Conspiracy theory
People sometimes say to me, "What, do you have a conspiracy theory? [...] Do you think there's actually a group of men, sitting in a room, who sit there plotting these things?"....
Of course they meet in rooms! Where the hell else do you think they're gonna meet?
"Conspiracy theory" is a loaded term whose meaning and usage has changed over time. Western media and academics have used it for decades to conflate all positions which contradict official narratives, covering topics from the 9/11 attacks to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The assertions of foreign governments, such as the credible Chinese accusations of American bioweapon use during the Korean War and Soviet charges that the United States was covertly involved in regime changes around the world during the Cold War, were also labelled conspiracy theories at one time. Since the end of the Cold War, the notoriety of figures like Alex Jones has been used to further discredit anti-establishment narratives. By the 2020s, the term has become a fully programmatic weapon of the establishment in Western states as their ability to manufacture consent degenerates rapidly. In Germany, for instance, the term is obligatory when discussing anti-NATO narratives.[2][3] The label "conspiracy theory" is applied even when the mainstream theory, such as the Uyghur genocide coverup or the Chinese use of spy balloons, is more far-fetched.
Left-wing explanations of world events have often been labelled "conspiracy theories" only to prove true decades later. The CIA has declassified involvement in dozens of anti-communist and imperialist covert operations since the Second World War, and more recent conspiracies are openly discussed by members of the American deep state.
Pathological and unscientific conspiracy theories do exist, and the label "conspiracy theory" may remain useful to describe them. However, the term has lost much of its precision as propagandists have continued to debase it. Unhinged, unscientific theories include the QAnon mythos, "chemtrails", and Cultural Marxism. In this way, the term can be used to support a form of horseshoe theory which superficially equates fascists and leftists based on their common rejection of liberal narratives.
Origin
Usage
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
September 11th attacks
Jeffrey Epstein
Russian influence in the United States
"Russiagate" is the assertion that the Russian Federation has exerted major influence on the elections, discourse, and society of the United States. The theory reached a fever pitch during the 2016 presidential election and was overwhelmingly common among Democrats and Democrat-aligned media outlets. Journalist Aaron Mate refers to this belief as "BlueAnon" as a play on the name of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy.
"Deep state"
See also
- Peter Dale Scott
- Russiagate
- American Exception: Empire and the Deep State by Aaron Good
- Tankie
- TrueAnon
- Bilderberg group
References
- ↑ Dr. Michael Parenti On Being Called A "Conspiracy Theorist", on YouTube
- ↑ Die häufigsten Verschwörungsmythen, Tagesschau.de (in German).
- ↑ Streeck, Wolfgang (7 Nov 2022). "Getting Closer". NLR/Sidecar. Retrieved 6 Nov 2023.