8 ms·

Maybe they're coming around to a more effective western technique: "we're good guys" facade combined with stealth oppression :-P I kid.. I kid...

by hmexx 14y ago

INTPenis 14y ago
But really you don't kid. You're only afraid of being labeled a crackpot in a tinfoil hat. This is what western media has done, subtle propaganda has made certain words like conspiracy sound crazy. When our history books teach us that conspiracies have been part of humanity for as long back as we can find documents for it. Most likely before. I kid, I kid...
- stfu 14y ago
  The problem is in my opinion, that the "conspiracy" websphere is a quite a closed circle. They either go full blown "bow to our UFO overlords", or nothing. I wish there were a few in-between media outlets that had a decent level of sanity and look & feel more linkable for "non believers".
  - mtgx 14y ago
    I have a rule of thumb these days. Anything crazy that I hear the military, NSA or FBI are doing - I take it as being true, rather than a "conspiracy theory". I think I have a much higher chance of being right than not, in most cases. So I'd rather think like that by default, especially with many former "crazy conspiracy theories" being confirmed as true by more recent leaks and whistleblowers. I think most people still think the opposite, though, so even if something big gets uncovered, they won't really believe it to be true "in their hearts".
    - criley 14y ago
      So you really believe that the government is setting up concentration camps around the country, is going to use the military domestically to round up guns and all dissenters, and Obama is going to seize dictatorial control of the USA then hand sovereignty over to the New World Order? Maybe we just hear different conspiracies but I'm pretty positive that the conspiracy nonsense regarding the government shouldn't be taken as "true by default".
      - runn1ng 14y ago
        Don't forget the Area 52 where they combine alien and human DNA.
        rglovejoy 14y ago
        Right, because Area 51 is just a decoy.
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      - nacker 14y ago
        The fact that you are "pretty positive" about that only means that you are the kind of person who is too lazy to investigate the facts. You probably still believe that JFK was killed by a crazed lone gunman, that Pearl Harbor was a complete surprise to FDR, and that 9/11 was NOT an inside job. In other words, you are the kind of complacent rube that makes it all possible, thanks a lot.
  - rockyleal 14y ago
    Well, then you can read the actual serious intellectuals and researchers like Chomsky, for example. Read "Manufacturing Consent", no ufo stuff there just the real deal. There is extensive literature and documentation of what is really going on, but its not going to be part of the narrative, you have to look for it. Assange's new book is another example. There are tons of authors, just follow the thread. Note: HN, any other reading material you would recommend to me or to stfu?
    - rayiner 14y ago
      Chomsky is decidedly not a conspiracy theorist. One of the main points in "Manufacturing Consent" is that you can have a healthy production of propoganda without any conspiratorial relationship between the media and government.
      - neumann_alfred 14y ago
        At the same time, Chomsky ain't dumb. Of course powerful people look out for their own interests; that leads to an overlap in goals with other powerful people, and a defensive/paranoid stance towards those you wield power over. Just like a lot of analog clocks hanging on a wall will synchronize, so will they. Does it have to be explicitly expressed and planned to be a conspiracy? Nah. And if people get sorted and filtered based on how well they internalized rationalizations and outright lies, that's your "conspirational relationship" right there. Though "the government" is hardly the driving force here -- have you even read Chomsky? But yes, Chomsky isn't a pussy and Chomsky pays attention. But what he points out are conspiracies in effect, and they are every bit as sinister as some James Bond BS you could come up with; it's just that "none of this is controversial", no paranoia required.
        rayiner 14y ago
        > Does it have to be explicitly expressed and planned to be a conspiracy? That's pretty much the definition of "conspiracy." > And if people get sorted and filtered based on how well they internalized rationalizations and outright lies, that's your "conspirational relationship" right there. No, that's not a conspiracy. It might be something else, but it's not a conspiracy. > Though "the government" is hardly the driving force here -- have you even read Chomsky? I read "Manufacturing Consent."
- sbirchall 14y ago
  “Trust no one! The minute God crapped out the third caveman, a conspiracy was hatched against one of them! ” ― Col. Hunter Gathers, OSI (venture brothers) But to be honest I imagine that the vast majority of so-called conspiracy is just like seeing a face on the moon - we're highly complex social analysers and modern civilisation is at least an order (but more like several orders) of magnitude bigger/more complex than the machinery that has stood us in good stead for however many generations. Hence - we see a ghost in the machine pulling the strings when really "The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business" as is so eloquently put in Network.
  - stfu 14y ago
    I guess the biggest problem is the consistent track record of "the government" lying to the people while "word on the street" had it right. The long history from "smoking is harmless" to "there are WMDs in Iraq" has created the impression, that government is not working for the people but against the people. That might be a wrong impression for most of the services government performs, but in other high profile areas (e.g. "security theater") these situations are set to repeat.
  - pnathan 14y ago
    A lot of conspiracy stuff is definitely coming from the mentally disturbed part of society. But on the other hand, we have to be careful. It is absolutely the case that certain groups conspire for various activities: Lenin & the Bolsheviks, Paul Revere and the US revolutionaries, the Praetorian Guards in ancient Rome, just to name a few. Pertaining more to the usual conspiracy fodder, reviewing the Church Committee reports on the CIA (c.f. "United States President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States" in Wikipedia) does not give great comfort to people who would like to ignore conspiracies. They happen, but they aren't aliens from the Zonker Dimension in snake form.
  - Shorel 14y ago
    I think you will find this interesting: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14zlhf/what_are_some_conspiracy_theories_you_truly/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14zlhf/what_are_s...
eternalban 14y ago
Actually you have nailed it. And I kid not.
fatjokes 14y ago
You're not kidding at all. It amuses me how often I hear people rant about other countries' (esp. China) propaganda... and then cite Fox News.

Maybe they're coming around to a more effective western technique: "we're good guys" facade combined with stealth oppression :-P I kid.. I kid...

by hmexx 14y ago

Maybe they're coming around to a more effective western technique: "we're good guys" facade combined with stealth oppression :-P I kid.. I kid...

INTPenis 14y ago

But really you don't kid. You're only afraid of being labeled a crackpot in a tinfoil hat. This is what western media has done, subtle propaganda has made certain words like conspiracy sound crazy. When our history books teach us that conspiracies have been part of humanity for as long back as we can find documents for it. Most likely before. I kid, I kid...

stfu 14y ago
The problem is in my opinion, that the "conspiracy" websphere is a quite a closed circle. They either go full blown "bow to our UFO overlords", or nothing. I wish there were a few in-between media outlets that had a decent level of sanity and look & feel more linkable for "non believers".
- mtgx 14y ago
  I have a rule of thumb these days. Anything crazy that I hear the military, NSA or FBI are doing - I take it as being true, rather than a "conspiracy theory". I think I have a much higher chance of being right than not, in most cases. So I'd rather think like that by default, especially with many former "crazy conspiracy theories" being confirmed as true by more recent leaks and whistleblowers. I think most people still think the opposite, though, so even if something big gets uncovered, they won't really believe it to be true "in their hearts".
  - criley 14y ago
    So you really believe that the government is setting up concentration camps around the country, is going to use the military domestically to round up guns and all dissenters, and Obama is going to seize dictatorial control of the USA then hand sovereignty over to the New World Order? Maybe we just hear different conspiracies but I'm pretty positive that the conspiracy nonsense regarding the government shouldn't be taken as "true by default".
    - runn1ng 14y ago
      Don't forget the Area 52 where they combine alien and human DNA.
      - rglovejoy 14y ago
        Right, because Area 51 is just a decoy.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
    - nacker 14y ago
      The fact that you are "pretty positive" about that only means that you are the kind of person who is too lazy to investigate the facts. You probably still believe that JFK was killed by a crazed lone gunman, that Pearl Harbor was a complete surprise to FDR, and that 9/11 was NOT an inside job. In other words, you are the kind of complacent rube that makes it all possible, thanks a lot.
- rockyleal 14y ago
  Well, then you can read the actual serious intellectuals and researchers like Chomsky, for example. Read "Manufacturing Consent", no ufo stuff there just the real deal. There is extensive literature and documentation of what is really going on, but its not going to be part of the narrative, you have to look for it. Assange's new book is another example. There are tons of authors, just follow the thread. Note: HN, any other reading material you would recommend to me or to stfu?
  - rayiner 14y ago
    Chomsky is decidedly not a conspiracy theorist. One of the main points in "Manufacturing Consent" is that you can have a healthy production of propoganda without any conspiratorial relationship between the media and government.
    - neumann_alfred 14y ago
      At the same time, Chomsky ain't dumb. Of course powerful people look out for their own interests; that leads to an overlap in goals with other powerful people, and a defensive/paranoid stance towards those you wield power over. Just like a lot of analog clocks hanging on a wall will synchronize, so will they. Does it have to be explicitly expressed and planned to be a conspiracy? Nah. And if people get sorted and filtered based on how well they internalized rationalizations and outright lies, that's your "conspirational relationship" right there. Though "the government" is hardly the driving force here -- have you even read Chomsky? But yes, Chomsky isn't a pussy and Chomsky pays attention. But what he points out are conspiracies in effect, and they are every bit as sinister as some James Bond BS you could come up with; it's just that "none of this is controversial", no paranoia required.
      - rayiner 14y ago
        > Does it have to be explicitly expressed and planned to be a conspiracy? That's pretty much the definition of "conspiracy." > And if people get sorted and filtered based on how well they internalized rationalizations and outright lies, that's your "conspirational relationship" right there. No, that's not a conspiracy. It might be something else, but it's not a conspiracy. > Though "the government" is hardly the driving force here -- have you even read Chomsky? I read "Manufacturing Consent."
sbirchall 14y ago
“Trust no one! The minute God crapped out the third caveman, a conspiracy was hatched against one of them! ” ― Col. Hunter Gathers, OSI (venture brothers) But to be honest I imagine that the vast majority of so-called conspiracy is just like seeing a face on the moon - we're highly complex social analysers and modern civilisation is at least an order (but more like several orders) of magnitude bigger/more complex than the machinery that has stood us in good stead for however many generations. Hence - we see a ghost in the machine pulling the strings when really "The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business" as is so eloquently put in Network.
- stfu 14y ago
  I guess the biggest problem is the consistent track record of "the government" lying to the people while "word on the street" had it right. The long history from "smoking is harmless" to "there are WMDs in Iraq" has created the impression, that government is not working for the people but against the people. That might be a wrong impression for most of the services government performs, but in other high profile areas (e.g. "security theater") these situations are set to repeat.
- pnathan 14y ago
  A lot of conspiracy stuff is definitely coming from the mentally disturbed part of society. But on the other hand, we have to be careful. It is absolutely the case that certain groups conspire for various activities: Lenin & the Bolsheviks, Paul Revere and the US revolutionaries, the Praetorian Guards in ancient Rome, just to name a few. Pertaining more to the usual conspiracy fodder, reviewing the Church Committee reports on the CIA (c.f. "United States President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States" in Wikipedia) does not give great comfort to people who would like to ignore conspiracies. They happen, but they aren't aliens from the Zonker Dimension in snake form.
- Shorel 14y ago
  I think you will find this interesting: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14zlhf/what_are_some_conspiracy_theories_you_truly/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14zlhf/what_are_s...

eternalban 14y ago

Actually you have nailed it. And I kid not.

fatjokes 14y ago

You're not kidding at all. It amuses me how often I hear people rant about other countries' (esp. China) propaganda... and then cite Fox News.