Alien mind-rays and such

[sabotabby]

There has been another round of conspiracy theorizing over at anarchists. It seems like one of the most popular conspiracy theories these days (after "Jews faked the Holocaust!") is that the official story about 9-11 is...well, somewhat lacking. The Left, for obvious reasons, seems to be more willing to entertain such theories than the Right, and I am genuinely interested in knowing who among you believes what.

When it comes to conspiracy theories, and in particular to the Bush administration, I tend to go with Hanlon's Razor, "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity," and its corollary, "Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice."



[Poll #685162]

On a related note, and this is not snark, I'm not entirely sure what a "disinfo agent" or what a "confusionist" is, although I keep running into the latter online. Are they the same as Discordians? Why do they keep showing up on anarchists?

---

And now, for your Ted Nugent Quote of the Day:

Though modern man has mostly come to depend on technical services and indulgent conveniences, the pulse of the warrior rages on—even downtown. Mother Nature can be a bitch, but we love her madly anyway. That flash of history from caveman to European to pioneer to city dude reveals a powerful force of intellect, courage, reason, and creativity that is alive and well. Leaping into the millennium on the backs of strong, uppity entrepreneurs and timeless Jeremiah Johnsons, the pecking order is accurate and in place. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Conform to this truism or perish. You get what you deserve.

Comments

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I hate conspiracy theorists. Like things aren't so bad that we need to make them worse?

First of all, they're stupid. The world is complicated and though certain social forces exist nothing is 100% dominant. Conpiracy theorists want everything wrapped up with a little bow.

Secondly, they are embarrassing. in the same newspaper or conversation covering real issues like the Patriot Act or war, the conspiracy theorist pops up to ruin everyone's credibility. 9/11 nuts are offensive to anarchists.

Third, the real lesson is that the right is ready with contingency plans to destroy us. The Patriot Act: ready to go in time of crisis. there's no conspiracy theory there, the right simply (much due to funding) is better prepared and more organized than us. Maybe the conspiracy is that the conspiracy theorists are on the payroll of the right, to make regular folks even more convinced that the left is a bunch of wingnuts.

Fourth, conspiracy theory leaves no room for resistance. The power of those in power is so strong that they know and anticipate everything. The only hope in these scenarios is that the truth is beamed out to people and suddenly everyone understands that they are oppressed (like in "Serenity") and evil is toppled. Well, it's a great theory to explain why you don't need to spend any time doing real organizing.

[earthlingmike.livejournal.com]

"First of all, they're stupid. The world is complicated and though certain social forces exist nothing is 100% dominant. Conpiracy theorists want everything wrapped up with a little bow."

I agree. Things are not that easily organized, the world is too chaotic. Besides, if they were smart enough to do that, they'd also be smart enough to know it's a stupid way to be.

[sabotabby]

Your last point is, to me, the biggest issue. It's disempowering—what happens when the truth gets beamed out, anyway?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

what do you mean? Evil is vanquished. it simply gives up and takes its punishment like a man.

[human-loser.livejournal.com]

what happens when the truth gets beamed out, anyway?

The ship gets repaired, but omgwashisDEAD!!!one!1!!!cry!!!!!1

[ironed_orchid]

Oh Noes!11!!!

[sabotabby]

*dies*

[ironed_orchid]

First of all, they're stupid. The world is complicated and though certain social forces exist nothing is 100% dominant. Conpiracy theorists want everything wrapped up with a little bow.

Yep, it's very simplistic thinking. It's also the sort of thinking of someone who want's there to be some omniscient omnipotent power in control of the world.