Feed my Conspiracy

Though my approach is rather scattergun, I stand by this essay; the majority of Conspiracy theorists are so single-minded and egocentric that they ensure any legitimate concern or opposition to government pronouncements can be safely dismissed as the frothings of a lunatic.




Since the attacks on America last Tuesday, the patriotism and strength of character of the American people has been a frequent point of reference for many news reports and commentaries. However, as early as last Thursday, something altogether more sinister began to bubble up from the dark depths of the US psyche. Whilst the vast and overwhelming majority of people could speak of nothing other than their deep shock and horror at the atrocity, there were elements in America that met it with grim satisfaction. When the shock began to give way to justifiable anger and the Bush administration began to use the rhetoric of revenge tempered by justice, those same elements held it up as proof of their own summation of events. And whilst governments across the world have united in their intent to support America, these people are interested only in pushing forward their own agenda at the expense of the truth. There is a name for these people.

Conspiracy theorists.

Before the world changed these people were viewed with a mixture of mild revulsion and reluctant tolerance. It is they and their ilk who spawned the Oklahoma Bombing (and for that matter continue to create new strands in the tangled webs of that particular "conspiracy"). They are the one's who are adamant that there is a New World Order seeking control of the world. They are the ones who have more in common with Bin Laden than they perhaps realise; a vast number of their theories identify "World Zionism" as their enemy. They too mewl about the soullesness of capitalist America and how the Government has become the oppressor of those it was sworn to protect. They too make their fortress homes in mountain hideaways and arm themselves to the teeth in ready for the coming war against the US government.

And yet I hoped that, just as new opportunities for peace have risen from the ashes of the disaster (for example, Iran and the US have exchanged more positive dialogue in the last week than since the fall of the Shah) these insular and ignorant few would stop looking for an enemy in their own country with the realisation that they have a fearsome foe abroad. And how wrong I have been proved...

The World Trade Centre fell on Tuesday. America spent that day in shock. On Wednesday the grief was turning to anger. By this time, certain web message boards contained messages from people musing whether or not the government really was caught by surprise. On Thursday the wheels were turning ever faster; Osama Bin Laden had been named as the prime suspect in the bombing. America was realising that it had a long and torturous road ahead of it, but it had the consolation of knowing that the world was behind it. Furthermore, the understandable desire for vengeance was tempered with the growing acceptance that the methods of the past decade were worse than useless. And yet the message boards hummed with an altogether different message.

The main thread of the theories that are springing up run thus;

1. The crash was organised and implemented by the Bush administration using terrorist intermediaries. They did so in order to generate public support for the implementation of legislation that will severely reduce the rights and liberties of the people. The proof provided is a call allegedly made by a US Navy servicemen warning his family that something major was due to happen in an urban area.

2. The crash was organised by the New World Order, sometimes referred to as the Illuminati. This shadowy organisation organised the crash in order to unify the world's nations against a common enemy. Once unified the NWO could take charge of the global coalition using unspecified means and thus rule the world. The NWO is ran by and for the benefit of world Jewry. Therefore the reason Israel is so unwilling to make peace with the Palestinians is because they want to encourage more devastating attacks on the US.

3. The crash was organised by 7-foot tall shapeshifting lizards from Mars. They did so using the Illuminati as a front. I couldn't comment on their motivations for doing so but anyone who wishes to know more should read "I Am Me, I Am Free" by David Icke.

None of the people who advocate the above theories are joking. They believe with all of their heart that they are one of the few keepers of the truth and thus defenders of freedom. One cannot talk to them or point out any flaws in the logic behind their arguments. If one does, then one is dismissed as a lackey of the Government, or a poor deluded soul who is foolish enough to believe what the NWO tells you. Let me just make that crystal clear; men and women who believe that all world ills are the work of Lizards from Mars have told me that I am deluded for believing what I read in the news.

Earlier on I referred to them as insular thinkers. What I mean by this is their absolute conviction that all roads lead back to the US government. They cannot entertain for a second the notion that anything may have been planned overseas. One almost expects a declaration that the existence of a world outside America is a lie told by the government. It's almost as if the patriotism that comes naturally to America has been twisted so that rather then being the finest nation in the world, they become the most evil.

Because of this insular thinking, their beliefs are almost fundamentalist in that they will not accept any explanation that may deviate from their particular theory. This leads to arguments of no little ferocity between the theorists themselves. Much like the revolutionaries who use Islam as their excuse for war, they do more battle with those who disagree with their theory by a few sentences than with their professed enemy. This blinkered refusal to accept any interpretation of the facts other than their own together with their selectiveness in what they do accept as truth puts them on a readily identifiable par with Bin Laden; the Koran preaches tolerance of the other "peoples of the book" (Jews and Christians), yet Bin Laden is an implacable enemy of Israel and the Jews. Many Theorists claim to be clean living God fearing folk, yet they are happy to align themselves with extreme right wing organisations that preach violence and armed resistance to the erosion of their liberties. Both believe absolutely in their own worldview, and regard those who disagree with suspicion and hatred.

In a display of Doublethink that would make Orwell proud, Conspiracy theorists claim that they are the true fighters for American freedom, yet one is considered their enemy if you disagree with what they say. I have spent a few hours this week posting messages to their websites, and I have found myself barracked and abused for suggesting other interpretations of the weeks events. I asked what sort of government would willingly cause huge damage to their own economy. At first the replies waxed lyrical about Hitler's burning of the Reichstag and Nero's burning of Rome, as if those historical examples provided proof of governmental involvement in the destruction of the World Trade Centre. Then I was informed that the New World Order organised the crash so that they could move the main centres of finance away from America and into the Third World in order to maximise their profits. I asked what proof they could provide me. In between the catcalls and abuse, I was told that the fact that industry and manufacturing is based around the Pacific Rim was proof enough. Apparently these people have never heard of market forces, or the desire of companies everywhere to minimise their overheads whilst maximising their profits.

One of the very worst things about these people is that they make it easy for people to view all dissenting voices as crackpot conspiracy theorists. People with genuine moral objections to conflict, or those who want to see restraint and temperance from the US in their response to the outrage will be lumped together with the people who equate Jews with the minions of Satan. If their really was a New World Order then they would be delighted at the smokescreen provided for them by these few fools. There have been whispers that if the world is indeed heading for conflict, America will have to deal with enemy within before confronting the enemy without. Those whispers have been directed at Moslems. America needs to look beyond skin colour and religion to find the enemy within its borders.