I just discovered this sub, and I'm so glad it exists.

I've been wanting to share my thoughts about conspiracy theories, but I haven't
received much response when I've posted this elsewhere. So here goes:
Conspiracy theories can be found everywhere. They are a big problem, especially
if they become widespread in a political culture. If people get in power who bel
ieve them, the results can be catastrophic. In the case of European fascism, pol
itical parties came to power which believed in a vast array of ludicrous conspir
acy theories and then passed laws banning publications critical of conspiracy th
eories. The result were societies besieged by pernicious delusions, trapped in a
hall of mirrors reflecting back crazy beliefs with no escape, until war brought
them to total ruin.
I live in Texas, and we have conspiracy theories here, but they are mostly margi
nalized politically. But they are there to be found. But when I look across the
world, I see societies where conspiratorial thinking reigns supreme. Most especi
ally: Russia and its neo-fascist, Putinist, feudal, racist right wing; India and
its crazy theocratic Hindutva movement; and the Muslim world. Conspiratorial th
inking grows in the darkness of ignorance and dogma. Why do people believe them?
Here's the deal with conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories become widespread and influential in a political culture bec
ause they fill a psychological need. **Conspiracy theories function as a kind of
ideological scapegoat: when your own cherished (dogmatic) beliefs lead you astr
ay, and you aren't willing to criticize or alter them, you must find something e
lse to blame your problems on. This something else is an imagined conspiracy.**
Say you were a far Left wing type in America. If you held, on 9/11/2001 that Ame
rica was the Evil Empire, that nothing about it was worth defending, and that no
other actor in the world could possibly have intentions as evil as the attacks
of that day appeared to require, then you had a problem: How to explain evil com
mitted against the United States when the United States is the source of all evi
l? The solution? The United States attacked itself. Problem solved.
The same logic gave the same result in other parts of the world. If you were an
Egyptian Muslim who knew that Islam was a peaceful religion, and that terrorism
was only the result of distortion of 'true' religion or legitimate political gri
evances then you had a problem: how to explain the 9/11 attacks when the religio
n of peace was invoked to justify them by the perpetrators, and the lead hijacke
r was from Cairo? The solution? The United States, in conjunction with Israel at
tacked itself, and then blamed it all on Muslims. Problem solved. No need to ret
hink your basic assumptions.
Once you notice this kind of casuistry, you start seeing it everywhere. The beli
ef among Western conservatives that global warming is a conspiracy by liberal ac
ademics and media has the same motivation. Conservatives are committed to free m
arket capitalism as a dogma. The phenomenon of global warming calls into questio
n the benefits of our current global economic regime. Solution? Global warming i
s a liberal hoax. Problem solved.
Once conspiracy theories get up in the air, they can take on a life of their own
, creating new ideological realities that can be hugely dangerous. There are alw
ays demagogues waiting in the wings to use fear - fear that conspiracy theories
both create and are the expression of - to gain political power. In some countr
ies, whole governments function by huffing the fumes of conspiratorial delusions
(modern Russia, Pakistan, the Islamic State / ISIS / the Caliphate) etc.
Good science, good history, and good journalism are the way to fight them.