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Conspiracy theories are, for the most part, a right-wing thing. Unless you can give me examples of conspiracy theories and their peddlers on level of Alex Jone

Conspiracy theories are, for the most part, a right-wing thing. Unless you can give me examples of conspiracy theories and their peddlers on level of Alex Jones for the far left.

bluGill 8y ago
Every looked into anti-vax (there is some right, but a lot of it is left)? How about the impeach trump stuff? Organic, anti-GMO, alternative medicine. Plenty of left wing nut jobs there. (some of them have a right wing component as well)
JaimeThompson 8y ago
The anti-vaxers are from all over the political spectrum I am sad to say.
- fzeroracer 8y ago
  From my personal experience they've always tended to be further right, since often the anti-vaccine fear comes as a result of government mistrust as well as not trusting scientists. Very similar to the people against climate change in my opinion. Though it's true that the anti-GMO and even anti-Nuclear sentiments I see accross the spectrum but those differ a bit from conspiracy theories in that it stems from junk science, rather than a belief in a hidden government or group wanting to personally change you.
  - filoleg 8y ago
    My experience couldn’t have been further from yours. Most of the anti-vaxxers I encountered both irl and online were of the kind that is all about natural remedies and distrusting of GMOs and such (as opposed to those distrusting of government and believing in conspiracies; that kind i mostly encountered online only). Just google for outbreaks in the US that are linked to anti-vaxxing and take a note of their locations. Most will start in heavily left-leaning areas. To clarify my point, I personally believe that anti-vaxxing is about evenly distributed between left and right wing, just for different reasons. P.S. As I was trying to find an article about an outbreak in Seattle that I remembered from a few years ago, I realized there is another one happening right this moment https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/an-anti-vaccination-hotspot-near-portland-declares-an-emergency-over-measles-outbreak/?amp=1 https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/an-anti-vaccinatio...
- akhilcacharya 8y ago
  The most notable anti-vaxxer is our President.
fvdessen 8y ago
GMO/Monsanto, Big Petrol & all their wars, Putin controls XYZ, "The Oligarchy", "The Patriarchy", "The Privileged", Plastic straws from Europe killing turtles in the Galapagos, "Systemic Racism", The Gender Gap, etc.
- fzeroracer 8y ago
  I'm gonna need you to explain how 'The Patriarchy' ,'The Privileged', 'Systemic Racism' etc are somehow conspiracy theories considering they're more like social critiques around very real issues people face. Unless you mean things you don't like are conspiracy theories in which case we might as well just call everything a conspiracy.
  - fvdessen 8y ago
    Being poor is a very real issue somebody can face. Attributing the cause of this state of affairs as being the intentional result of a coordinated group of people, without real evidence that this is the case, is a conspiracy theory. I seems to me that 'The Patriarchy' / 'The Privileged' on the left are conceptually quite similar to 'The Deep State' or 'The Jews' on the right. And those are most often described as conspiracy theories, and rightly so.
    - fzeroracer 8y ago
      If you think they're conceptually quite similar then I don't know what else to say except that you would just be objectively wrong. The difference between a conspiracy theory and a social critique is the personal nature of it. People that believe that the 'Jews' or that 'The Deep State' is responsible for everything believe that there are specific actors, people doing things explicitly to stop someone. When people complain about the patriarchy or systemic racism they're complaining about a large tangled of social contracts and norms that result in certain people, races, genders etc being disenfranchised. For example it's a statistical fact that a black man smoking marijuana is not only more likely to be thrown in jail but also more likely to face harsher sentences than a white man smoking marijuana. What else would you call this, other than systemic racism? You can't point to a similar statistic, study or what not that shows 'The Deep State' is specifically targeting Donald Trump or that 'The Jews' are attempting to kill all white people. You can, however, point to specific actions and trends the FBI has taken in the past to disenfranchise black people, including actions taken against Martin Luther King Jr. One side explicitly has a factual basis behind it. The other does not. That's what makes one a conspiracy theory, and the other something worthy of scrutiny.

Conspiracy theories are, for the most part, a right-wing thing. Unless you can give me examples of conspiracy theories and their peddlers on level of Alex Jones for the far left.

bluGill 8y ago

Every looked into anti-vax (there is some right, but a lot of it is left)? How about the impeach trump stuff? Organic, anti-GMO, alternative medicine. Plenty of left wing nut jobs there. (some of them have a right wing component as well)

JaimeThompson 8y ago

The anti-vaxers are from all over the political spectrum I am sad to say.

fzeroracer 8y ago
From my personal experience they've always tended to be further right, since often the anti-vaccine fear comes as a result of government mistrust as well as not trusting scientists. Very similar to the people against climate change in my opinion. Though it's true that the anti-GMO and even anti-Nuclear sentiments I see accross the spectrum but those differ a bit from conspiracy theories in that it stems from junk science, rather than a belief in a hidden government or group wanting to personally change you.
- filoleg 8y ago
  My experience couldn’t have been further from yours. Most of the anti-vaxxers I encountered both irl and online were of the kind that is all about natural remedies and distrusting of GMOs and such (as opposed to those distrusting of government and believing in conspiracies; that kind i mostly encountered online only). Just google for outbreaks in the US that are linked to anti-vaxxing and take a note of their locations. Most will start in heavily left-leaning areas. To clarify my point, I personally believe that anti-vaxxing is about evenly distributed between left and right wing, just for different reasons. P.S. As I was trying to find an article about an outbreak in Seattle that I remembered from a few years ago, I realized there is another one happening right this moment https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/an-anti-vaccination-hotspot-near-portland-declares-an-emergency-over-measles-outbreak/?amp=1 https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/an-anti-vaccinatio...
akhilcacharya 8y ago
The most notable anti-vaxxer is our President.

fvdessen 8y ago

GMO/Monsanto, Big Petrol & all their wars, Putin controls XYZ, "The Oligarchy", "The Patriarchy", "The Privileged", Plastic straws from Europe killing turtles in the Galapagos, "Systemic Racism", The Gender Gap, etc.

fzeroracer 8y ago
I'm gonna need you to explain how 'The Patriarchy' ,'The Privileged', 'Systemic Racism' etc are somehow conspiracy theories considering they're more like social critiques around very real issues people face. Unless you mean things you don't like are conspiracy theories in which case we might as well just call everything a conspiracy.
- fvdessen 8y ago
  Being poor is a very real issue somebody can face. Attributing the cause of this state of affairs as being the intentional result of a coordinated group of people, without real evidence that this is the case, is a conspiracy theory. I seems to me that 'The Patriarchy' / 'The Privileged' on the left are conceptually quite similar to 'The Deep State' or 'The Jews' on the right. And those are most often described as conspiracy theories, and rightly so.
  - fzeroracer 8y ago
    If you think they're conceptually quite similar then I don't know what else to say except that you would just be objectively wrong. The difference between a conspiracy theory and a social critique is the personal nature of it. People that believe that the 'Jews' or that 'The Deep State' is responsible for everything believe that there are specific actors, people doing things explicitly to stop someone. When people complain about the patriarchy or systemic racism they're complaining about a large tangled of social contracts and norms that result in certain people, races, genders etc being disenfranchised. For example it's a statistical fact that a black man smoking marijuana is not only more likely to be thrown in jail but also more likely to face harsher sentences than a white man smoking marijuana. What else would you call this, other than systemic racism? You can't point to a similar statistic, study or what not that shows 'The Deep State' is specifically targeting Donald Trump or that 'The Jews' are attempting to kill all white people. You can, however, point to specific actions and trends the FBI has taken in the past to disenfranchise black people, including actions taken against Martin Luther King Jr. One side explicitly has a factual basis behind it. The other does not. That's what makes one a conspiracy theory, and the other something worthy of scrutiny.