy theories

Pseudo-scientific study

On 15 January 2008, deep state actors Cass R. Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule of Harvard Law School published an academic paper entitled Conspiracy Theories, by which claimed that "the best response [to "conspiracy theorists"] consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups".[13] This is typical amongst the genre in adding an academic gloss to the comforting lie that authorities' versions of events are more or less always reliable and well intentioned, and anyone who suggests otherwise is crazy and potentially dangerous.

Demonisation

2021 New York Times article

Late 2015 and early 2016 has the release of various papers on the topic of "conspiracies", which some have suggested may be indicative of an organised campaign to equate dissent with mental illness.[14] Certainly, it is interesting that such superficial work has received wide press coverage. A 2016 paper by Oxford physicist Dr. David Grimes, for example, was published by a supposedly highly reputable PLOS-One in spite of a simple statistical error and a very crude approach which ignored flew in the face of established historical evidence such as the existence of Operation Gladio and the Manhattan Project. The BBC reported on this paper uncritically under the headline "Maths study shows conspiracies 'prone to unravelling'", and cited Grimes' conclusions that “the Moon landings "hoax" would have been revealed in 3.7 years, the climate change "fraud" in 3.7 to 26.8 years, the vaccine-autism "conspiracy" in 3.2 to 34.8 years, and the cancer "conspiracy" in 3.2 years.”[15]

Censorship proposals

In 2015, French President François Hollande compared "conspiracy theories" to Nazism and called for their dissemination on the internet to be made illegal.[16] Since around that time censorship by US based social media platforms has steadily increased, along with the implementation of so called "fact checkers" to legitimize the official narrative.

Cultural references

The second series of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy concludes with the protagonists having finally located the ruler of the universe (a.k.a. the "man in the shack") who makes the real decisions ascribed to the President of The Galaxy, whose "job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it."[17] The posthumously produced series three of the radio series (produced after Adams' death) diffuses this plot by suggesting that this was a psychotic episode. In the radio adaptation Trillian describes the idea of the secret ruler of the universe as a "conspiracy theory".


 

Examples

Page nameDescription
"Black genocide"The extinction of black people.
"Discredited and disproven"ON affirming phrase.
"White genocide"The extinction of white people.
Donald Trump/Conspiracy theoriesWikipedia has an article listing all the "conspiracy theories" promoted by Donald Trump.
Earthquake machineA weapon of mass destruction which would trigger an earthquake
EurabiaA term: portmanteau of Europe and Arabia.
EuromythThe European Union is surely powerless and omnibenevolent. The original "misinformation"?
Irish slaves mythWikipedia considers this topic a "conspiracy theory"
Kalergi PlanThe original Great Replacement conspiracy theory?
Kennedy curseA series of unfortunate events. Why does the Kennedy family have such bad luck? Coincidence?
New world orderA fusion of Government, Trans-National Corporations, Banking & Organized Crime.
Project Ireland 2040The Great Replacement in Ireland?
Voting pencilWikipedia considers concerns over election integrity a "conspiracy theory"

 

Related Quotations

PageQuoteAuthorDate
"Conspiracy mindset"“a small part in motivating the endorsement of such seemingly irrational beliefs is the desire to stick out from the crowd, the need for uniqueness”Roland Imhoff
Pia Karoline Lamberty		2016
"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"“Work in online misinformation details how alternative media intentionally fabricate conspiracy theories, spreading false allegations ranging from reptilian presidents to staged terrorist attacks”Robbie Sutton
Aleksandra Cichocka
Karen Douglas		June 2017
"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"“[Conspiracy beliefs] are — almost by definition — not shared by the majority of people.”Roland Imhoff
Pia Karoline Lamberty		2016
"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"“history has repeatedly shown that corporate and political elites do conspire against public interests. Conspiracy theories play an important role in bringing their misdeeds into the light.”Robbie Sutton
Aleksandra Cichocka
Karen Douglas		June 2017
"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"“they are emotional given that negative emotions and not rational deliberations cause conspiracy beliefs... One limitation... is that the field is lacking a solid theoretical framework that contextualizes previous findings, that enables novel predictions, and that suggests interventions to reduce the prevalence of conspiracy theories in society.”Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Karen Douglas		2018
"Conspiracy theory/Academic research"“a small part in motivating the endorsement of such seemingly irrational beliefs is the desire to stick out from the crowd, the need for uniqueness.”Roland Imhoff
Pia Karoline Lamberty		2016
Marie-Eve Carignan“Early findings show that there really is a rapid uptake of different conspiracy theories, particularly in the United States and France. Similar theories about other diseases that took years to establish themselves only took a few weeks to take hold, super quickly, because people are absorbing so much information! That’s what’s alarming.”Marie-Eve Carignan5 April 2020
Conspiracy belief“[Conspiracy beliefs] are — almost by definition — not shared by the majority of people.”Roland Imhoff
Pia Karoline Lamberty		2016
Conspiracy belief“belief in conspiracy theories is positively associated with intuitive rather than analytic thinking. Consistently, higher education predicts lower conspiracy beliefs, a finding that is partly mediated by a tendency among the less educated to attribute agency and intentionality where it does not exist, and stronger analytic thinking skills among the higher educated.”Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Karen Douglas		2018
Conspiracy theories/Academic research/Projection“they are emotional given that negative emotions and not rational deliberations cause conspiracy beliefs; and they are social as conspiracy beliefs are closely associated with psychological motivations underlying intergroup conflict”Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Karen Douglas		2018
Conspiracy theories/Academic research/Projection“[Conspiracy beliefs] are — almost by definition — not shared by the majority of people.”Roland Imhoff
Pia Karoline Lamberty		2016
Piers Corbyn“Piers Corbyn is a danger to our families, teams + to the people who believe the garbage he bangs on about. People may not agree with all their MP does but threatening to hammer us to death and burn down our offices is vile. Anonymous online trolls aren’t the major problem here.”Piers Corbyn
Sarah Owen		18 December 2021
Document:Evolution of the 9/11 Controversy From Conspiracy Theories to Conspiracy Photographs“Most 9/11 conspiracy theories contest every point of the official account. They base this refutation [sic] on their interpretation of both forensic anomalies at the accident [sic] sites whose existence the official account concedes and attempts to explain, and of evidence whose existence and trustworthiness the official account either rejects or ignores. Their interpretive practice, in other words, both reinterprets and finds conspiratorial details, ripping them out of their place within the official account's framework and inserting them into a conspiratorial one. The conspiracy theorists assert that any unexplained anomaly, or any anomaly for which they can provide a better explanation than the official account offers, causes the official account to fail, because each of the government's assertions requires and builds upon the truth of others. If some of the hijackers are still alive, they argue, or if the towers’ collapse was not caused by the plane collision, or if something other than American Flight 77 hit the Pentagon, then the entire official account would be revealed as a series of lies.””Mark Fenster2008
Julia Ebner“Across Europe, conspiracy theories that mix old antisemitic tropes with new ones that demonise migrants and Muslims have gained huge traction since the refugee crisis in 2015. A recent study showed that a stunning 60% of Brits believe in at least one conspiracy theory.”Julia EbnerFebruary 2019
Event 201“[M]y team has been monitoring the public response. And on various social media channels and cable networks, there's been some conspiracy theories that are around about the potential that pharmaceutical companies or the UN have released this for their own benefit... if conspiracy theories like this come up already, so we are on the edge of hysterical reactions.”18 October 2019
Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy“The riots on January 6th were a reminder that conspiracy theories are not simply the purview of kooks in basements connecting the dots. For human psychology, they are a dangerous and ever-present temptation, one that through the affirming appeal of collective effort has the power to undermine democracies, overthrow governments and set history on new courses. The threat they pose is a real one, and needs to be treated as such.”Dylan Barry16 July 2021
Michael Gunner“The BS that’s flying around on the internet about the territory is coming from flogs outside the territory – mostly America, Canada and the UK,” Mr Gunner told a media conference on Thursday. People who have nothing better to do than make up lies about us because their own lives are so small and so sad. If anybody thinks we’re going to be distracted by tin foil hat-wearing tossers sitting in their parents’ basement in Florida – then you do not know us Territorians”Michael Gunner25 November 2021
Mental health“The logic of the conspiracy meme is to question everything the ‘establishment’ — be it government or scientists — says or does... Conspiracy theories can be useful for scientists who are so far out of the mainstream in their field that they seek to appeal to alternative funding sources or publication outlets. They also might occasionally surface when a scientist's mental health deteriorates to the point that he or she loses touch with reality.”Ted Goertzel2010
Mark Crispin Miller“One definition of conspiracy theory that I favor is something that, if true, you couldn't handle it.”Mark Crispin Miller27 September 2021
Official narrative“There is an Establishment history, an official history, which dominates history textbooks, trade publishing, the media and library shelves. The official line always assumes that events such as wars, revolutions, scandals, assassinations, are more or less random unconnected events. By definition events can NEVER be the result of a conspiracy, they can never result from premeditated planned group action. An excellent example is the Kennedy assassination when, within 9 hours of the Dallas tragedy, TV networks announced the shooting was NOT a conspiracy, regardless of the fact that a negative proposition can never be proven, and that the investigation had barely begun. Woe betide any book or author that falls outside the official guidelines. Foundation support is not there. Publishers get cold feet. Distribution is hit and miss, or non-existent.”Antony Sutton2002
Brian Paddick“Hopefully there will be people in the police service, the security service and in government who will realise how important conspiracy theories are. And how important it is... that every attempt is made to try and counteract them.”Brian Paddick
Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories“You might think that this memorandum would be fairly central to any discussion of the current prevalence of conspiracy theories, yet is not indexed in the new Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (briefly reviewed in this issue). Which says quite a lot about said Handbook.”Robin Ramsay2020
Cass Sunstein“Those who subscribe to conspiracy theories may create serious risks, including risks of violence, and the existence of such theories raises significant challenges for policy and law.”Cass Sunstein
Adrian Vermeule		15 January 2008
UK/Torture<nowiki>“Unless we all start to believe in conspiracy theories and that the officials are lying, that I am lying, that behind this there is some kind of secret state which is in league with some dark forces in the United States, and also let me say, we believe that [[[U.S. Secretary of State]] Condoleezza Rice] is lying, there simply is no truth in the claims that the United Kingdom has been involved in rendition full stop.”</nowiki>Jack Straw2005
Dale Vince“Anyone who says the climate crisis is not happening or it's not man-made, honestly, I think they're a dangerous fool, because it's like denying the Holocaust happened”Dale Vince29 June 2023
Zach Vorhies“As a trained scientist I have a multifaceted view of the world based on evidence and fact. Therefore any claim that someone has fringe beliefs or theories should be checked against http://trends.google.com and see what the views of the rest of america are and what they search for. They may find that many beliefs that are slandered as fringe are actually mainstream beliefs of we-the-people.”Zach Vorhies
John Young“Well, conspiracy theory was invented by the spies. No one does more more conspiracy theory than spies do. The national security apparatus cooks up conspiracy theories all the time, but they put out this story that is just conspiracy theory, as though it's contemptible. But in fact, they're the ones who cook up the threats that are far more complex and bizarre than anything we ordinary people could ever cook up and they get billions to fight it. So they're almost diabolically conspiratorially. So let me call myself a sceptic and I'm willing to learn, welcome criticism. I don't mind these terms of being a dissident, a conspiracy theorist. Those are all throwaway terms. (interview with RT Jan 2, 2011)”John Young

 

Related Documents

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:911 and the Orwellian Redefinition of Conspiracy Theoryarticle20 June 2011Paul Craig Roberts"While we were not watching, conspiracy theory has undergone Orwellian redefinition..." A "conspiracy theory" now refers to any ideas or facts that are out of step with the official narrative as put forward by government and the commercially controlled media.
Document:A 21-Truth Salutewebpage2 August 2011Zen Gardner
Document:Beyond Conspiracy TheorypaperFebruary 2010Lance deHaven-SmithThe article posits a new framework for the analysis of Deep political events and Conspiracy Theories. The term SCAD (State crime against democracy) is explained and developed as a way of connecting the dots across multiple suspect events.
Document:Conspiracies and Conspiracismarticle28 June 2010James FetzerThis is an effective rebuttal of the claims of Chip Bertlet in his book "Toxic To Democracy: Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating" which uses the terms "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracist" in the establishment's now de-rigeur pejorative sense.
Document:Conspiracy Theory meets Conspiracy FactArticle1 April 2020Michael BuergermeisterThis is all merely a bad dream, merely a dystopian nightmare. This has nothing to do with reality.
Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Reportmemo19 July 1968CIAAn explanation of how the CIA added pejorative connotations to the phrase "conspiracy theory". The document instructs spooks in the use of "propaganda assets" in the commercially-controlled media to undercut any criticism of the JFK assassination official narrative, especially suggestions that Oswald may not have been the "lone nut" as the Warren Commission claimed.
Document:Elites Link Anti-Government Thought to Mental Illnesswebpage11 March 2016Daily Bell Staff
Document:Evolution of the 9/11 Controversy From Conspiracy Theories to Conspiracy PhotographsWikispooks PageDonald StahlAn examination of the photos of the World Trade Center, how clearly they contradict the claims of "collapse", and how the US government has played fast and loose with its changing 9-11/Official narrative and with the law to try to hide this fact.
Document:I get abuse and threats online - why can't it be stopped?Article18 October 2021Marianna SpringThe Disinformation Specialist at the BBC gets criticism online for her "fact checking". Internet censorship is the answer.
Document:MPs given guide to spotting conspiracy theoriesArticle10 May 2024Marianna Spring
Jennifer McKiernan		Penny Mordaunt has commissioned a booklet for MPs on conspiracy theories.
Document:On The Psychology Of The Conspiracy DenierWikispooks PageTim Foyle
Document:The JFK Assassination - Conspiracy Phobia on the Leftbook extract1996Michael Parenti
Document:The State Against The Republicwebpage13 March 2015Thierry MeyssanMeyssan's prediction that pervasive online censorship is coming
Document:What are 15-minute cities? The truth about the plans popping up from Oxford all the way to MelbourneArticle14 February 2023Michele Theil15-minute cities have become the latest "conspiracy theory". This article aims to debunk "misinformation" surrounding this public policy.
Document:White House Must Establish Disinformation Defense and Free Expression Task Forceopen letter29 April 2021Electronic Frontier Foundation
Center for American Progress
Poynter Institute
Free Press
Access Now
Public Knowledge
Common Cause
PEN America
Andre Banks
Ashley Bryant
Win Black
Center for Democracy & Technology
Digital Democracy Project
Katy Byron
Simply Secure
Voto Latino		A number of alleged "free-speech organizations" begging to join the US government in implementing censorship in an Orwellian-named "Free Expression Task Force".
Document:Why we love to hate conspiracy theoriesarticle12 September 2010Denis Rancourt
File:Cass sunstein conspiracies.pdfpaper15 January 2008Cass Sunstein
Adrian Vermeule		A classic Official Narrative-type exposition of Conspiracy theory and Conspiracy Theorists with recommendations on how governments should deal with them. It is the principal source of the now widely-used expression "Cognitive Infiltration"
The Power of UnreasonpaperAugust 2010Jamie Bartlett
Carl Miller		A critique and deconstruction of an 'Official Narrative'-type paper on 'Conspiracy Theory' from the 'think-tank' publisher Demos. It includes an exchange of correspondence between its authors and a Wikispooks editor which is continued on the discussion page.

 

Official examples

Name
15-minute city
9-11/Insider Trading
9-11/WTC Controlled demolition
9-11/WTC7/Destruction/Foreknowledge
Biden–Ukraine corruption scandal
Big pharma
COVID-19/Origins
COVID-19/Origins/Isolation
COVID-19/Purposes
Chemtrails
Climate lockdown
Committee of 300
Deep state
Election/Fraud
Fearporn
Golden billion
Great Replacement
High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program
Hollywood/VIPaedophile
Hunter Biden/Laptop
Illuminati
Ivermectin
Lizard
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370/Blaine Alan Gibson's research
Open borders
Pizzagate
Russia/Encirclement
SDS
TACMAR
The secret war against Sweden
UK/Deep state
US/Deep state
Urban depopulation


Rating

4star.png 9 December 2017 Robin  An overview into this pejorative so beloved of the commercially-controlled media
The phrase "conspiracy theory", as this page demonstrates, was created by the CIA to tackle dissenting views about the culpability of Lee Harvey Oswald. It continues to try to equate scepticism in government with dangerous craziness.
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References

  1. ↑ Document:Countering Criticism of the Warren Report
  2. ↑ Document:Nicholas Katzenbach on the importance of reassuring the US public about Oswald
  3. ↑ a b 5 minutes into the first hour of http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/561
  4. ↑ Countering Criticism of the Warren Report, CIA memo# 1035-960
  5. ↑ https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Conspiracy_theory#Origin_and_usage
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conspiracy_theory&oldid=817459185
  7. ↑ https://wikihausen.de/sueddeutsche-erwaehnt-wikihausen/
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHfiCX_YdgA
  9. ↑ http://archive.today/2023.03.30-191012/https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/russiagate-and-beyond-how-the-conspiracy
  10. ↑ http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/105819
  11. ↑ http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19104/19104-h/19104-h.htm
  12. ↑ a b Land of Idols, St. Martin's Press, 1994
  13. ↑ http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585
  14. ↑ Document:Elites Link Anti-Government Thought to Mental Illness
  15. ↑ "Maths study shows conspiracies 'prone to unravelling'"
  16. ↑ Document:The State Against The Republic
  17. ↑ https://medium.com/@tessmadera/donald-trump-is-zaphod-beeblebrox-496469e5d4b9
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