Many conspiracies whispered about by the "tinfoil hat" crowd are considered by the masses to be theories until a consensus is reached by the majority and they become commonly accepted as fact.
Until this happens, conspiracy theorists are easily marginalized and discredited by the masses as lunatics who deserve to be mocked and then ignored. Once it does happen, the masses typically counter any hints of "I told you so" with "We actually knew it all along".
A recent example of this would be the origin of COVID-19. In the spring of 2020, the independent financial news site Zerohedge produced a fantastic piece of journalism that showed that research on bat coronaviruses was taking place at the level 4 virology lab close to the wet market that supposedly sparked the pandemic.
For their trouble, they were banned from Twitter, ridiculed, slandered, and the theory was debunked by "fact checkers" all over the world, including a peer supported hit piece in the Lancet submitted by Eco Health Alliance's Peter Daszak. Since then, it has also become common knowledge that Anthony Fauci's NIH provided funding to Eco Health Alliance, who had outsourced gain of function research on deadly viruses to the Wuhan lab after it had been outlawed in the United States.
For the tide to turn, all it took was a "trusted" celebrity- in this case Jon Stewart- to comedically suggest the logic of it all.
Now this "conspiracy theory" is universally accepted. Enough people were swayed in their beliefs and echoed this on social media that the mainstream narrative shifted, lest the corporate media machine lose people's attention.
Some conspiracy theories, however, are just too enigmatic to ever become universally accepted.
Consider, for example, the grand-daddy of all conspiracy theories: the JFK assassination.
7 years after the assassination, Abraham Zapruder's footage of the assassination was released to the public, demonstrating that Kennedy was shot in the front from his right side.
And yet, the narrative remains to this day that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin and killed Kennedy using a bolt action rifle from the 6th floor of the Texas schoolbook depository building. Before being fatally shot by Jack Ruby, Oswald blurted "I'm just a patsy". Jack Ruby, a Chicago night club owner, conveniently died in prison a few years later.
Despite its brutality and horror, the Kennedy assassination remains a rabbit hole without bottom, tinfoil hat not included. The American establishment continue to withold details about the assassination and subsequent investigations in the interest of "National Security".
Exploration of most conspiracy theories typically focus on the how: who, what, where and when. Often overlooked is the why.
Suggested Viewing
JFK, Oliver Stone, 1991
The Grassy Knoll - FBI Agents Re-Examine the JFK Assassination, 2008
Suggested Reading
Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, Peter Dale Scott, 1996.
For reflection and discussion
What conditions are necessary and sufficient for a conspiracy theory that is demonstrably true to remain fringe in the public's perception?
What roles do cognitive dissonance and ego investment play in acknowledging conspiracy theories?
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