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I really don't get why some people think absolutely everything is a conspiracy.
I don't mean one-offs. Most people believe at least one conspiracy, a little. I mean people who think everything the "other side" does is a conspiracy.
Historically well-balanced, these days it seems to be a right wing phenomenon at least in the US.
They think the 2020 election was stolen despite every accusation that actually would have made a difference in the outcome being debunked, or just too ridiculous to even consider to begin with.
They think climate change (caused by human activity increasing CO2) is a hoax, despite no real disagreement in the scientific community.
They think EVs are some left-wing attempt at controlling the populace and lining the pockets of "green industry" (which is hilarious if you know ONE THING about the oil industry).
COVID is either not a big deal, to somehow the vaccines kill more people than COVID did.
Most of these and other conspiracies have SOMETHING accurate buried in them, which is then grossly misunderstood and/or blown out of proportion. I'll also acknowledge that sometimes the left (or just experts in the field) can be a bit uppity and often cause people to dig deeper, simply by not approaching the issue correctly. What gets me though, is if you think about just how much collusion would have to happen, how many people would have to be paid or threatened into silence, to make any of these true, it's mind boggling. These people have obviously never tried to get 10 people to agree to do something, let alone millions.
I realize conspiracy theories exist on the political left, too, (often involving military, war, corporations, or GMOs), but they don't dominate like the ones on the right do these days.
If you're wondering, I'm not a liberal. I'm a centrist who leans a bit right, but is no longer a "conservative" considering how crazy the American conservative movement has become.
Final thought. On the subject of climate change. There is a conspiracy going on, but you have to pick which one of these is more likely:
1. Governments and shadow powers worldwide have paid off/threatened 95%+ of scientists to claim that increased CO2 from human activity is warming the planet, in an effort to achieve the "real" goal of worldwide socialism and tyranny. Somehow, the varying goals of different countries' governments has not gotten in the way of keeping this conspiracy alive.
2. Several oil companies have, through both their own efforts and via lobbying politicians, have spent millions (billions?) of dollars over the last 50 years convincing a large percentage of the population that #1 is happening. The vast majority (but not all) of this has been done in one country (the US) and to one political party in that country (the Republicans).
Sometimes conspiracy theories are proven correct. COVID's lab leak "conspiracy theory" started to gain a lot of traction once Trump was out of the way, but before that it was blasted as a conspiracy theory. Twitter deleted many accounts of people who suggested there might be truth to it. It just goes to show how conspiracy theories change and evolve, often with the ebb and flow of politics. That's all I will say about this subject, because this thread is intentionally designed to mock specifically the right, when both sides participate in and push conspiracy theories, and sometimes outright lies.
Keep in mind a criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to commit a crime are chargeable offenses. Some people go off on a tangent or jump the gun. But others ignore the obvious.
Sometimes conspiracy theories are proven correct. COVID's lab leak "conspiracy theory" started to gain a lot of traction once Trump was out of the way, but before that it was blasted as a conspiracy theory. Twitter deleted many accounts of people who suggested there might be truth to it. It just goes to show how conspiracy theories change and evolve, often with the ebb and flow of politics. That's all I will say about this subject, because this thread is intentionally designed to mock specifically the right, when both sides participate in and push conspiracy theories, and sometimes outright lies.
That goes back to my point about how the uppitiness and bad messaging of experts get in the way. That's not a conspiracy, it's just typical government stupidity, and the tendency of scientists and experts to often be stereotypically nerdy and wonky and not very good at communication. I don't support that, nor do I support the "noble lie" concept Fauci floated. Doesn't make him the devil, but it was wrong. With the lab leak thing, there was an overarching fear of appearing racist that drove a lot of that. Which was dumb, and backfired.
Twitter and other social media did NOT help at all. They failed to distinguish between things like the lab leak, which did appear false at first to people studying such things, to the outright crazy BS like "Covid is 5G" or "Plandemic".
If the lab leak or "created in a lab" thing turns out to be true, it doesn't mean the original people saying it were right, just lucky. Until recently it was a plausible but unproven theory.
Conspiracies happen all the time. This is why we have laws on the books for it. Conspiracy just means two or more people plot to commit a crime or otherwise harm others.
The Holocaust is a great example of a conspiracy. The German people were not aware there was a plan to liquidate Jews and others from Nazi Germany and occupied territories. This conspiracy involved many officials, and got the public to even not believing their lying eyes (why are all the Jews disappearing)? When the Allies took back Germany and put the people on trial, only then did the German people realize how misled they were.
In the USA, Gulf of Tonkin was a conspiracy. It got us into the Vietnam war. Many others to mention, but this is accepted by everyone.
Then there are conspiracy theories, which are just speculations by people that a conspiracy is taking place. These speculations can be true, partly true, or absolutely false. One example is the Russian collusion hoax that the Democratic party launched to discredit DJT. We now know that a) this never happened b) there was a conspiracy in the DNC and their media outlets to do precisely this, push disinformation to take down their enemy.
1. Governments and shadow powers worldwide have paid off/threatened 95%+ of scientists to claim that increased CO2 from human activity is warming the planet, in an effort to achieve the "real" goal of worldwide socialism and tyranny. Somehow, the varying goals of different countries' governments has not gotten in the way of keeping this conspiracy alive.
2. Several oil companies have, through both their own efforts and via lobbying politicians, have spent millions (billions?) of dollars over the last 50 years convincing a large percentage of the population that #1 is happening. The vast majority (but not all) of this has been done in one country (the US) and to one political party in that country (the Republicans).
Which of those two is more likely to happen?
1A. Political movements have co opted research funding. Political groupthink has created a one story is the only acceptable answer dynamic.
I dont know what the actual answer is but I am sure of two things.
Climate change is worse than the GOP pushes.
Climate change is not as bad as the Dems push.
you know what's a consiracy theory? White Nationalism.
It exists, but I'll grant that the conspiracy theory part of it is that it's as pervasive as some think it is.
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