"Anomaly - Why Are Conspiracy Theories So Powerful?"
by jake shanno
Why is the idea that powerful elites are
More Details about Why is the idea that powerful elites are here.Why is the idea that powerful elites are making "secret plans" that may not be in our best interests, or worse, actually diametrically opposed to our welfare, so common? One of the easiest ways to sympathize with the conspiracy theorist mindset is to simply extrapolate that our leaders are really no different than we are, that they are NOT any more "morally superior" than the rest of the population. These men and women have secrets, ethical lapses, and unspoken alliances just all of us do, the only difference being that their secrets and agendas can adversely affect the health and well being of millions of innocent individuals. The other day, as I scanned down the list of some of the television shows on our TiVo, I was really amazed to see how prevalent this idea of a 'corrupt shadow government' really is in our culture. Look at the themes in popular
shows like:
- Fringe - Prison Break - Heroes - True Blood - My Own Worse Enemy - I am sure there are more than I am forgetting...
The screenplays of the Star Wars films operate largely upon themes of a conspiratorial nature:
I think what is important, however, is not conspiracy 'theory' per se, but conspiracy evidence.
Heck, even HBO's Bill Maher seems to be coming around:
Often times our leaders and government are portrayed as bumbling and foolish, and it is this "ineptitude" that results in many of our problems. The acceptance of this theory of "unintended consequences" seems to be commonly accepted among academics, with the conspiratorial approach being looked down upon.
Might it be that the real reason that conspiracy theories are such a powerful "meme" is that they often times are supported by fact?
Let's review some of the true conspiracies that have shaped history. Assassinations are the most blatant forms of conspiracy since there is no arguing that 'unintended consequences' were involved:
1) The Assassination of Julius Caesar 2) The Assassination of Napoleon 3) The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (what is interesting is this "President Andrew Johnson issued a
proclamation offering a reward for the arrest of Jefferson Davis in connection with the Lincoln assassination") 4) The Assassination of JFK and MLK - The Final Report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations found in
1979 "a 'probable conspiracy' in the JFK assassination, but was unable to determine its nature or participants (other than that Oswald was still deemed to have fired all the successful shots). In the King case, the HSCA similarly found that James Earl Ray assassinated Reverend King, but that there might have been a small-scale conspiracy involved" 5) The Assassination of RFK - It seems there is a lot of troubling information out there on this one... 6) The Assassination Attempt on Ronald Reagan (remember, his Vice-President was one head of the clandestine Central Intelligence Agency) Here are other, less obvious, pieces of history that are now starting to look more and more like conspiracy, not simply just "unintended consequences": 1) Operation Northwoods - The United States used 'false-flag' methods to instigate the Vietnam War according to the
Freedom of Information Act. 2) Did FDR Allow the Attack on Pearl Harbor?
There are many other conspiracies that have seemed to proven true, especially under the scrutiny of citizen-journalists using their own cameras and the internet including the Bilderberger Group's meetings and the Bohemian Grove. So it seems that the next time you may find it easier to just "write-off" a conspiracy theory as "kooky", maybe try to actually examine the evidence first..
Jake Shannon is the author and creator of http://www.scientificwrestling.com where you’ll find a wealth of information on scientific wrestling. Have a look now: => http://www.scientificwrestling.com
Contact the Author
Scientific Wrestling: Josh Barnett 4/08/2007 Interview
More Details about Why is the idea that powerful elites ar here.
Posts
