THE INDUSTRY OF THE USELESS: CONSPIRACY THEORIES.
Conspiracy theories are a dime a thousand, but worth much less. I saw a truly fascinating TV show, at the conclusion of which the US audience was instructed earnestly during a lengthy close up that:
1. The legislature, judiciary, and government agencies were all involved in the conspiracy. Meaning that nobody could possibly be trusted to investigate anything, and no conceivable result could be achieved.
2. They should be "alert and informed" regarding this situation. Powerless, worried, and abused, but "alert and informed". Presumably that helps.
The logic of the conspiracy theory is that if you assume there is a conspiracy, you can just add whatever random collection of information happens to be available. Basic logic; a theory to fit facts. Extended logic: nil. By definition this process excludes other information. Therein the inherent weakness of any conspiracy theory.
It is an industrial process. There is a market for conspiracy theories, and publishers who apparently have nothing better to do with their time can spend millions foisting this irredeemable garbage on the public. "Chariots Of The Sods" would roughly cover this level of professional integrity on the part of writers and other media deities. Perish the thought that all these resources should be wasted on literature.
The most basic component of a conspiracy theory is shock value. For the US market, betrayal of trust seems to be a popular theme, in which quite literally anyone can be accused of anything without descending to the squalid process of a court or some form of professional oversight, or wasting time with providing actual proof. For the rest of the world, the US is a convenient place to locate conspirators, and endear oneself to the anti-American factions. It's a matter of opinion whether any part of the US government has ever not been accused of a conspiracy.
Appealing to prejudice is another safe bet. Any group can be singled out. Bigots are easy targets, and their thinking is all one way. If you accuse their pet hate of anything, they'll believe it. It will never occur to them to question anything that proves them right. However sleazy the source, and however patchy and contradictory the logic, all that's required is adherence to the rhetoric. It's a built-in market, and it does sell.
The primary product and hook of the conspiracy process is to generate fear. Nothing like a rush of adrenalin for that clear-minded approach to anything. Objectivity is so much less likely if you're scared stiff. Playing on persecution complexes is good fodder. Of course you've been persecuted since you were two by some secret agency. Naturally your enemies have reported you to the extreme right/left/fundamentalist/anarchist/ (insert name of religion you know nothing about here) group. It really is like a macro. Anything happens, there must be a conspiracy. No matter how inept the performance, how ludicrously incompetent the official response, how hopelessly biased the reporting, obviously there's a conspiracy.
This is the realm of the hack. No talent required, no information needing corroboration. No independent views needed, no checks and balances, and better yet no effective criticism, because whoever criticizes is naturally in on the conspiracy. What more could anyone want? To top it all off, you can pick any event or series of events in history to work with. Ironically, some of these enchanting ornaments to the literary Diaspora even plagiarize each other, feeding on historical precedents. It saves time
History is relevant to conspiracy theories. Anyone who's ever read any history, (by which I mean read more than a couple of books on the same subjects and periods and noted the inconsistencies and extra details which inevitably appear), could probably tell you which books the average conspiracy theorist is working from, and what the gigantic holes in the information are likely to be.
Even the most spurious fiction requires a lineage, and conspiracy theories usually go to some lengths to provide historical references to prove their own sanctity and irreproachability. By inference, a conspiracy theorist can write itself into history in the most favorable light imaginable in the process. Heroic figures appear associated with whatever line of ideology is being pushed. The same people stopping globalization in its tracks by wiping out someone's car, or saving the rainforests by throwing rocks at police or bystanders, and these are their "credentials" for promoting their theories. On the other side of the ideological divide we get the delightful suits who've achieved so much by opposing education, health, welfare and other subversive activities. It's like a global census of careerists. Better yet, you can do anti-conspiracy, discredit an idea by being so obnoxious about how you present the concepts that nobody could possibly believe any of it. This is called "thematic subtlety" and can be purchased online from contented people.
What every careerist needs, of course, is a profile. Why not fearlessly expose some non-existent conspiracy? Why not selflessly champion the rights of people who are oppressed by their own ignorance and lack of information? The Disinformation Revolution has received so little attention that this is a perfectly viable way of getting funding for practically anyone. A conspiracy theorist is usually considered to have at least had the courage of their non-existent convictions, so a reputation is built.
Meanwhile back in that tactless place called reality, a few minor issues have emerged:
1. No conspiracy theory has yet been shown to be supported by judicial findings, or, stunningly, by any independent party.
2. No results have ever come from any conspiracy theory. The most vitriolic, rabid accusations have yet to produce a piece of actual established fact, or any action whatsoever. For fifty years, conspiracy theories have been produced in gigantic quantities, and not one has ever hit anything.
3. Conspiracy theories are often best sellers. Even when totally discredited, some dribble of sales continues, and the theories survive.
4. The conspiracy theory can abuse virtually anyone's concept of balanced reporting, and get airtime on that basis. Because it's an opposing view, it has at least a chance of becoming content.
The great disservice being done to the entire human race at the moment is that any real information regarding a real conspiracy would just get lost in the crowd. Professional news sources, and governments, are naturally wary of anything resembling the spam trade in conspiracy theories. Quality of information is usually appalling, and verification pretty difficult, if not impossible. A lot of "information" has so much spin on it that you could play pool with it. Vested interests do promote dissemination of anything unfavorable to their rivals, and that adds to the volume and decreases the time available to check other information. It also dilutes the resources available for verification.
A fact can stand on its own two feet and produce a library of verifiable data. A conspiracy theory needs an industry just to sit in its logical/circumstantial wheelchair and try to look plausible.
Just one other thing- if you've got a conspiracy, you don't need a theory.