Sometimes an event could have a giant impact on the world we live in, but not have a similar cause. A disgruntled man takes aim from a six floor window and a popular President loses his life, terrorists discover an easy way to wreak havoc in the United States and iconic buildings are destroyed or damaged, a virus jumps from animals to humans and a world-wide pandemic ensues. For some these kinds of events demand in their minds a larger genesis or reason. So they create a story of a hidden cabal of individuals that planned this out for nefarious reasons. It is often not sure who did it, sometimes the ideas are several different groups. Even worse when pressed, the why is often an amorphous answer that may or not make sense with reality. We call these views of the world through the Picasso colored glasses conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories all link to each other by the common thread that there exist a group or groups that want to control us by manipulating the world in ways big and small. The big events are covered up by their partners in governments and the media. This notion is that most people are sheep who just believe what they told but the conspiracy theorists have inside knowledge. What is somewhat interesting is that there is even a conspiracy theory about term conspiracy theory. There are those that say the term was invented by the CIA to discredit people who challenged the prevailing story of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. People swear by this but in fact the term appears in print as early as 1863 in reference to a wild idea of how England should engage with the combating armies in the American Civil War. On January 11th in the New York Times the term is used to reference the idea that the British Elite would look to support one side to help make the young reforms that led to the United States government fail. Thus take over the country once again. There are also printed accounts using the term in the 1870s and early 1900s.
Conspiracy theorists for decades made their pitches to like minded individuals or people like me who dive down rabbit holes when I grow interested in a topic. For example I have read, watched and listened to so much material on the Kennedy assassination that it seems like everyone was in Dealey Plaza with a gun and a plan. When in fact, if you take a sober look at the events of November 22, 1963 the only conclusion is that Lee Harvey Oswald, a complicated and disturbed man, looking for some personal value, shot and killed the President of the United States.
I will grant that the are in fact conspiracies that take place. Efforts to obfuscate the facts to outright lying to meet an end. But there is a difference between a conspiracy and a conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories take things that have a rational or easily examined cause and weave an elaborate and often ridiculous plot to explain the event.
Conspiracy theories have looked to the government as the bad actor in the conspiracy but there is always a hint at something bigger than a single government. Somehow there is an elite group of wealthy individuals who control banks, money supplies, even the necessities of life who are really pulling the strings. The government is just another puppet, either willing or ignorant. This has in recent centuries boiled down to being led by The Jews. Driven by bigotry and often a sense that someone is keeping them down, people bought into conspiracy theories because it made them feel better about themselves and for some feel like they were special. In this one area they knew the truth and everyone else was a fool. So often when you challenge a conspiracy theorist the response is either that you are part of their conspiratorial worldview or too dumb to see the truth.
In recent years however conspiracy theories have become far more partisan. People are promoting and supporting certain wild conspiracy theories because it slips nicely into their view over who their candidate for office is. Politicians and their surrogates have noticed and thus promote those conspiracy theories that garner them support. Sometime directly and sometimes indirectly, they keep the fire of a nonsensical conspiracy theory alive in the hope of getting votes.
Partisanship driven conspiracy theories are dangerous. In June John Rumpel, a Florida businessman and a Trump supporter was traveling to New York from Tennessee when the plane changed course and found its way over Washington DC's restricted airspace. Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept but it became clear that no one on-board was conscious. The plane crashed in Virginia with no survivors and Mr. Rumpel, his adult daughter and granddaughter among the victims. This type of tragedy is rare but not unheard of. In 1999, a private jet carrying Payne Steward, a PGA Gold champion, crashed due to decompression in the cabin cause the people on board to not have adequate oxygen. The people on-board were likely already dead as the plane continued to fly until is ran out of fuel. It crashed in South Dakota leading to the loss of Stewart and 5 others. The flight had been intercepted by Military Jets but there was nothing they could do. But for many in the right wing noise machine the similar tragedy that befell the Rumpel flight was not a simple accident. No they suggested that the Biden Administration had targeted this plane and it was shot down because Rumpel was a financial supporter of Trump. They said that the government is coming for Trump supporters. Similarly this week, a man in Utah had been making wild threats against the various prosecutors who are working on the Trump cases as well as the Attorney General and President and Vice-President. When confronted by the FBI, which is standard procedure in cases of threats, he told them the next time they come by he would shoot them. So earlier this week the man made a specific threat to the President who was going to be in Utah so the FBI got a warrant and went to serve and arrest him. It is still not know exactly what happened but the FBI chose to use deadly force and kill him. This man had a stockpile of weapons and had on more than several occasions suggest exactly how he was going to use them on his enemies. Again, the right wing noise machine suggested they killed him because he was on outspoken Trump supporter and that he was old and frail and that he wouldn't hurt anyone. The same people who dredge up instagram posts of unarmed black kids killed by police when they were teens looking violent and call them thugs don't show the pictures of this terrorist from a few days ago with a ghillie suit and sniper rifle saying he is ready to take action. No for them this killing of a highly armed man is not part of a conspiracy to take out Trump supporters. This certainly would be a highly inefficient way to do it. But because the people killed, one by accident and one by law enforcement, were Trump supporters there must be a cabal behind it.
The danger of this, coupled with the echoes of the Q Anon conspiracies, is that people will see all people opposed to a MAGA policy not only as wrong, but evil. One roots evil out and what I fear is that there will be more violence, directed at Democrats and Republicans they deem unworthy of the party. People die in accidents, people die when they challenge the police with weapons, and people die because the world is not perfect. We don't have to look for the men behind the curtain on everything. Mostly there is no curtain.
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