Quote:
Originally posted by Joe Sixpack
Don't you mean when you have stopped questioning the government and the mass media you are beyond reason.
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No one should ever stop questioning their government. No one should ever stop questioning the media. Some public officials will lie because people lie. Some public officials will work clandestine deals with other governments.
There is a germ of truth to many conspiracy theories. A conspiracy theory by definition is "an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act". That people act in such ways is not surprising to anyone. All of us know some excellent examples from history that demonstrate that the world-according-to-Hoyle conspiracy theory does exist.
However, conspiracy theories go from there to absurd very quickly. A rather innocuous connection between a few individuals becomes a sinister connection between many individuals.
Individuals becomes organizations. Organizations become governments. A "senior official at the Pentagon" becomes "the Pentagon". An "ex-CIA operative" becomes "the CIA". 1977 becomes "the 70's". Before you know it, some guy that worked at the Pentagon in 1974 that visited the leader of Pakistan in 1979 becomes a world-wide plot between George Bush (because he was the head of the CIA "in the 70's") and the bin Ladens to monopolize the world oil markets.
By what process does "an interview with an ex-CIA operative" become "The CIA knew about"?
It's six degrees of separation on acid.
Just throw in the word "sinister", "shadowy", or "secret" in with CIA, FBI, or "military-industrial complex" and the recipe is nearly complete. All that's left is a little mind-reading ("George Bush wants to ...") and the conspiracy will show up in the "Alternative" section of the bookstore somewhere in between "The Dummies Guide to Astrology" and a book that begins "The Truth about".
The germ of truth is usually provided by the "mass media" themselves. Think "conspiracy theorists" are the only ones wanting to discredit governments? Reporters love to discover shady deals their governments were involved in. Republicans desire to discredit the Democratic administration before them and vice versa. Republican Senators love to discredit Democratic presidents and vice versa. In light of that, reporters just don't draw the conclusion that Osama bin Laden is George Bush's secret because because Osama's brother owned 21% of a company that George Bush's father stopped to take a pee at in 1968. And you wonder why?
Please, tell me more about how the landing on the moon was faked. I can't wait to hear it.
