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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence.
– Thomas Sowell
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I have absolutely no idea who Thomas sowell is-
But he seems to have his finger on the pulse…
Ive worked for the Govt.
Nudge nudge wink wink…
Thomas Sowell is one of the Keepers of the Flame. A rare academic who understands what Liberty means.
Thoms Sowell is a black American. He is dead against affirmative action, a true conservative.
Sowell is worth finding and reading on a regular basis.
My major problem with conspiracy theories is that they inevitably require a large number of people who keep things secret. There are no such people.
Only secondary is the conspiracy requirement that evil geniuses are capable of constructing these bizarre and complex plots that play out over decades and entire continents. Sort of like the ancient aliens invented pyramids theory—no evidence, just hints and open ended questions that can never be answered.
Finally, of course, is the remarkable fact that the only people who ever seem to be able to penetrate these enormous, subtle, deadly plots are people I wouldn’t hire to baby sit my dog, much less trust to solve the riddle of the ages. Maybe if so many of them didn’t have tinfoil over their windows and scratch at their alien implants, they would be more persuasive.
As it is, I truly think stupidity, cupidity, and venality explain most of human history fairly well, esp. if one throws in a modest dash of cruelty to spice up the recipe. In some cases, of course, the amount of cruelty overwhelms the other flavors in the dish, but that only seems to attract the loonies, not repel them.
It’s too bad the enormous energies of the conspiracy buffs can’t be aimed at something useful, like the soviet archives or the operations of UN programs. If you’re trying to uncover something nefarious, at least go where the action is.
Now now.. Dont dismiss conspiracy theories outright. Some of them are outlandsish, especially the ones that have little or no evidencial support. But if this is not the case, and something unusual can be shown to be the case, then one should at least weight the evidence.. Furthermore, governments can and do keep secrets routinely. During the second world war, some remarkable secrets were kept for some time, and in some cases even long after the war. The Manhattan project was a well kept secred for many years prior to the detonation of the bomb. At least from the public. The list goes on.
My favourite theory about conspiracy theories is that they are put out by the government to keep people happy- if people realised that there was no conspiracy, and no-one was running things, they’d panic! They’d rather believe that evil people are running things than believe that the world is just screwed up naturally.
Conspiracy can be as simple as a commonality of attitude among people.
It doesn’t have to be formal at all.
I can recommend a number of his works, especially Basic Economics, which is a great introduction to the subject and nails all manner of fallacies. Ought to be on the reading list of anyone who wants to grasp the subject as written in plain English without dumbing down.
Hasn’t this previously been summed up as “Never attirbute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance?”
Actually the real problem with conspiracies is a Hayekian one. If it isn’t possible to manage events in detail when the aims are explicitly stated it is no more possible to do so when the aims are secret.
How can we know for sure that Kennedy was not assassinated by the CIA?
Because he’s DEAD.
Castro, on the other hand, get assassinated by the CIA all the time.
For once I find myself in agreement with Rich Paul.
{sigh} If MK-ULTRA wasn’t an example of exactly what some of you are sneering at, then what the hell was it?
Look, kids: it’s not about them being smart enough to pull it off. It’s about their being audacious enough to try it.
Sigh indeed. Simply keeping a state secret is not a conspiracy. Being in a state of total war means the state keeps lots and lots of secrets for a while. Large numbers of people knew about Bletchley Park but kept their mouths shut for all sorts of commendable reasons. Was keeping convoy timing and routes a ‘conspiracy’? Well only if the definition of conspiracy is stretched so far as to make it largely meaningless.
There are conspiracies, yes there really are, but large conspiracies are pretty much impossible to keep quiet for long.
Some conspiracies theories fail because so many people were involved in the truth that they can call bullshit, like the idiotic moon landing ones… others fail because they make very little sense. The 9/11 ones are idiotic for oh so many reasons, most of all to my notion is that the risk/reward ratio is insane: the downside of being found out to the ‘Secret Government’ or Illuminati or George Soros or the Mont Pelerin Society or Halliburton or Mossad or Jack Ruby’s Great Uncle or whoever the hell is supposed to be behind this is wildly out of proportion to the upside of whatever dark benefits are imagined.
Most of all however is that the more accepted explanation actually makes sense. Not to mention the fact Bin Laden said they did it.