Conspiracy everywhere

CONSPIRACY RISING

TEXTBOOK

Introduction

An evil group of men has always wanted to rule the entire world. In the past conquest has failed to achieve this, due to the resulting outrage and awareness of the enemy. In our present time an evil group are trying a subtle but effective way to rule. This is to gradually infiltrate and delude the masses into accepting their ideas. Such subtle gradualism, along with distraction (such as unnecessary work, study, entertainment and sport) is being used effectively. Few people will therefore be aware of what is going on.

—Richard Hole, “True Conspiracies”

Today, talk of conspiracy pervades water-cooler discussions, Internet sites, and popular entertainment. Conspiracy theories exist that purport to explain matters as trivial as sports and entertainment, as well as some of the most signifi cant economic and political issues of our times. Websites warn us that if any NFL game seems “too good to be true,” it is because the game has been fixed that Paul McCartney’s death in a 1966 car crash means  that a look-alike has replaced him for the past 45 years and that perhaps the notion that we need to drink eight glasses of water per day is a fabrication to encourage us to drink bottled water. More significantly, conspiracy  theories have also come to pervade our political lives.

Some of the most significant of these conspiracy theories challenge political legitimacy and therefore have a potentially serious impact on the health of democratic political regimes. The American “Birther” movement, for example, claims—despite thorough evidence to the contrary—that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, and therefore ineligible to serve as president of the United States. The circulation of these types of theories has a political impact. A CNN poll in July of 2010 found that only 42 percent of Americans were certain that Obama was born in the United States.

Whether or not you are a believer or a skeptic, it is difficult to escape discussions of conspiracy. They are everywhere. For believers, the prevalence of conspiratorial warnings is evidence of the veracity of their beliefs. We are living in special times. It is up to us to act now to prevent the conspirators from coming to power and preserve what is left of our liberty. In what we are told is the most important battle in human history, it is we and our era that are most critical. From warnings that a secret group of Jewish bankers is plotting a New World Order, to arguments that Barack Obama is in league with the Illuminati, and his presidency the final stage in installing totalitarian socialism in America, conspiracy theorists tell us that it is we and our times that are decisive. Can this be? Are we all that stands between life as we know it and an apocalyptic hell? If so, we had better join in the fight.

Those less inclined to accept a conspiratorial worldview are likely to scoff at such dire warnings, and even mock those who believe them. The “Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theory Generator,” for example, promises “Fair and Balanced Paranoia, Delivered on Demand.”Using common conspiracy villains, themes, and goals, along with various slogans of the political right and other miscellaneous terms, it generates slightly skewed conspiracy theories that fit surprisingly well into the conspiracy oeuvre. One such theory, for example, warns, “There are crypto-Muslim sleeper agents in every part of the government who are releasing flying monkeys as we speak to help them enslave you in FEMA camps.”

Similarly, a wide variety of blogs criticize Hillary Clinton’s use of conspiracy theory to defend herself. Criticisms of Clinton’s claims are almost as prevalent on the right, as are the conspiracy theories of the left. Indeed, Clinton’s claims are also sometimes used for comedic effect. In 2008, for example, in attempting to explain some unusual behavior, Alec Baldwin complained that he had been the victim of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Many nonbelievers’ responses suggest that they view such beliefs as a subject for humor rather than as politically significant in any way.

This book challenges both conspiratorial ideas and those who dismiss them as trivial. Instead, it considers conspiratorial belief systems as inherently meaningful, not as true assessments of reality, but instead, as representations of a community’s experiences and concerns. In their architecture, choice of conspiratorial villains and victims, and in their view of the world’s future, these theories can tell us much about the nature of political life. Fundamentally, conspiracy theories concern political power, and their popularity during particular periods of human history is related to shifts in the distribution of power, both within states, and in their international relations. Conspiracy theories therefore deserve reasonable and serious political analysis because they provide insight into how believers perceive the ways in which political power is used, and because these perceptions can influence their actions.

The book begins with an analysis of conspiracy thinking and a consideration of its different forms. There is an important distinction to be made regarding the ways in which the dominant conspiracy discourse has changed in the last 100 years. Discussions of conspiracy once focused on specific political events, for example, the assassination of John F. Kennedy or the death of Elvis Presley, and while these have continued, today we are perhaps more likely to hear that a conspiracy exists that is working to dominate every aspect of our existence. Typically these “superconspiracies” involve a number of secret groups, working in concert, and include such villains as the Illuminati, Freemasons, or Knights Templar. Some of the most popular conspiracy theories today, those which concern the New World Order and or the North American Union, are of this type. The Illuminati, Freemasons, and Templars figure prominently in these efforts. There are good reasons why these groups are selected as the evil powers working to control the world. A consideration of the documented history of the Big Three conspiratorial villains provides insights into the reasons why they are often selected as the secret controlling forces of world history.

How did superconspiracies become such a popular way of understanding economics and politics? Interestingly, the person most responsible for this transformation of conspiracy thinking is Nesta Webster, a British woman who developed her theories in the first half of the 20th century. Webster was convinced that the world’s secret societies worked in concert, aiming to destroy British civilization. Her ideas found a significant audience during her lifetime; her books went into multiple editions, and she became a right-wing celebrity, running her own political information center in central London.

The majority of Webster’s books remain in print today, and her influence can be found particularly in the conspiracy theories of the American far right (including the Militia and Patriot movements). Webster’s life and ideas are discussed in chapter 3, and they suggest an important theme of this book. The nature of the economic, social, and political upheaval of Webster’s lifetime conditioned her vision of a world torn by an intense and ultimate conflict between evil conspirators and their victims, a battle brought to a head by Britain’s loss of hegemony, and the forces of globalization. In a world where it was becoming increasingly obvious that events in one state could affect others, conspiracy discourse accommodated that new reality by expanding the number of its villains, and the scope of their reach.

This argument is considered in more detail in chapter 4, which examines what international relations scholars call “long cycles” of global politics. At the conclusion of each long cycle, a period during which the hegemonic power of the era is declining in its ability to maintain order in the international system, there appears to be a spike in the popularity of conspiracy theory. As the United Provinces declined, conspiracy theory first emerged as a mode of political explanation. AsBritain began to lose its capacity to dominate the world system, conspiracy theory became a popular form of discourse once more, and in the new globalized world, appeared in a new globalized form. As the United States’ capacity to order the international system has declined, conspiracy theory has become a powerful force in American politics.

The events of September 11, 2001, were a stark and tragic reminder that in the 21st-century world, political will could be violently expressed internationally, in unexpected ways. Relying on an airport security network that had perhaps grown complacent, and Western expectations that terrorists would want to preserve their own lives, 19 hijackers used American airliners, in American cities, to strike at symbols of American global power: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Passengers ensured that the third airplane—likely aimed at another Washington target, the Capitol or the White House—would not reach its target. They forced it into a Pennsylvania field. In scope and power these actions had no precedent, and for a nation historically protected from such violence by its geography and military power, they were shocking.

Almost immediately, the search for explanations began, and for many, the only rationale could possibly be that the government must have known in advance of the attacks, and perhaps was even responsible for them. For others, the attack was one component of a Zionist plot to control the world. “Didn’t you know,” said one of my students about a week later, “that 4,000 Jews didn’t show for work at the World Trade Center on September 11?” He was not alone in this outrageous belief; the idea that a secret network had informed its allies of the impending disaster still circulates on the Internet. Chapter 5 considers why, in the wake of such a human tragedy, so many people, including thousands of Americans, would conclude that the U.S. government, and/or a religious minority, would wish to kill innocent citizens.

The prevalence of conspiracy theory as a mode of political discourse during particular historical periods suggests that it is a response to uncertain conditions. Chapter 6 makes clear that there are particular dangers inherent in its structure. Conspiracy theory fosters two paradoxical tendencies: apathy and political extremism. Both of these propensities are unhealthy for the political community. Conspiracy thinking encourages believers to view the political world in a dualistic frame. It emphasizes a distinction between “us” and “them,” and therefore promotes a hostile political environment. Opponents become enemies. Politics, however, is not just about speech, it is also about action. For this reason, conspiracy theories can also be used to justify violence. While political apathy may not seem to be as great a threat, within democracies it too is problematic. If citizens are not vigilant and/or choose not to participate in the democratic process, government may overstep its limits and violate their rights and freedoms. By their very belief that the world is dominated by a conspiracy bent on destroying their freedom, conspiracy believers may in fact play a vital role in allowing their government to engage in just such a violation.

This project began in the Cambridge University Library, where I came across Nesta Webster’s many books, and was moved by her life story to pursue the question that has driven this research: why do people choose to believe in conspiracy theories? In beginning to answer that query, this research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and a fellowship at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. As the project expanded, it was furthered by my tenure as the Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Religion and Conflict, a position which provided the necessary time and resources to complete this work. Over the course of this project, I have also had the assistance of a number of graduate research students; Jennifer Jannuska, Craig Brannagan, Jack MacClennan, and Herb Simms are deserving of special mention. I am also indebted to Paul Green, whose redrawing of Nesta Webster’s Chart of the World Revolution artfully clarifies her arguments. Any errors or omissions in this book are my own responsibility.

For many reasons, this project took a number of years to come to fruition. I owe a great debt to many people, including a very patient editor and colleagues who tolerated my intellectual meanderings on this topic. Thanks are also due to my friends and extended family, who were similarly longsuffering.

I am most grateful, however, for the support of my immediate family, who endured far too many dinner-table discussions concerning conspiracy theories and politics than anyone shouldhave to, and did so with great patience. In this as in all else, I am indebted to John Sutcliffe, whose kindness, generosity, and sense of humor help me find joy every day, and to Rory and Iain, who question everything, and know that our world is one of infinite possibilities.