Conspiracy Afoot

With the liberation of the media to free market competition via internet and cable satelite has come the phenomenon of chanels devoted entirely and exlusively to conspiracy theories.Now to the undiscerning the power of the conspiracy theory is very seductive.It holds out the alluring prospect of revealing the secrets of the universe, giving power to the powerless and providing an explanation of everything in a neat hermetically sealed closed system of knowledge.It empowers the disenfranchised and marginalised with a intoxicating feeling of righteous indignation,self validation and serves up a rationalisation of their anger at the deal they have been given by uncaring impersonal cruel world.It tends to attract those on the margins of society who hold a grudge against the system which in their minds has left them out in the cold and has not recognised their trute worth and consigned them to subsistence on a low wage menial existence where their inherent virtues have been ignored and not recognised.

The spiritual has been sidelined for crude materialism,so the narrative continues,and New Age here steps into the breach with its alternative medicine and philosophy which is another strand of the Conspiracy theorists which I will not go into now sufficing at this point to allude to it as another strand in the rich and variegated tapestry of conspiracy theorists.The multifarious conspiracies be they wildy contradictory and divergent share a common denominator namely the existence of a sinister cabal of elitists in their hideaways plotting and planning the global takekover and enslavement of the masses in a dark conspiracy to rob the people of their birthright and liberty. A bewildering cascade and melange of disconnected arbitrary facts and figures are put to service to illustrate the fiendish plots of these putative Masters of the Universe and no scenario however preposterous is excluded from the dogs dinner of conspiracies be it 9\11,Apollo landings ('supposed'!) ad nauseam.Of course a degree of plausibilty is required to make the conspiracy theory medicine go down so interpolated with the more wild and outlandish crackerbarrel UFO storiies and elaborate concoctions there is a smattering and verisimiltude of truth,eg,the idea that the push to a One World order either through the EU or UN has a genuine internal logic to it.There are those be they Al Gore with his climate change propaganda (which the Conspiracy theorists funnily enough oppose) who do want to enslave us with their Big Government solutions.Herin lies the bait for the unwary for by inserting some truths into their narrative the conspiracy theorists manage to ensnare some genuinely enquiring minds into embracing the theories lock stock and barrel and we end up with the absurd scenario described to me by a friend who when challenging the ridiculous theories embraced by an associate was met with the asinine retort:'why wouldn't David Icke be telling the truth'? (As well go into a lunatic asylum and attempt to convince the inmates that they are not really Napoleon!)And here we come to the issue of what happens when the conspiracy theorisits are challenged.They invariable become defensive and abusive to their detractors.We have been brainwashed by the media,we are too stupid to see what is going on, television has robbed us of our critical faculties, we are not part of the elite initiated who know what is going on,we are basically dupes of 'the system'.It becomes clear that one is confronting the belief system that is every bit as immune to logic and reason as the most primitive hysterical hidebound religious zealot and bigot.Unbeleivers are treated to an admixture of ad hominem abuse pity and contempt in equal measure.

There is a political and ideological base to the conspiracy theorists agendas that becomes discernible fairly early on into any examination of their programmes and broadcasts albeit allowing for some notable and exceptions to the general rule but these are by their very nature unrepresentative and marginal and so can be dismissed as they go against the general trend which can only be categorised as pro Left and anti Capitalist.(A good - or bad example of this is Max Keiser on RT although I am really intending to concentrate predominantly here on TV chanels such as Edge Media and PSTV so will perhaps return to Keiser later on).to be cont