When to believe conspiracy theory?

It's a tough one because rich and powerful people do act to seve their own interests, often in covert ways. However, that doesn't mean that any BS read from a dodgy website happens to be true. You need concrete proof to say something definite. To see something as even credible, I think there are three questions to consider before saying it might be true:

1) Would rich and powerful people benefit? (not just the one's I don't like)
2) Does it have a credible narrative.
3) Would it be worth the risk of exposure.

For example I never believed the 9-11 truther stuff because of number 3. All three are a yes to Iraq WMD. Pizzagate fails on every count, as does Cultural Marxism.

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CountScrofula · 41-45, M

Also is someone just rehashing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

If the conspiracy amounts to that a shadowy super-powered elite have executed some major fraud to the detriment of a majority group this is just old-fashioned antisemitism with the labels changed.

And again, most conspiracies are actually pretty obvious and well-known. Governments are not good at covering things up.

walabby · 61-69, M

@CountScrofula I actually have that booklet somewhere. It was proven to be a total fabrication by... some Russian dude?

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@walabby Yeah it was a fabrication and even plagiarized. Original author isn't known but it was almost certainly made by the Okhrana (Tsar's secret police) and just kinda spread like wildfire.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@CountScrofula Yeah, the George Soros and Rothchilds stuff is never far from all of this even when it's not directly mentioned.

A further problem is that this is an antiestablishment narrative and critique of power which is just so obviously wrong and cynical. Sorry to be pedantic but you really do need a materialist class analysis and a theory of state power. 'Bad people do bad things because they are evil' is not helpful. It also works to discredit proper critiques of power in the eyes of many people.

SW-User

@Burnley123 Then there's The Illuminati catch all.