Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
8,852 posts, read 10,453,158 times
Reputation: 6670
Advertisements
Understood that "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there's nothing to be paranoid about." But it's still amazing how many people are seriously into paranoid theories and conspiracy stuff now… and it's not just about UFO's, the JFK Assassination or "Birthers', but also the more 'fringe' issues, like the Bilderbergers, Rothschilds, Chemtrails, 9/11, Holocaust 'deniers', Reptilian overlords, you name it.
But even if any of the theories are true (e.g. "we never landed on the moon"), it still can't all be true. And maybe I just run into more of 'em being of the 'geezer' persuasion myself, but somehow it also seems to attract a lot of "older" guys in particular.
So is this simply old stuff, or just a sign now that once-fringe paranoia is finally becoming 'mainstream'? And if you know any folks like this, how do you deal with 'em whenever they email or discuss their 'theories'?
BTW, not that I'd dismiss anyone out-of-hand, but a lot of these folks also seem to turn it into a curious, almost 'religious' interest!
Last edited by mateo45; 02-16-2014 at 11:42 AM..
Reason: spell
It is just our ability -- nay, deep-seated NEED -- to see patterns, whether they are there or not. We gather "evidence" to support our illusions that way. Some more than others. That, combined with the need to be special and/or "right", because part of the appeal of fringe conspiracy theories is that you're one of the Select Few who are clever enough to see through the conspiracy. Also, circling the wagons to defend your theories with like-minded people can provide a real sense of community that may be otherwise lacking.
Are such things actually on the rise? My guess is they are not, or if they are, it's gotten a bit of help in the past 60 or so years by the alienation of living in a high-tech, high-pressure, dog-eat-dog society. In such environments it's easy to feel like the game is rigged and someone else is pulling the strings that thwart your hopes and dreams so reliably. Particularly if you aren't inclined to take any personal responsibility for your role in such things.
Yes, people watch horrible things on TV, then are afraid to walk outside their home and think every man walking behind them in a shopping center parking lot is a serial killer!
What is funny is that people do this in small rural towns where the is little or no crime. Lately people are also deathly afraid of "germs" on shopping carts, etc.
I've noticed on YouTube there is, which doesn't surprise me because there's a lot of garbage online.
The most popular one is NWO, which is highly anti-semtic.
It's not false that 1% controls 99% of the world's population income.
But, to fingerprint and blame the Jewish people (again) is a joke.
How about looking at the facts about how the 1% rose to power, and how they remain in their position- because they control most of mass media, privatized enterprise/business, deregulated humane legal rights, built a system of loopholes for corporations (which obtain the laws and rights of actual 'people'), and through news media, they can create a highly sophisticated language for propaganda without looking so.
Paranoia perpetuated by fear (especially now since high unemployment can cause people to stay home and log onto the net) can definitely become a widespread fiery.
Hopefully people can read between the lines enough to see the B.S., and become more enlightened and informed through legitimate, non-profit news media sources.
Here's the way i look at it (btw, good topic Mateo):
The best thing that can happen to someone who is behind any particular conspiracy is that there are OTHER conspiracy theories on things that don't really deserve one. That way, the real conspiracy theories that are actually true, get lost in the shuffle of all these conspiracy theories.
My thought is that each and every conspiracy theory needs to be analyzed as an individual conspiracy theory and not all lumped together. Anyone who says "tin foil hat" is a person who isnt interested in breaking down each and every individual theory, they just want to lump them all together and convince themselves that the "Crackpots" have another conspiracy theory.
If the people who are conspiring can convince America at large that any theory that's not mainstream or conventional is of the tin foil hat generation, they'll never have to worry about being exposed.
My advice to all of you would be to just have an open mind about things, treat each "conspiracy" as an individual situation and whatever you do, don't let the negative stigma towards the "tin foli hat" sway your opinion. Be unique, have your own opinion and acquire that opinion after reviewing all the facts.
Here's the way i look at it (btw, good topic Mateo):
The best thing that can happen to someone who is behind any particular conspiracy is that there are OTHER conspiracy theories on things that don't really deserve one. That way, the real conspiracy theories that are actually true, get lost in the shuffle of all these conspiracy theories.
My thought is that each and every conspiracy theory needs to be analyzed as an individual conspiracy theory and not all lumped together. Anyone who says "tin foil hat" is a person who isnt interested in breaking down each and every individual theory, they just want to lump them all together and convince themselves that the "Crackpots" have another conspiracy theory.
If the people who are conspiring can convince America at large that any theory that's not mainstream or conventional is of the tin foil hat generation, they'll never have to worry about being exposed.
My advice to all of you would be to just have an open mind about things, treat each "conspiracy" as an individual situation and whatever you do, don't let the negative stigma towards the "tin foli hat" sway your opinion. Be unique, have your own opinion and acquire that opinion after reviewing all the facts.
I agree. there is a real danger that having "off-the-wall" conspiracies - eg that we didn't land on the moon, or my favorite- the half-human, half-reptile creatures living under the Denver Airport - can cause people to dismiss all talk of conspiracy.
But there are real conspiracies- the difference is that we can find factual information about some conspiracies - eg the NSA, read Glenn Greenwald; or read a good investigative reporter like Max Blumethal and he gives you facts that can be independently verified.
There are forces that work together to oppress the rest of us. But they can be talked about factually.
and without tin hats.
I also agree with other posters re what drives conspiracy thinking: people want to think they're smarter than everyone, they "know something" that others don't. In this alienated society, they want to belong to something.
Also I think when random events happen, esp. ones that affect us so deeply, like Newtown - some people cannot face that there are evil, random events, so they look for conspiracy. The conspiracy theories about the Colorado theatre shooting, Newtown, and the Boston marathon bombing, and a few others were really weird. I know people who insist that Newtown was a training for a take-over of the country, or that it never happened, or that there was another shooter.
But sometimes bad things happen. And sometimes we can't explain them.
There are some conspiracy theories that are quite believable. And quite frankly, the majority of them are suspicious.
Like the moon landing, even though I believe it happened, I wouldn't be surprised if it was staged.
Or the Newtown shooting, I wouldn't be surprised if we found out that the 26 victims were really actors.
I just wouldn't be surprised if some of them are true because I don't trust our government. They're a bunch of lying crooks.
However, I believe the Colorado theatre shooting could've been prevented just like I believe the number of victims from Sandusky's abuse could've been lower.
An expert said, "History CONSISTS of conspiracies" so 'paranoia' is often just searching for truth.
And - in the fishbowl of BS in which we now live, conspiracies flourish in our attempts at finding out The truth which we know we are not getting.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
