Modern American Conspiracy Theories

What is a Conspiracy? A secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal The Lincoln assassination Watergate break-in and cover-up Conspiracy theories Cannot be proven or disproven Can be made increasingly elaborate “That’s what they want you to think” Lack evidence or data to support cause

Who believes in conspiracy theories? In general, normal people About ¼ of Americans on average Probably many of you… People who believe in one will usually believe in several People will believe in contradicting theories bin Laden was dead before the raid bin Laden is still alive

“Common” Conspiracies Illuminati and the New World Order Climate change hoax to increase taxes & gov’t control Barack Obama is a Muslim/not born in U.S. Vaccines cause autism Cell phones cause cancer bin Laden is alive Obamacare death panels Paul is dead 1985 NBA draft Fluoridation of water Chemtrails Gov’t response to Hurricane Katrina “New” Coca-Cola The reptilian elite Common Core is anti-Christian, anti-American Invention of new diseases

Why do people believe? Hofstadter (1964) “The Paranoid Style of American Politics” – a long history of paranoia Powerful, secret societies working against the American ideals of liberty, democracy, and equality Someone is out to get us (Freemasons, Catholics, communists) The internet and social media allow for rapid and ubiquitous communication Deep-rooted distrust of authority Lack of tangible evidence

Why do people believe? We want an easy answer Science/medicine is complicated or upsetting The brain looks for concrete patterns To make sense of a tragic event Has to be more to it… (secret plot) Can’t accept a cause that is senseless Dislike of person, people, or organization Reasonable fears/concerns turn to hysteria Personal interest

Five Options for this Project The government covered up the crash of an alien spacecraft in Roswell, NM in 1947 and keeps it at Area 51 Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the 1963 assassination of JFK The 1969 moon landing was faked HIV was created by the CIA to wipe out gay people and African Americans The September 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job

Your Task What is the historical narrative? What actually happened Why is the event historically significant? What is/are the conspiracy theory(ies) surrounding the event? Why do they have appeal? What biases or questions exist? (use reasoning) Evaluate theory. What are the counterarguments?