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In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
'In her excellent book Doppelganger, Naomi Klein explains how today’s conspiracy fictions are a distorted response to the impunities of power. We know we’re being lied to, we know justice is not done, we see the beneficiaries flaunting their immense wealth and undemocratic power. Conspiracy fantasists may get the facts wrong, “but often get the feelings right”.
'Conspiracy fictions also tell us we don’t have to act. If the problem is a remote and highly unlikely Other – rather than a system in which we’re deeply embedded, which demands a democratic campaign of resistance and reconstruction – you can wash your hands of it and get on with your life. They free us from civic responsibility. This may be why those who take an interest in conspiracy fictions are so seldom interested in genuine conspiracies.'
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Particularly the point which Monbiot touches on that by making the conspiracies "big" and even "cosmic", it moves them beyond what people can challenge. Whereas real conspiracies are limited in scale and reach, grubby and do end up with the perpetrators discredited, in court or facing public inquirires.
There is, too, an element or romanticism in counterculture movements which tends to push things away from the mundane and towards the spectacular. It ascribes to conspirators vast organisational and technological powers - often beyond what is actually possible. As seen in the interview, it can be over the line where logical explanation breaks down.
'In her excellent book Doppelganger, Naomi Klein explains how today’s conspiracy fictions are a distorted response to the impunities of power. We know we’re being lied to, we know justice is not done, we see the beneficiaries flaunting their immense wealth and undemocratic power. Conspiracy fantasists may get the facts wrong, “but often get the feelings right”.
'Conspiracy fictions also tell us we don’t have to act. If the problem is a remote and highly unlikely Other – rather than a system in which we’re deeply embedded, which demands a democratic campaign of resistance and reconstruction – you can wash your hands of it and get on with your life. They free us from civic responsibility. This may be why those who take an interest in conspiracy fictions are so seldom interested in genuine conspiracies.'
It’s what I’ve always thought. Conspiracy theories (the outlandish ones Monbiot describes) are essentially for the weak. People who believe their lives are controlled and they can then blame those controllers for their own shortcomings or outcomes.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Particularly the point which Monbiot touches on that by making the conspiracies "big" and even "cosmic", it moves them beyond what people can challenge. Whereas real conspiracies are limited in scale and reach, grubby and do end up with the perpetrators discredited, in court or facing public inquirires.
There is, too, an element or romanticism in counterculture movements which tends to push things away from the mundane and towards the spectacular. It ascribes to conspirators vast organisational and technological powers - often beyond what is actually possible. As seen in the interview, it can be over the line where logical explanation breaks down.
Being a hippie is only one or two steps removed from being a full blown fascist.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
Excellent read. Thanks for posting. I often find Monbiot to be a little sanctimonious, but this was well balanced. One point that he did not make, and I think it might apply here, is that many "serious" conspiracy theorists act like religious zealots, ie you cannot use proof to dissuade them as their belief is not based upon facts anyway, it is their faith.
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An interesting read on 10:35 - May 13 with 742 views
An interesting read on 10:04 - May 13 by chicoazul
Being a hippie is only one or two steps removed from being a full blown fascist.
The conspiracy theory pipeline is a very weird one. Social media has made it much worse, you can start with relatively benign stuff and then before you know if you're at the level of the guy in the article.
Watched a talk on this but from the point of view of an Archaeologist.
An interesting read on 10:35 - May 13 by DanTheMan
The conspiracy theory pipeline is a very weird one. Social media has made it much worse, you can start with relatively benign stuff and then before you know if you're at the level of the guy in the article.
Watched a talk on this but from the point of view of an Archaeologist.
Seen this with a friend of mine recently. Has got very worked up over media coverage and politics surrounding the Gaza situation, but some of the stuff he's been sending me is quite a long way down the "jewish conspiracy" path.
I've known him many years, not by any means an anti-semite ... but he was beginning to sound like one. An easy rut to get into, especially with confirmation bias leading people toward dubious sources.
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