{"id":323980,"date":"2022-11-06T22:00:58","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T03:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/?p=323980"},"modified":"2022-11-06T10:54:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-06T15:54:12","slug":"in-defense-of-crazy-conspiracy-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/2022\/11\/in-defense-of-crazy-conspiracy-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of \u201cCrazy\u201d Conspiracy Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conspiracy theories. What to some is a sign of critical thinking is, to others, a sign of dangerous insubordination.<\/p>\n

I was taught by my father that a good argument can stand up to criticism and that finding someone who disagreed was a fine way to test your theory. I\u2019ve never been too bothered when folks disagree with me. In fact, I\u2019m eager to know why. I want to learn whether or not I\u2019m missing something.<\/p>\n

TRUTH LIVES on at\u00a0https:\/\/sgtreport.tv\/<\/a><\/p>\n

But these days, it seems that I\u2019m in the minority.<\/p>\n

The \u201cdanger\u201d of conspiracy theories<\/h2>\n

The term has long been used in a derogatory fashion to belittle the ideas of a person who doesn\u2019t necessarily accept that everything can be taken at face value.\u00a0 These days, it\u2019s used to denote a train of thought that is downright dangerous, even an existential threat to civil society.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s everyone so afraid of?<\/p>\n

Normies \u2013 folks who aren\u2019t big questions of the status quo \u2013 used to just shake their heads and smile at the \u201cquirky\u201d conspiracy theorist in their life. They considered it a harmless past-time, an eccentricity.<\/p>\n

However, now we have the media breathlessly warning people of the innate deadly danger of conspiracy theories and the people who espouse them. Outright FEAR is being stoked. Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n

The FBI warning<\/h2>\n

Back in 2019,\u00a0the FBI said that conspiracy theorie<\/a>s posed a domestic terrorism threat:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI assesses anti-government, identity based, and fringe political conspiracy theories very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to commit criminal and sometimes violent activity,\u201d the document said. \u201cThe FBI further assesses in some cases these conspiracy theories very likely encourage the targeting of specific people, places, and organizations, thereby increasing the likelihood of violence against these targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The document continued to say that the bureau reached its conclusion \u201cwith high confidence\u201d and based on information it obtained from other federal agencies, open source information, court documents, FBI investigations, and human sources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yep, this is the same FBI\u00a0whose own documents concluded<\/a>\u00a0that they had investigated the Trump campaign without justification. The one whose director was caught\u00a0violating DOJ policies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0breaking protocol in a lackluster investigation<\/a>\u00a0of Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails.<\/p>\n

Pardon me if I\u2019m not too worried about what the FBI thinks.<\/p>\n

The academic warning<\/h2>\n

Then we have the people who consider themselves smarter than the rest of us: the academics. The website \u201cThe Conversation\u201d boasts that their content \u201cis written by university scholars and researchers with deep expertise in their subjects, sharing their knowledge in their own words.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it must be true, right?<\/p>\n

Anyway,\u00a0a postdoctoral research fellow in philosophy warns us of the \u201cdangers\u201d of conspiracy theories<\/a>. He kindly dumbs it down for the peons by comparing it to \u201cthe floor is lava.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a child declares that \u201cthe floor is lava,\u201d few if any believe the declaration. But that child, and others, begin to act as if the declaration were true. Those who do may clamber onto furniture, and repeat the declaration to others who enter the space. Some children play just for fun, some play to show off their climbing and jumping skills, and some play to appease the child who initiated the game.<\/p>\n

Some kids quickly tire of the game and wish to stop playing, but like or respect the child who initiated the game, and don\u2019t want to upset that person by stopping. As the game progresses, some take it too seriously. Furniture is damaged, and some get injured while attempting to leap from one raised surface to another. The lava is fake, but real things get broken.<\/p>\n

More seriously, when Donald Trump claimed that the 2020 presidential election was \u201crigged<\/a>,\u201d some officials and ordinary citizens acted accordingly. Whether out of\u00a0sincere belief<\/a>, partisanship, loyalty to Trump or\u00a0financial opportunism<\/a>, many Americans behaved as if the 2020 election was unfairly decided.<\/p>\n

Some people acting as if the election conspiracy theory were true assembled in Washington, D.C., some stormed the Capitol building and, behind the scenes, some developed a scheme to submit\u00a0fake slates of electors<\/a>\u00a0supporting Trump\u2019s reelection despite his loss at the ballot box. The people involved in these activities could count on the support of others who endorsed the rigged election claim, even if these endorsements were largely insincere.<\/p>\n

The costs of acting as if the 2020 election were rigged are no doubt greater than those for acting as if the floor is lava. The costs of acting as if the 2020 election were rigged led to\u00a0millions of dollars<\/a>\u00a0worth of damage to the Capitol building, led to\u00a0hundreds of arrests<\/a>\u00a0for Capitol rioters,\u00a0led to multiple deaths<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0imperiled American democracy<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My goodness, that\u2019s a lot of rhetoric, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

I guess he missed\u00a0that documentary\u00a02000 Mules<\/em><\/a>, huh? Of course,\u00a0a journalist on NPR<\/a>\u00a0said that\u00a02000 Mules<\/em>\u00a0is a \u201cwild tale\u201d and a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d with \u201cabsolutely no evidence.\u201d Heck, it\u2019s downright \u201cextremism.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the film is the latest in a long line of movies that use the tropes and signifiers of documentaries to gain credibility. In recent years, documentary style films about the\u00a02020 election<\/a>, the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0vaccines<\/a>\u00a0have spread conspiracy theories and recycled debunked lies.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocumentaries have been used for decades to try to make bad actors and folks who are trying to push conspiracies or push disinformation or push a specific political agenda look more professional, look glamorous, look like something that you can believe,\u201d said Jiore Craig, head of elections and digital integrity at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which tracks online extremism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My question is: what makes their conspiracy theory more valid than the original conspiracy theory?<\/p>\n

The \u201cassault on democracy\u201d warning<\/h2>\n

The Economist interviewed Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead about the \u201cdangers\u201d of conspiracy theories. They are the co-authors of the book,\u00a0A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy<\/em><\/a>. Nancy and Russell call it \u201cconspiracy without the theory,\u201d claiming it\u2019s all nothing more than baseless accusations and somebody ought to do something about it. (Emphasis mine.)<\/p>\n

\n

The new media\u2014social media, of course, but even basic things like internet message boards\u2014challenge the traditional gatekeeping function of editors and producers. Today anyone can say anything to everyone in the world instantly and for free. And because validation of conspiracy claims takes the form of repetition and assent, even the most casual \u201clikes\u201d and \u201cretweets\u201d give authority to senseless, destructive charges (\u201ca lot of people are saying\u201d). We are seeing the political effects of this change and one of the first things we\u2019re seeing is the spread of a politically malignant form of conspiracy without the theory.<\/p>\n

Can the same technology that disseminates charges like \u201cfake news\u201d or the \u201cdeep state\u201d also disempower it?\u00a0Can political representatives and citizens who grasp the effects of conspiracism<\/strong>, the way it delegitimises democratic institutions, exile it again to the fringes of political life? No one has figured out how to do this yet, short of some form of public- or corporate-censorship of egregious conspiracy-entrepreneurs like Alex Jones or, what is now unthinkable,\u00a0censoring irresponsible political officials who endorse conspiracist claims.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nancy and Russell believe we need to defer to the scholars.<\/p>\n

\n

The counter-force comes from the authority of knowledge-producing institutions (that is, courts, expert-staffed agencies, research universities) on one side, and democratic common sense on the other.<\/strong>\u00a0Wherever conspiracism is reshaping public life, two preventatives are vital: to defend the integrity of knowledge-producing institutions and bolster confidence in the ballast of common sense.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After all, it\u2019s only \u201crational.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, painting women as irrational and hysterical was a tool that was used to oppress them for centuries. But I guess it\u2019s A-OK to do that to political opponents.<\/p>\n

Read More @ TheOrganicPrepper.ca<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper: Conspiracy theories. What to some is a sign of critical thinking is, to others, a sign of dangerous insubordination. I was taught by my father that a good argument can stand up to criticism and that finding someone who disagreed was a fine way to test your theory. I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[141634],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}