The story that just won’t disappear begins with ‘truebearing’ one of my favorite thread commenters, reacting as though he were story-feeding yours truly – which, in this case, he truly is!
As in: “They publish some good stuff over at Infowars. The left hates them and naturally mocks the site, but most of that is because the left hates truth. They’ve also published Daniel Greenfield articles in the past, and yes, they also indulge in conspiracy theories, but then, so do I. Leftism and Islam are both massive story conspiracies, but are not theories.
“My position on conspiracy theories is that they seem to fall into different story categories. Some are attempts to discover the truth and some are designed to obscure it. The fact that something is identified as a conspiracy theory doesn’t automatically negate it, though the greatest conspirators alive, the left, would have us believe that. I submit that their attacks on McCarthy decades ago are a good example. When it was over, one could merely brush aside truth by labeling it “a conspiracy theory”; meanwhile, the left was following Gramsci’s conspiracy template for infiltrating every institution in this country as a stealth coup.
Consider these as “Conspiracy Theory Categories”:
“1) A shortage of facts to explain things that we know happened results in theories of explanation. I think this is inevitable, frequently necessary, and often good. As often as not, these conspiracy theories are motivated by the desire to learn the truth and are as often as not the result of authorities conspiring to keep the truth obscured. So this category seeks to find truth.
“2) Creating false-story conspiracy theories as a means to destroy presidents, opposition parties, nations, races, religions, or ethnicities.
“What the leftist media is doing to Trump is a true conspiracy, but what they are using to try to destroy him, the Russian Ruse, is a false conspiracy. In both instances the conspiracy is based on lies and the desire to obfuscate and destroy.
“There are the various conspiracy theories on Jewish banking monopolies, etc., that are spread by Muslims and neo-Nazis. Hitler’s people were good at creating false conspiracies to aid their conspiracy to undermine the German government so they could take over.
“3) The third category is driven by ignorance, superstition, etc; they aren’t driven necessarily by a conscious decision to spread lies or hurt anyone, but handed down from one person to the next.
“Maybe there are other categories as well. This is the first time I ever tried to analyze the differences.” [end]
Take a look and listen to Paul Joseph Watson from the afore-mentioned Alex Jones’ Infowars…
So there you have it .. Like ‘truebearing’ I hold a position where I attempt to distinguish the categories of conspiracy theories, the gist of it being that some conspiracy theories are justifiable searches for truth – truth that is in fact, being denied by the government. Other conspiracies are story-fabricated to obscure truth or to smear someone, the Russian Ruse being used in the media’s conspiracy against President Trump being a prime example. After all, a true conspiracy can use false-story conspiracies offensively or defensively.
Ultimately the categories break down based upon their relationship to truth. Some who seek truth will patch together bits of information, buttressed by intuition, to form their theories. Some create false conspiracies as a means to an end. Some are so poorly informed that they fall for all kinds of superstition and misinformation.
In days long gone by, as mentioned earlier, the left conspired to take down Joseph McCarthy because he was on to them, then brushed aside any truth by labeling it “a conspiracy theory”. The goal then, as now, was to shame people into silence, and it worked.
The establishment has made us allergic to investigative journalism. Conspiracy theorist is just another label they throw out to smear their most threatening enemies (purveyors of truth). There are, indeed, some ridiculous ideas online, but you won’t find those at Infowars.
The danger of accepting all conspiracy theories as false, or all who propose one as insane or dishonest, is that you will then be judging the theory or the person not on the merits of searching for truth, but by an implanted bias. That, in turn, brings us to mind-control conspiracy theories, a topic rather to be saved for another time … 🙂