A conspiracy theory is a
theory which attempts to explain
historical or current events as the
result of a
conspiracy (or conspiracies).
The alleged conspirators may be
accused of anything from
manipulating governments, economies,
or the legal system, to hiding
important information of cultural or
scientific significance. Generally,
conspiracy theories are, by
definition,
unprovable.
The term
conspiracy theory is sometimes
also used refer to
sociological attempts to study
the phenomenon of conspiracy. For
more information, see
conspiracy.
There is a good
deal of variation in the size of
conspiracy theories: they range from
small organisations to single
governments to world-encompassing
conspiracies that are linked to
every major world body. Some
conspiracy theories have been proved
true, some have been proven false,
but the majority remain unproven.
Conspiracy
theorists are often considered
paranoid and conspiracy theories
are often associated with
paranoid schizophrenia. Indeed,
the diagnosis of schizophrenia has
been used as a means of silencing
political dissent, for example
in the
Soviet Union. (See:
anti-psychiatry). The label of
"conspiracy theory" has also been
used to mock or denigrate social and
political
dissent, for instance when a
powerful public figure is accused of
corruption.
Karl Popper claimed
that true
science is basically
defined as a set of
falsifiable
theories. Critics of
conspiracy theories
sometimes argue that
many of them are not
falsifiable, and this
makes them unscientific.
For example,
Jerry Bowyer[?],
referring to allegations
that the
2003 War in Iraq was
the result of
George W. Bush doing
the bidding of
oil companies, said
that "I like this
conspiracy theory better
than the rest because it
is one of the few that
actually permits
empirical
disconfirmation". He
considered that the
declining share prices
of oil companies was
empirical evidence
against this theory.
[1] (http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/comment-bowyer103102.asp)
One may also add that
the subsequent lot of
Irak's oil fields to
major american oil
companies is empirical
evidence proving the
theory.
In response to this
objection to conspiracy
theory, some argue that
no political or
historical theory is
scientific by Popper's
criteria because none
reliably generate
unambiguous,
non-trivial, testable,
and correct predictions.
In fact, Popper himself
rejected the claims of
Marxism and
psychoanalysis to
scientific status on
precisely this basis.
(Most scientists today
dispute the idea that
Marxism is science at
all; similarly, most
neurobiologists and many
psychiatrists now agree
that classic forms of
psychoanalysis have no
scientific basis.) This
does not necessarily
mean that conspiracy
theory,
Marxism, and
psychoanalysis are
baseless, irrational, or
false; only that they
are not science by
Popper's criteria.
In regards to the
specific theory of an
oil industry motivation
for the
2003 Iraq war,
conspiracy theorists
respond that one of the
first acts of the
American-installed
government was to call
for the escalation of
Iraqi oil production,
undermining the
OPEC oil cartel,
which serves oil company
interests. The fact that
some data seem to
falsify and other data
to verify the
conspiratorial view may
indicate that a
falsifiability standard
is difficult or
impossible to apply to
situations where
variables cannot be
isolated, a problem not
specific to conspiracy
theories.
Some people
distinguish between
falsifiable accusations of
conspiracy and
unfalsifiable conspiracy theories.
Many groups of people
conspire together all
the time: the world is
full of committees,
clubs, corporations,
political parties,
standards bodies, and
other organizations.
Conspiracies have
taken place throughout
history, and some kinds
of conspiracy, such as
cartels, are crimes.
At any given time,
hundreds or thousands of
conspiracies in the
criminal sense are
afoot. This kind of
conspiracy is so
widespread as to be
unremarkable. It is in
this sense that
conspiracy theory
collector Colin Wilson
has remarked that
conspiracy is "the
normal continuation of
normal politics by
normal means."
Assassinations
are a classic subject of
conspiracy theories. The
assassination of a
prominent figure is a
singular event which can
dramatically change the
course of public
affairs. Those drawn to
conspiracy theory are
led to ask, in the
aftermath of an
assassination, Who
benefited from this
death? Though many
assassinations are
committed by lone
individuals, and many
others by aboveboard
governments (such as
that of
Leon Trotsky) there
have been several
assassinations whose
purposes remain
mysterious in the public
eye -- and suspicious to
the conspiracy theorist.
Best-known among
assassination conspiracy
theories in the United
States are those dealing
with a rash of seemingly
politically motivated
deaths in the
1960s, notably those
of U.S. President
John F. Kennedy,
Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy,
and civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr.
An individual acting
alone, who was himself
assassinated before
standing trial, is
generally considered to
have assassinated
President Kennedy.
Criticism of this
account has seeped into
the mainstream with
movies such as
Oliver Stone's
JFK. In the other
two cases, a lone
assassin was convicted.
Secret
societies and
fraternal
societies have
aroused nervousness from
some non-members since
at least the time of the
ancient Greeks. A
secret society is a
club or organization
whose members do not
disclose their
membership, and may be
sworn to hold it secret.
However, the term is
also used in conspiracy
theory to refer to
fraternal organizations
such as the
Freemasons who do
not conceal membership,
but are thought to
harbor secret beliefs or
political agendas.
Conspiracy theory
about the Freemasons
goes back at least to
the late 18th century.
The Masons were accused
of plotting the American
and French Revolutions,
the downfall of
religion, and of
dominating republican
politics. Worry about
Masonic conspiracy grew
to such an extent in the
early United States as
to spawn a political
party, the
Anti-Masonic Party.
The Bavarian
Illuminati, a German
secret society related
to Masonry, also figures
into conspiracy theories
of that time.
The Popes in the last
3 centuries are the main
protaganists of these
conspiracy theories.
Freemasonry was
condemned primarily
because of its view that
all religions are equal,
diametrically opposed to
the Catholic belief that
it is the only true
religion. Since most
Catholics, mainline
Protestants, and
Evangelicals now agree
with the Masonic
princples condemned by
the Church, new theories
about the Masons have
emerged such as that
they are devil
worshipers.
Suppressed
inventions take
conspiracy theory into
the realm of business
rather than politics. A
typical
suppressed-invention
story is that of the
incredibly efficient
automobile carburetor,
whose inventor was
supposedly killed or
hounded into obscurity
by petroleum companies
desirous to protect
their business from an
engine that would make
their product obsolete.
The subject of
suppressed-invention
conspiracy also touches
on the realm of medical
quackery: proponents of
more unlikely forms of
alternative medicine
are known to allege
conspiracy by mainstream
doctors to suppress
their cures,
particularly when faced
with charges of medical
fraud.
Many governments use
intelligence agencies
to promote national
policies in secretive
ways -- in several cases
including the use of
sabotage, propaganda,
and assassination.
Intelligence agencies,
such as the
CIA,
KGB,
MI6, and
Mossad, are a common
element of political
conspiracy theories
precisely because they
are known to participate
in some activities
similar to those
described in conspiracy
theories.
Particular
technologies of
surveillance and control
arouse concern that has
bordered upon, or
crossed over into,
conspiracy theory. These
are technologies being
developed by governments
which are intended to
intrude into the privacy
or harm the persons of
citizens, particularly
dissenters. Conspiracy
theories of this sort
cast government agencies
as pursuing vast
technical powers in
order to spy on people,
control their minds, or
otherwise suppress an
alienated populace.
Conspiracy theories of
this sort include many
about
mind control and
about unusual technical
projects such as
HAARP.
A class of
present-day conspiracy
theory with a dramatic
effect upon regional
politics is
AIDS/HIV
conspiracy. This
divides by and large
into two subcategories:
allegations that HIV
was created by a
conspiratorial group
or a secret agency as a
tool of genocide, and
claims that AIDS is
not caused by HIV
and that the HIV-AIDS
connection is the
propaganda of a
conspiracy. The former
allegation has become
well-known in parts of
the African-American
community, usually with
the United States
government or "the Jews"
as the virus's
originator. The latter
is largely confined to
anti-homosexual groups
in the West, but has
become established in
parts of Africa where
the disease has had the
worst toll.
Antisemitism
has spawned innumerable
conspiracy theories
(which the present
author does not feel
prepared to describe,
though they are an
important category).
Almost all of the anti-semitic
conspiracy theories and
indeed anti-semitism
itself are tied to the
practice of charging
interest on loans
(usury). It is claimed
that since the Old
Testament seems to ban
interest on loans only
to one's brothers, the
Jews have historically
made loans and charged
interest to non-Jews,
increasing their money
and power. This is by
far the most widespread
conspiracy theory, found
everywhere from the
Protocols of the Learned
Elders of Zion, to Nazi
ideology, to mainline
Catholic thought during
the beginning of the
20th century (see Fr.
Denis Fahey). Echoes of
this are still
widespread today,
especially amongst
progressive liberals who
support Palestine and
are against the World
Bank.
A sector of
conspiracy theory with a
particularly detailed
mythology has become the
basis for numerous
pieces of popular
entertainment: the
Area 51/Grey Aliens
conspiracy. Simply put,
this is the allegation
that the
United States government
conspires with
extraterrestrials
involved in the
abduction and
manipulation of
citizens. A variant
tells that particular
technologies -- notably
the
transistor -- were
given to American
industry in exchange for
alien dominance. The
enforcers of the
clandestine association
of human leaders and
aliens are the
Men in Black, who
silence those who speak
out on
UFO sightings. This
conspiracy theory has
been the basis of
numerous books, as well
as the popular
television show
The X-Files and
the movies
Men in Black
and
Men in Black II[?].
The X-Files
based the plots of many
of its episodes around
urban legends and
conspiracy theories, and
had a framing plot which
postulated a set of
interlocking
conspiracies controlling
all recent human
history.
The nexus between
conspiracy theory and
the
urban legend is
considerable: one need
only consult American
supermarket tabloids
such as the
Weekly World News
to see foremost examples
of both. Many urban
legends, particularly
those which touch on
governments and
businesses, have some
but not all of the
attributes of conspiracy
theory.
For instance, during
the 1980s the story that
the
Procter and Gamble
company was affiliated
with
Satanism was a
common urban legend in
some circles. Is this
tale, too, a conspiracy
theory? It does allege
secretive and presumedly
harmful action (support
of Satanism) on the part
of a group (Procter &
Gamble, or its
leadership). However, it
does not have the
expansiveness or attempt
at explanation of
historical events which
earmark a conspiracy
theory. It is too
simple.
Warning:
Wikipedia contains
spoilers
Particularly since
the 1960s, conspiracy
theory has been a
popular subject of
fiction. A common theme
in such works is that
characters discovering a
secretive conspiracy may
be unable to tell what
is true about the
conspiracy, or even what
is real: rumors, lies,
propaganda, and
counter-propaganda build
upon one another until
what is conspiracy and
what is coincidence
becomes an unmanageable
question.
One of the more
literarily acclaimed
novels which draws on
conspiracy themes is
Umberto Eco's
Foucault's Pendulum,
in which the staff of a
publishing firm
intending to create a
series of popular occult
books invent their own
occult conspiracy, over
which they lose control
as it begins to be
believed. Another is
Thomas Pynchon's
The Crying of Lot 49,
whose background
includes a secretive
conflict between cartels
dating back to the
Middle Ages.
Illuminatus!, a
trilogy by
Robert Shea and
Robert Anton Wilson,
is regarded by many as
the definitive work of
20th-century conspiracy
fiction. Set in the late
'60s, it is a
psychedelic tale which
fuses mystery, science
fiction, horror, and
comedy in its exhibition
(and mourning, and
mocking) of one of the
more paranoid periods of
recent history. The
popular, humorous
trading card game
Illuminati New World
Order is based
in part on Shea and
Wilson's fantasy.
Other authors who
have dealt with
conspiracy themes
include
Philip K. Dick and
Robert Ludlum. Some
might also categorize
several of the
Cthulhu Mythos
stories of
H. P. Lovecraft and
others as
conspiracy-related,
though they might be
more closely described
as occult horror.
(Something about
Oliver Stone and
JFK (movie) here --
I haven't seen it)
A number of actual
government organizations
or plans have been
described as resembling
the stuff of conspiracy
theories. Nonetheless,
these are fully
acknowledged by their
respective governments
as being, or having
been, real:
Note: Please only
add things to this
category if their
existence is
non-controversial.
- The United
States Department of
Defense
Information
Awareness Office
(IAO) has
many similarities to
conspiracy theories.
First, its avowed
purpose is to gather
and correlate
information on
ordinary citizens
for the purpose of
predicting terrorism
and other crime.
Second, its logo
depicts the eye in
the pyramid, a
symbol associated
with Illuminati and
Masonic
representations of
power or divinity,
casting a beam over
the globe of the
Earth. Lastly, the
name "Iao" is a
Gnostic word for
God, used in the
Golden Dawn[?]
and
Thelema among
others.
[2] (http://www.darpa.mil/iao/)
- From the 1950s
to the 1970s, the
CIA and the U.S.
Army operated a
research program
into
mind control,
codenamed
MKULTRA.
In this program, CIA
agents gave
LSD and other
drugs to unwitting
and unconsenting
victims, in an
effort to devise a
working "truth
serum" and/or
mind-control drug.
MKULTRA was
uncovered by
Presidential and
Congressional
research committees
in 1975, and
discontinued at that
time.
-
Echelon
is a communications
interception network
operated by the
United States,
the
United Kingdom,
Canada,
Australia and
New Zealand. It
is designed to
capture
telephone calls,
fax and
e-mail messages.
New Zealand has
openly admitted the
existence of
Echelon, and the
European Union
commissioned a
report on the
system.
- In the
2003 Iraq War,
Iraqi resistance was
strong at first and
then collasped
suddenly. A
conspiracy theory
emerged in Iraq and
elsewhere that there
had been a "safqua"
- a secret deal -
between the US and
the Iraqi military
elite, wherein the
elite were bribed to
stand down. This
conspiracy theory
was ignored or
ridiculed in the US
media.
In late May, 2003,
General Tommy
Franks, who had been
the head of the US
forces in the
conflict, confirmed
in an interview with
Defense News that
the US government
had paid off
high-level Iraqi
military officials
and that they had
stated that "I am
working for you
now". How important
this was to the
course of the
conflict was not
entirely clear at
the time of this
writing (May 24,
2003).
Needs
encyclopediafying
Just about anything
associated with
governments,
Nazis,
communists,
ancient civilizations,
or
aliens has a
conspiracy theory
attached. They're very
popular and form the
basis of many popular
books, movies, and TV
shows.
Belief in imaginary
conspiracies is also a
feature of
paranoia, which is a
symptom of several
diseases including
paranoid schizophrenia.
Popular elements of
some general theories
include:
-
AIDS and HIV
-
Alternative 3
-
Anti-Christian
calendar theory
- Applications of
the works of
Nikola Tesla
-
Assassination,
particularly those
of
Mohandas Gandhi,
Pope John Paul I,
Petra Kelly,
John F. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy
,
Malcolm X,
Martin Luther King
Jr.,
Enrico Mattei,
Olof Palme,
Salvador Allende
-
Atlantis
- Celebrity deaths
(as opposed to
assassination),
such as
Elvis Presley,
Jim Morrison,
Princess Diana,
Marilyn Monroe,
Bob Marley,
Peter Tosh,
John Lennon,
Lee Harvey Oswald,
Kurt Cobain,
Tupac Shakur,
Notorious B.I.G.
-
Council on Foreign
Relations
-
Elvis sightings
-
Fnord
-
Freemasonry
-
Holocaust
revisionism
-
Jesuits
-
Knights Templar
-
Men in Black,
aka
Majestic 12
-
Mysticism
-
New World Order
-
Oil imperialism
-
Opus Dei
-
Pseudoscience
-
Rennes le Château
-
Secret societies,
such as:
- Many
Rastafarians
believe that the
white racist
patriarchy
("Babylon")
controls the
world in order
to oppress the
black race. Many
also believe
that Emperor
Haile Selassie
of
Ethiopia did
not die when it
was reported in
1975, and
that the racist,
white media
(again,
"Babylon")
propagated that
rumor in order
to squash
Rastafarianism
and its message
of overthrowing
Babylon.
- The
Illuminati
-
Rosicrucianism
- Satanists:
in the 1980s
there was an
upsurge in the
old belief of a
secret cult that
bred children
for sacrifice.
The practice has
historically
been ascribed by
the ancient
Romans to early
christians, in
medieval Europe
to the Jews, and
in 1980s America
to a group of
rich, powerful
satanists who
have concealed
all the evidence
of their
practices.
-
Skull and Bones
-
UFOs
-
Unknown Superiors[?]
-
Zionist
conspiracy:
Protocols of the
Elders of Zion
-
9/11 domestic
conspiracy theory
-
Operation Northwoods
- Many
African-Americans in
the US believe that
HIV, the virus
that causes
AIDS, was
invented by either
white American
scientists, or by
"The Jews", as a
way to destroy the
black race. This
conspiracy theory is
most common among
lower-income blacks
in poor
neighborhoods, and
among putative
left-wing black
college students.
These racist and
anti-Semitic attacks
have been propagated
for years first by
Louis Farrakhan's
Nation of Islam,
and by the New Black
Panther Party, as
well by a number of
extremist professors
in various smaller
colleges. (see
also
Steve Cokely).
- There is also a
theory that the
Church's Fried
Chicken franchise is
owned by the
Ku Klux Klan,
and the chicken is
laced with a drug
that makes only
black men impotent.
Ironically, the
franchise is owned
by an
African-American.
- the
Apollo moon landing
hoax
-
Area 51
containing alien
spacecraft
-
Assassination,
particularly those
of
John F. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy
,
Martin Luther King
Jr.
-
Black helicopters
-
Elvis sightings
- Theories
relating to the
fluoridation of
drinking water,
generally in an
attempt to
poison the
populace.
-
Men in Black,
aka
Majestic 12
- the
Philadelphia
Experiment
- The
President of the
United States (a
running theory that
all US presidents
are
evil)
- Project
HAARP
-
TACMAR
-
Trilateral
Commission
-
Korean Air flight
KAL-007
- There is a
theory that the US
Government secretly
paid off the
Washington sniper
and framed innocent
people in order to
hide that fact
- Based on a
traditional
Islamic belief,
a pseudo-academic
theory in the Arab
world posits that
Jews never lived in
the land of Israel,
and that all
archaeological proof
to the contrary is
part of an
international
western anti-Arab
conspiracy. In this
view, no
archaeological
evidence exists that
shows the presence
of a Jews in the
land of Israel; the
Bible's claims are
deliberate fictions,
and the ancient Jews
actually came from
Yemen, on the
Arabian peninsula.
See the entry on
Bible conspiracy
theories for
more details.
-
Plot to murder
Princess Diana (http://www.news-star.com/stories/122697/new_conspire.html)
- For some time
the Arab press was
reporting that that
there was a plot by
Jews to make
Egyptian and
Palestinian
schoolgirls sexually
promiscuous by
selling them
bubble-gum laced
with aphrodisiacs.
An example of this
conspiracy theory is
that written by
Mohammad Dalbah:
- "Palestinian
authorities
uncovered Israeli
efforts to spread a
special kind of gum
that contains sexual
hormone between
Palestinians. The
authorities
requested laboratory
tests on the gum
which were conducted
in Cairo. Those
tests showed that
the gum contains
progesterone which
is responsible for
sexual arousal and
also and also
prevents
pregnancies.
Palestinian
authorities
confiscated 200
tonnes of gum in the
city of al-Khalil
alone. The
Washington Post
claimed in report
that it asked a
chemistry professor
in the hebrew
university to
examine the gun. His
tests were negative,
however the paper
also reported that
the majority of
Palestinians believe
the conspiracy. It
quoted one
Palestinian saying
that it was possible
to send a space ship
to Mars then it is
possible to
manufacture a
'sexual gum' it is
after all a war. In
other new, some
Jewish and
non-ethical
Palestinians
merchants sold
expired flour in the
west back and Gaza
strip last spring.
They also sold large
quantities of baby
milk when it was
actually soya bean
derivatives that
were expired."
-
Another example of
believer in the
anti-Arab bubblegum
conspiracy (http://www.al-muslim.org/magazines/al-mjtama-1262.html)
- This story is
particularily
interesting, as it
closely resembles a
story of
LSD-laced papers
or candies which
continues to
periodically surface
in the US. In this
case the story is
considered to be an
urban rumor[?]
as opposed to a
conspiracy theory,
because no group is
blamed for the
"attacks". Like the
Palestinian case,
there is no evidence
that anything like
this has ever
happened.
- On several
occasions,
Palestinians have
claimed that the
Israeli government
has used
nerve gas
against them, and
then suppressed the
evidence of such.
-
September 11, 2001
Terrorist
Attack/Zionist
conspiracy theories
- Some Arabs,
mostly Egyptians,
believe that
Israelis engineered
the crash of
EgyptAir Flight
990[?] in
1999, despite
strong evidence that
the pilot committed
suicide. Others
insist that the US
is covering up for
Boeing, the
airplane's
manufacturer:
[3] (http://www-tech.mit.edu/V119/N60/egyptair_60.60w.html),
[4] (http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/air-n24.shtml)
- Theory that US
President Bill
Clinton's
relationship with
Monica Lewinsky was
part of a Zionist
plot to get rid of
Bill Clinton.
- Many in the Arab
world believe that
Jewish doctors
deliberately give
Palestinians AIDS.
January 1995,
Al-Ahram:
Examples of Arab
conspiracy theories
(http://www.adl.org/egyptian_media/old_egyptian_conspiracy.html)
- Conspiracy
theories in Arab
discourse, from
"Arab News":
[5] (http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=9884)
-
Anti-Semitic shuttle
conspiracy theories
swamp the Internet
(http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=264824&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y)
-
Anti-Semitic groups
promote Columbia
conspiracy theories
(http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/columbia.asp)
Daniel Pipes has
written an essay on the
prevalence of conspiracy
theories throughout the
Arab and Muslim world.
Conspiracy theories
extend far beyond those
biased against Jews.
They extend even to the
creation of conspiracy
theories about the
results of sporting
events.
Analysis of conspiracy
theories in the Arab
world (http://www.danielpipes.org/books/hiddenchap.shtml)
