Conspiracy Theories...what is their main purpose?

[Hexen]

What is the main purpose of conspiracy theories after all? Are they designed to mislead workers into a strawman and carry out someone else's agenda (Right Wing Libertarians, Nazis, etc)? Or most importantly of all it is designed to keep workers under FUD (since people living in fear makes them far easier to control)?

What the marxist perspective of conspiracy theories after all?

[HEAD ICE]

Conspiracy theories are a type of idealism that misleads workers away from class struggle.

The essence of a conspiracy theory is, well, a "conspiracy" amongst a group of people plotting devilish plans to control something. Poverty, war, and globalization are plotted plans by an elite group of people behind closed doors (the Illuminati, Bilderberg group, the Jooooz).

The result of this thinking is, to stop poverty, war, and the like, we have to get rid of these conspirators. We have to "expose" the conspiracy. Once everyone realizes in their minds that an elite group of people are pulling the strings, they will go away and everything will be fixed.

Take for example 9/11 conspiracy theories. Was it an inside job? All the evidence I have seen points strongly to the negative department. But what if it was? 9/11 truth "activism" obscures more than enlightens. They focus on exposing the conspiracy. If people just realize that Bush and his cronies (or the Jews, the banks, Bilderberg yada yada) did 9/11 to justify war in the middle east and increased domestic surveillance, then the foundation of the war and restricted civil liberties will crumble. Thus, they will not be able to get away with doing it anymore and people will be really pissed off. All we have to do is get rid of the shadowy elite.

This is idealism. This is not marxism. Supposing the 9/11 "truth" shit is actually the truth (which it isn't), exposing the conspiracy is not going to get rid of the tendency of capitalist states to go to war. America is not the main imperialist power because our country is run by deceitful people with bad intentions. We didn't go to war with Iraq because we are assholes. We went to war in Iraq because it was in the interests of American capital, which is represented and protected by the American state. It is material conditions that forces states to engage in war, not bad leaders or a shady elite.

[NGNM85]

Of course, I’m not a Marxist, but I think that, by and large, conspiracy theory is deeply counterproductive. It implies a reductionist, simplistic perspective of the world, (Although, there’s a lot of that going around.) and it is fundamentally irrational. Conspiracy theorists use isolated facts, or, more often, hearsay, to build an entirely circumstantial case which they present as rock-solid fact. Also, for all the time and energy invested in Roswell, or JFK’s assassination, these people seem to have no interest whatsoever, in real, documented misdeeds like MK-Ultra, COINTELPRO, OPERATION: PAPERCLIP, or the military and financial support of any number of brutal dictatorships. At it's heart, this is escapist fantasy.

[synthesis]

People intuitively understand that world events are beyond their control and then flock to narratives which appear to make sense of it all.

[Savage]

How dare you dismiss conspiracy theories, Paul McCartney is dead and Lizards are controlling the world, that much is obvious.

[The Idler]

http://www.workersliberty.org/node/8238

[graymouser]

Conspiracy theories are like God: if they didn't exist, it would be useful for the state to invent them.

Really, both conspiracy theories and religion are both rooted in two similar tendencies of human psychology. First, there's the problem of false positives; humans are hard-wired to confirm rather than deny that there is "something" there. Useful when you're not sure if that sound was a tiger or the wind; not so much when you're trying to figure out if the Bavarian Illuminati control the world. Second, humans have excellent pattern recognition skills, but it can be hard for us to understand that patterns we see aren't really there - which is why people "see" Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich. Between them there is natural basis for religion and conspiracy theories alike.

Now, if conspiracies didn't exist, the government would have to invent them - which is precisely what happened in the case of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic fraud perpetrated by the Tsarist government in Russia. But there are perfectly good reasons why people cook them up sometimes.

[bricolage]

What is the main purpose of conspiracy theories after all? Are they designed to mislead workers into a strawman and carry out someone else's agenda (Right Wing Libertarians, Nazis, etc)? Or most importantly of all it is designed to keep workers under FUD (since people living in fear makes them far easier to control)?
In a way this is a conspiracy theory itself. Class rule is not a Machiavellian system whereby presidents and chief executives get together to decide how best to mislead or control everyone else. Conspiracy theories as has been said are an idealistic misreading of the world whereby individuals and not systemic tendencies are the issue. That being said they are not deliberately put out there by those that benefit from these tendencies to try and serve any agenda or direct anger is some direction. They are not 'designed' so to speak by anyone, they emerge because they emerge, most often from varying, contradictory sources. Ordinary workers are just as likely (probably much more likely actually) to think up conspiracy theories than government leaders are.

[Red Bayonet]

Conspiracy is government by normal means.

[Black Sheep]

Conspiracy is government by normal means.
I'm sensing you meant it the other way around :p

[graymouser]

In a way this is a conspiracy theory itself. Class rule is not a Machiavellian system whereby presidents and chief executives get together to decide how best to mislead or control everyone else. Conspiracy theories as has been said are an idealistic misreading of the world whereby individuals and not systemic tendencies are the issue. That being said they are not deliberately put out there by those that benefit from these tendencies to try and serve any agenda or direct anger is some direction. They are not 'designed' so to speak by anyone, they emerge because they emerge, most often from varying, contradictory sources. Ordinary workers are just as likely (probably much more likely actually) to think up conspiracy theories than government leaders are.
Actually, that's not entirely true. Some conspiracy theories really are counterintelligence or disinformation, and as I said - if they didn't exist, various governments would have to invent them. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion really was a conspiracy text invented by a government agent, expressly for the purpose of defaming Jews. And it's had a bloody legacy in the real world.

Not all information is organic; some of it is, other parts are deliberate parts of establishing a certain hegemony. Conspiracy theories may be mostly bunkum arising out of pattern recognition, but they have a definite useful aspect in that they send people who might otherwise be looking into the issues that really make a difference off chasing their own tails. I would be surprised if the government didn't throw out some periodic disinfo campaigns out just to keep people guessing.

[NewSocialist]

Their main purpose is to humor me

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc201/tpmunro/RonPaulTinFoilHat2.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFsRtYO-csk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFnv56nnC2s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQf-iAPptyM

[Ocean Seal]

What is the main purpose of conspiracy theories after all? Are they designed to mislead workers into a strawman and carry out someone else's agenda (Right Wing Libertarians, Nazis, etc)? Or most importantly of all it is designed to keep workers under FUD (since people living in fear makes them far easier to control)?

What the marxist perspective of conspiracy theories after all?
I don't know what the Marxist perspective is, but my perspective is that they're absolutely ridiculous. In fact they're used to delegitmize all those who call out the government.

If someone calls out the government saying that they're controlled by an elite group called the Illuminati and no one can prove it, and then someone sane calls out the government by stating that they are controlled by an elite group called the bourgeoisie it all sounds like a lot of noise. The point is, that in making these labels the people become distracted and sooner than later reject these crackpots. And eventually when people tell them that the government is indeed not acting in their interests they just shrug it off.

[Amphictyonis]

Of course, I’m not a Marxist, but I think that, by and large, conspiracy theory is deeply counterproductive. It implies a reductionist, simplistic perspective of the world, (Although, there’s a lot of that going around.) and it is fundamentally irrational. Conspiracy theorists use isolated facts, or, more often, hearsay, to build an entirely circumstantial case which they present as rock-solid fact. Also, for all the time and energy invested in Roswell, or JFK’s assassination, these people seem to have no interest whatsoever, in real, documented misdeeds like MK-Ultra, COINTELPRO, OPERATION: PAPERCLIP, or the military and financial support of any number of brutal dictatorships. At it's heart, this is escapist fantasy.

Bakunin :)

[Sensible Socialist]

I may be one of the only people here who isn't totally turned off by conspiracy theories, which is a ruined word in itself. Like any crime, I would like to know the perpetrators. When those crimes amount to the deaths of thousands and thousands of people, I really want to know who did it. It is as simple as that. If a government plotted to kill thousands of people, it would help to prove that they did so in order to fight against the effects of their actions (i.e. military conflict)

I understand why people are turned off to conspiracies. It's true that most of the people who are deeply involved in studying them are of the right-wing, anti-"big government" nature. But I don't think about those people. In this instance, it isn't about who is on your side, but about what you are fighting for and who you are fighting against.

That said, I don't strongly believe in any unproven conspiracies. There isn't enough information to make a concrete decision. But that is strongly due to the governments insistance at hiding evidence and obstruction the pursuit of truth. So, because of that, I can't believe what the government has said about various things.

All I want is answers.

[Oswy]

What is the main purpose of conspiracy theories after all? Are they designed to mislead workers into a strawman and carry out someone else's agenda (Right Wing Libertarians, Nazis, etc)? Or most importantly of all it is designed to keep workers under FUD (since people living in fear makes them far easier to control)?

What the marxist perspective of conspiracy theories after all?

I was going to say that conspiracy theories should be considered on a case by case basis, but most of them are very easy to spot for their 'disconnectedness' from reality. Of those attracted to conspiracy theories I think there is a general tendency for them to be of right-leaning political orientation. Although I'm biased a s left-winger I can't help feel from my long experience of internet discussions with those on the right that they just don't like dealing with hard facts and difficult science. It's far easier, and maybe more exciting, to believe that aliens or communists or the 'New World Order' or whatever, are putting secret messages into dollar notes, or whatever it is they think is going on. Also, sadly, and again from experience of dealing with the mentally ill, and I'm not joking here, people who are mentally disturbed seem far more likely to be attracted to conspiracy theories, in these circumstances usually ones which have themselves as centrally involved in some way.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Conspiracy theories are all just a secret plot by secretive elites to distract credulous people from the fact that hollywood is run by bees.

Conspiracy theories exist because real and accidental conspiracies exist, but are almost inscrutable for outsiders to understand. So people instead invent wild and creative stories to explain what happened, due to the inscrutability of reality. A business bribes a lawmaker to change a regulation, people can't think of why the regulation changed, so they think aliens did it. Of course there was a conspiracy, but people didn't identify the true one. Incidents like Roswell may be a similar case. If you're a military authority figure and you're testing classified jet fighters, it's much better for people to believe that Craft X was an alien spaceship than what it actually is.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I was gonna post what bricolage said really. To say they have a "purpose" is misleading. They don't exist to mislead people against the real ill in society.

I think the thing about conspiracy theories is that they offer plausible solutions or reasons for problems. You can buy into them easily because the conclusions they make are so broad and recognisable. They also tend not to offer solutions to such problems either and often they take the angle that there is a sort of "democratic deficit" and that we need to have our leaders more accountable to themselves. All the most popular ones seem to be backed by some flashy film about it which have really convincing arguments but which could easily be picked apart by further research.

Also, on a march recently saw some people with a banner that read: "illuminazi". Madness.

[Red Bayonet]

Just keep in mind, that the expression "conspiracy theory" was invented by the US Intelligence community to get people to scoff, whenever someone unmasks one of their shenanigans.

[mikelepore]

The left should start an educational project like this: of all the conspiray theories out there, which ones are true? Then we can mention how the capitalist media have strictly banned any mention of the fact that socialism means workers' democracy. We also discuss how capitalists have often sent provacateurs among white workers to tell them "the black workers are trying to take your jobs away", while simultaneousy sending provacateurs among black workers to tell them "the white workers are trying to take your jobs away", all with the goal of preventing the workers from uniting, keeping the workers divided among themselves. Yes, there are some real conspiracies, but they have nothing to do with flying saucers or the other nonsense that the media associate with the word "conspiracy."