It's a Conspiracy!

Lately, we've had a lot of conspiracy threads. I wanted to say something about conspiracy theories.

All conspiracy theories posit a villain. Big Industry, or Big Government are the usual culprits.

These whipping boys get picked on because they are big, and rich, and powerful. It's easy to paint them as Evil, because it's easy to stir up envy at their success. The implication is that they got where they are on the backs of the Little People by deluding them.

What the conspiracy theorists forget is that these institutions were not always big and rich and powerful. They got that way because they made something that a lot of people wanted. Their customers, individually and collectively, lifted them up...because they gave those customers something of value.

"You can fool some of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." People, by and large, aren't fools. The shyster who sells a shoddy product, or makes exaggerated claims, cannot stay in business for long. Governments who don't deliver on their promises are deposed. Frauds are uncovered.

These huge institutions...the drug companies, the insurance companies, the auto manufacturers, the cumbersome legal system, Microsoft...all successful organizations, in fact...operate within the same human universe as everyone else, and are subject to its rules. They are successful because they satisfied the vast majority of the people who dealt with them.

It has always been so. The mighty cannot get to be mighty, or stay that way, through deliberate deceit. It may work for a time, but it is always exposed in the end.

This is why, when someone rants about the Vast Right Wing (or Left Wing) Conspiracy, or this or that cabal, or the pharmaceutical companies foisting deadly viruses on us in the name of vaccines, I am immediately skeptical. It's so easy to believe in some Vast Secret Group of Evil...so much easier than learning the facts, or the history. And it's nearly always wrong.

/me votes for Lindal to be strip searched for listening bugs before she's allowed to enter the forum cartel HQ again.

This is just what THEY want you to believe!!

It's partly true, but partly false.

Yes, big institutions got to be big by doing well and satisfying those they dealt with. However, that doesn't necessarily continue forever, and the balance changes over time. If a company has the choice between satisfying 9 million people who pay $1 each, or one company who pays $10m, then the company wins, and 9 million people might feel conspired against - is that unreasonable?

Plus, of course, the effect of climax economics is changing things a lot - and SL is very different to RL in that regard.

Or they have bribed the vast majority of people who might get in their way.

Some big government/ corporate entities are evil, evil meaning they are only interested in their own self perpetuation, growth, profit and control of our lives and don't care about anything or anyone else. Others, because they have the power to control what we do, where we go what we buy, where we live and work, etc, not though necessarily a nefarious agenda, but because of the system we have in place.

Of course, some good deeds come from this, they have the money and power to do good, when it suits them. It doesn't suit them enough however, with a few exceptions. We live in a multinational, mass market corporate culture. A relatively small number of companies have influence on a relatively large part of our lives. Through media and through their lobbying of our governments they have created a kind of Corporate Fascism which they try to disguise as Capitalism, but true Capitalism died here many years ago.

I am a firm believer in free enterprise and the entrepeneur, of the private sector doing as much as possible, and the government minding it's own damn business. Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. While I am not necessarily a conspiracy theorist, I do hold much of the disdain for big government and the corporate world that they do. I try to minimaize my contact with both of them as much as possible.

/me recommends a classic essay, which is perhaps a bit dated in its references now, but no less true, to my mind than it was 40-odd years ago. He's specifically talking about America but he does make point that his account is just as applicable elsewhere, and not just to the radical right, either: http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/conspiracy_theory/the_paranoid_mentality/the_paranoid_style.html

There is no such thing as the FIC and anyone who perpetuates that rumor will be taken care of promptly. (^_^)y

In the "conspiracy" sense, there could not be a FIC. But in the social sense, SL would have to be bending over backwards extremely hard in order for there NOT to be a FIC.

The first rule of the FIC is not to talk about the FIC

People always underestimate the power of the supervillain's union.

It hasn't been the same since Hoffa got whacked.

Ahhh... good times.

This thread does not exist.

Yep, couldn't have said it better if I had made you say what I wanted you to say, because I did

"Roy, he says the thread doesn't exist. Should I call him a Communist?"

"I dunno, Joe. But find out what he is doing after the hearing. He's cute."

Well, only crazy people would talk about something that does not exist.

.

While searching images for 'crazy', I found this one and just laughed so hard:

Did they ever find a body?

No?

Then you didn't see ehhhny-thing... Capice?

OMG - Lmao w/snortZ even

they figure every conspiracy theory is only a theory for about 30 years..the only successful conspiracies are the ones right infront of your face..the ones they try to hide never stay hidden..cause someone always has a big mouth lol

That's very true, almost without exception. It takes someone posessing strong convictions, which isn't a bad thing, but also someone with a most gullable and suspicious nature to hop on the conspiracy train. Any sane and rational person would indeed triple question ANYthing in their life that seemed not so honest, not grab at it in a panic like a choice tidbit and run with it, holding it up to the world as undeniable proof of this or that. Research things for yourself, cross referrence, don't be lazy and let others who *claim* to have done it for you dictate. The list of tragedies in this world would be a fraction of what they currently are had people kept their rational minds intact when deciding on things.

You mean that prostitution is doing roaring business these days?

Remember, it only takes two to have a conspiracy. /me winks at Lindal.