
Taking History Personally - benbreen
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/modernity-conspiracy-theory-jill-lepore/
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anon_d
The problem with this whole line of thought is that, in reality, conspiracies
abound. History is _full_ of conspiracies.

The idea that all things are all just emergent phenomena created by laws and
economics, that no groups of humans are trying to manipulate things, everybody
is incompetent, and nobody is responsible for anything is absurd. It conflicts
with reality.

In reality, everyone is engaged in conspiracies. Everyone is trying to
manipulate things in some way, and some groups of people have far more
influence than others. That's what it means to have power and influence.

It is true that people that are really into conspiracy theories often believe
things on far too little evidence. However, that doesn't mean that
conspiracies don't exist, or that they are not important.

~~~
hurrdurr2
Exactly this.

Example: Operation Iraqi Freedom was predicated on a government conspiracy
that Saddam Hussein had nukes.

~~~
im3w1l
And the problem with the

> rise of the conspiracy theory

narrative is that history is full of really bad conspiracy theories. Stuff
like George W. Bush personally riding in on a pegasus and finding the nukes
but just as he was going to take them a thousand demons appeared and spirited
the nukes away, conclusively proving Hussein's covenant with the devil.

~~~
thefounder
>> George W. Bush personally riding in on a pegasus

Wtf? People who believe this stuff should have no say on elections

~~~
im3w1l
I wanted to juxtapose the modern context with what people were fell for in the
past.

