The Charlatans of Conspiracy
From the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the 9/11 “Truthers,” the West’s intellectual integrity has been repeatedly poisoned by conspiracy theories. Today, the problem is as acute as ever; try discussing politics with a hard-core Leftist and you are guaranteed to hear one of these tales in very short order.
If it were not tragic and dangerous, it would be amusing. I recall a conversation I had a couple of years ago in Europe with such a person. He burned quite a few calories trying to convince me that the U.S., thanks to repeated imperialist power-grabs, now controlled the entire world’s supply of oil. When the conversation turned to the war in Iraq, he insisted that a conspiracy was afoot, driven by the Bush cabal’s compulsion to seize control of the oil. When I asked for clarification as to why they would launch a war to gain control of something they already controlled, there was a distinct look of confusion on the moonbat’s face.
Conspiracy-mongers practice a phony, pseudo-intellectual sophistication based on the belief that simple or apparent causes are illusory. In their eyes, all causes are hidden, and only a fool would believe a story as it unfolds. Invariably, they say, people in positions of authority lie to cover up the true motivation for their actions.
The obsession with conspiracies hearkens back to the revolt against science and reason championed by Comte, Hegel, and Marx. They popularized a projection of the imagination onto reality, which resulted in the cult of “super-causes,” detached from any actual human experience.
The conspiracy crowd continues that tradition, that crusade against the slow accumulation of evidence that is characteristic of scientific inquiry. Knowledge, a treasure acquired through substantial toil, is rendered superfluous, even to the point of being an obstacle to the “truth.” Why study the intricate details of history when you know that the corrupt capitalist system invariably launches wars against helpless Third World nations in order to exploit their natural resources?
The explanation for this revolt against science and reason is complex, but I believe part of it lies in the fact that modern man has been deprived of the ability to attribute causes to higher powers. Previous generations could attribute the vicissitudes of life to miracles, demons, divine intervention, or fate, like the ancient Greek belief in the Moirae, the arbiters of destiny.
The Enlightenment stripped man of these outlets, replacing them with the colder tools of reason and objective analysis. As a reaction, the early 19th century witnessed a flood of pseudo-scientific formulas, among them Hegel’s inexorable laws of historical development. In an attempt to transcend science, these charlatans gave us a new set of “higher powers,” thereby leaving a legacy of superstition that still plagues us today.
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September 24th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
In world where Sean Penn is a moral arbiter and Al Gore is an intellectual, I too am prepared to believe in demons.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Speaking of superstition and conspiracies, one recent comment on this blog referred to the “anti-christ” and its associated threat to the “christian” west.
Dosent such “thinking” fit exactly into what this topic is about. It combines both superstition and conspiracy, and in a very primitive way.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Isnt the purpose of your blog to expose the alleged multi-faceted “conspiracy” of those on the “left” to undermine Western Civilization.
And isnt the one dimensional “objective” reason that you promote, and exercise in pure superstition too? As is the straight-line “historical” rise and triumph of capitalism—the “inevitable” culmination of his-story. Christian/western manifest destiny–part of “god’s” plan for humanity! Many on the “right” subscribe to and actively promote such self serving historicism.
The white man was born to rule OK!
Both are (deadly) leftovers from the 19th Century Newtonian clockwork universe.
One minute you and some of your fellow travellers advocate some kind of Christianity as the moral basis of Western Civilization. Christianity supposedly being the religion and culture of love in action. Such an ideal is now being actively promoted by the current Pope.
The next you are advocating ice cold “reason” as the West’s greatest resource. In other words the politics and anti-”culture” of the loveless heart.
Which cake do you really want to eat?
September 25th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
John,
Thank you for your comments on the blog. I am pleased to see other points of view here. It also helps me refine my thoughts.
I have decided to respond to your last comment because I believe that you have misunderstood what I am attempting to convey in this blog:
“Isn’t the purpose of your blog to expose the alleged multi-faceted ‘conspiracy’ of those on the ‘left’ to undermine Western Civilization.???
I most certainly do not believe in any “conspiracy of the Left.??? One of my aims is to explain the deep and complex causes for the ideologies which I maintain pose a threat to Western culture. There is no conspiracy.
“One minute you and some of your fellow travellers advocate some kind of Christianity as the moral basis of Western Civilization… The next you are advocating ice cold ‘reason’ as the West’s greatest resource.???
I cannot speak on behalf of my fellow travellers, but I for one have only mentioned Christianity in passing. It is most certainly a part of the moral basis of the West, but not all. One of the challenges of any inquiry such as the one we are conducting here is to separate out the factors. The West has a Greco-Roman heritage, a Judaic heritage, and a Christian heritage that is intertwined with the other two.
“Which cake do you really want to eat????
Answer: The cake of liberty, beauty, freedom, lack of fear, and the unfettered pursuit of the truth. A combination, I would argue, that is only possible in the classic liberal Western culture.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Personally, I would like a cake WITHOUT a government approved ingredient list, a nutrition facts panel that assumes I don’t know I am eating cake, media that warns the cake is going to kill me, a tax because someone else does not have cake, regulations that mandate when where and how I am allowed to eat cake, accusations that I hate those who like a different kind of cake, politicians who suggest that my cake should be taken away for the public good, criticism that my cake causes global warming,…..
What can I say, I like cake, especially the cheese variety which is not really cake but as of yet there is no law that requires it to be called cheesepie.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Yes but what if what is called “cake” has also been completely fabricated by an invisible all persuasive script.
And what if the cake mix really does turn out to be a mix of carcinogenic and mutagenic chemicals.
Toxic Sludge is Good For You.
The wall to wall 24 hours a day advertising/propaganda juggernaut.
ALL advertising is first and foremost propaganda for a specific world-view—the never ending consumer.
The word consume means to destroy.
Vance Packard wrote about this years ago.
So too did/has Stuart Ewen in Captains of Consciousness
Jules Henry in his much forgotten Culture Against Man wrote about this too.
There have also been hundreds of others who have written about the power of advertising.
And what if our seemingly infinite desire for more and more cake really does lead to and cause both global warming and the possibility of environmental meltdown?
And if you want a culture based on freedom from fear how do you explain the “culture” of guns brought to one and all by the NRA. The “culture” of guns equals/is the “culture” of fear.
How do you account for the fact that the institution that dominates every aspect of USA “culture” is the Pentagon military industrial complex.
The “culture” of fear and death every where.
Not much beauty to be found there either by the way.
By the way it is impossible to pursue the “truth”. What is inherently True and Real is always already the case right now in the place where you stand.