BDBoop
Platinum Member
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The United States of conspiracy: Why, more and more, Americans cling to crazy theories
First, the medium: Bad information spreads like wildfire across the Internet. That's only made worse when many on the Internet are convinced they can't believe anything they see or hear in the corrupt "mainstream media."
Second, the backdrop. Those who harbor deep mistrust of corporations and billionaires are absolutely certain they are plotting against the rest of us.
Add to that our political divisions. The left is certain of a"vast right-wing conspiracy" - and vice versa.
The Southern Poverty Law Center says that right-wing militias are showing "explosive growth." For the first time in American history, we have more than 1,000 hate groups. Many are "Patriot" outfits that, according to the law center, are "conspiracy-minded organizations, which see the federal government as their primary enemy."
The left has its own paranoid wing, convinced that a few corporations move all the levers. On conspiracyplanet.com, one finds articles like "H1N1 'Swine Flu' Virus & Toxic Vaccine Conspiracy" and "Bush's Satanic & Witchcraft Bloodlines." On another website, Communist Bob Avakian calls for revolution by drawing comparisons between Jihad and the "McWorld/McCrusade."
We can hope that the increase in conspiratorial thinking is merely periodic, a reflection of a low national mood that seeks to find solace in shadowy plots. In the meantime, America the conspiratocracy remains a democracy where people get to express wild ideas and opinions without censorship or restraint.