Conspiracy Theories Are Fun, But Only If You Believe Them

I have been accused on many occasions of being a conspiracy theorist. It is rarely meant as a compliment.

Many people love good conspiracy theories. They are interesting, exciting, maddening, usually plausible and always highly entertaining. They suggest great secret crimes commited against society that, if true, would have everyone seething, but are seen to be so beyond the pale that a vast majority of humans refuse to believe anyone could be so depraved as one would have to be to carry them out.

There is also a large subsection of humanity that deplores the people who espouse conspiracy theories, insisting on marginalizing their ideas, and calling them freaks, idiots, and worse.

Those who rail against the skeptics are usually influenced by a media that does not allow discussion beyond a certain accepted narrative. It does not matter whether the narrative is true or not. It cannot be challenged. It is taboo.

Conspiracy theories always break that acceptable narrative, which is why they are attacked so vociferously by a certain type from the pool of humanity which is Joe Public. They can’t help it.

What really perplexes me is why these narratives exist to begin with and are so taboo to question. The best reason I could fathom is because indeed they are untrue, and powerful elites (who are almost always the subjects of these accusations, anyway) must, at all costs, never allow a rationalization other than the one created to serve whatever agenda they have.

This is all, of course, purely theoretical.

Lately I have seen (mostly on the internet, of course, where else do all we nutjobs congregate?) very compelling evidence proving that, among others, Lee Harvey Oswald did not shoot John F. Kennedy, and that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were an inside job and the Twin Towers brought down with explosives.

Compelling, however, does not mean conclusive. Still, without going into detail, much of this evidence seems highly probable when taken at face value.

But how can we really know for certain whether photos aren’t touched up, videos are edited or documents are doctored? Our belief in the truth surrounding these conspiracies boils down to faith, in a similar fashion that belief in the official version of events does.

I suppose that where one stands on this depends largely on whether there is a tolerance for thinking outside of what is known and comfortable. People who cannot challenge orthodoxy are unable to enjoy conspiracies simply because they challenge truths that are accepted as basic ones. These disruptions of normalcy can affect the happiness, even sanity, of many.

People also do not like to admit to being suckers.

But is it really so inconceiveable that people who govern do not necessarily do so in our interests? Is it really so unbelieveable that people so accustomed to great wealth and power will do anything to maintain or increase it, conscience be damned?

If I were that repulsive (and rich and important), I would certainly do everything in my power to hide my true nature.

As an aside, I have just now educated myself on why some people are wealthy and powerful, while I rarely rise above being horny, hungry or thoughtful.

Although I am extremely skeptical of many things, like all of you I would rather keep faith in the goodness of humanity and give the benefit of the doubt. I often pray that my suspiscions are wrong.

But with the way the U.S. financial system has been unravelling over recent weeks, seriously hurting the well being of millions of people around the world, I believe that the time is nigh when even some the most diehard defenders of the establishment, as they watch their standard of living go down the proverbial drain, turn on their masters and accept more and more of these so called conspiracy theories as anything but theoretical.