Are conspiracy theories destroying democracy?

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss

There positive sides to conspiracy theories, although there are also negative sides.

There is nothing wrong in being open-minded and not taking everything your here from media as granted, although just as assuming everything you hear from media or government is lies is just as bad as assuming it is true. Open-mindedness requires being objective and when one has taken a decision about something before even taking a look at it, he or she is far from being open-minded. For being open-minded you need to take a look at both sides arguments and after researching the thing yourself create your opinion.

When it comes to alternative news sites, at least for me they seem even worse than the mainstream media, I personally like to research on the more interesting articles I have read on different sites and to be honest, in large majority of cases the information from the mainstream newspapers, except Fox News (Due to them being very right-wing newsportal, I have seen so many lies about what is going in EU, that there is nothing that would make these news trustworty anymore) , tends to be far more accurate and objective than the information spread on different alternative news, which are often taken from MSM at first and the bent so it would suit their audience - as too often are they bending the truth, cherry-picking, taking out of context or sometimes simply outright lieing (whether consciously or simply because of lack of understanding) in order to suit their agenda, whether it is for gaining clicks , spreading their political views or simply lack of understanding of the field they are talking about.

I would say a person believing everything in MSM is far less dangerous than a person taking everything Alex Jones or some other famous conspiracy theories/alternative news site says as granted and dismissing everything from MSM.

Of course there are conspiracies which might be true (especially when it comes to money), I do not deny it, although seeing conspiracy in everywhere and everything, is far from healthy and open-minded and the number of such people, who have already created their opinion on articles and newspieces being lies before they actually read and research the information, is unfortunately growing.

reply to post by stumason

If you're alluding to the fact the US is a republic, it is still a democracy. I am still totally baffled why this is such a difficult concept for some Yanks to understand.

I'm glad you brought this up - I thought it was just me.

Was the NSA/GCHQ spying a conspiracy? I would say it was. Was that act itself or it's exposure by Edward Snowden a threat to democracy?

How was our democracy weakened by it's populace being informed and knowing the truth?

Well these 33 case sure help prove it a bit

usahitman.com...

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss


Sounds like a globalist disinfo question, to me.

More blame the victim mentality or strategy . . . sheesh.

Folks blind to the REALITY of the century or 2 or more of dedicated evil conspiracy toward an evil global government

WANT to be blind . . . &/or

are tooooo addicted to normalcy bias to have a clue . . . &/or

are tooooo arrogant to admit that they've been wrong for so long . . . &/or

are tooooo alcohol, workaholic, other drugs anesthetized to face reality . . . &/or

are tooooo dedicated to pretending that putting the horror awareness off 'interminably' will somehow magically lessen the troublesome challenges when they smack them upside their faces and backsides . . . &/or

are tooooo terminally uninformed to have a clue as to which way is up/down; left/right; deadly/life-giving; . . . &/or

are tooooo lobotomized by the propaganda, TV, movies, video games, political blather to be able to figure out whether they are in/out of the matrix or Alice's rabbit hole . . . . . .

[phone call to lunch . . . bye for now]

TDawgRex
reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss

 

I equate conspiracy theories to thinking. Not buying the line being fed and seeing if there is something else not being said. I still look at all the angles though and try to keep a open mind. It's actually fun...and sometimes scary.

But in the long run, people are people and they ALWAYS have a agenda. The question is, "How does it affect you and me?"

Right on...conspiracy theories do make people think...It's the CRITICAL THINKERS that I actually like to communicate with...only because some theories have been explained and we can move on to the next one...
Asking questions does not make you a crackpot...it's when you decide that the answers given aren't playing into one's fantasy of "magical" plots.
I also understand that theories can damage a worthwhile quest into transparency...they can prove to make issues more elusive, only making the theories more outlandish and not taken seriously...AJ is great at this and it makes me wonder if it isn't a ploy to distract people and label "questioners" as nutjobs.
I'm too curious to not ask questions...when I get logical and sensible answers, my curiosity is satisfied and I can move on to the next topic being questioned.
I've always questioned (internally) posters who bash a theorist as soon as they post a thread...but they don't give any meaningful info as to answer the original question. I guess some people visit this forum only to make fun of theories.Albeit, some theories are OUT THERE and I may not think that there's anything to it...then again, some have thought that my threads didn't have any merit either...best thing to do is to not comment on the thread.

Its the BBC people, its the mouthpiece of the British Government. it sucks up to them almost all the time, it covered up a pedo ring and shuts down investigations into pedo's look at Saville case. but like i said ITS THE BBC.

OP
Are conspiracy theories destroying democracy?

No, Corruption and greed are doing a fine job!

Theories are just from people trying to find out how corrupt and greedy it all is!!

Danny85
Its the BBC people, its the mouthpiece of the British Government. it sucks up to them almost all the time, it covered up a pedo ring and shuts down investigations into pedo's look at Saville case. but like i said ITS THE BBC.

The deceptions of the MSM are not restricted just to the bbc. Its much bigger than just the bbc. And its bigger than the british government. Their cover ups and propaganda just show us who their true masters are.

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss

No conspiracy here. Simple fact and logic really.


Here take a look.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy....Alexander Fraser Tytler

And what has exactly do people think has been going on for a long time in our and all democracies across the globe? We do not live in a democracy or even a republic, I mean you generally have people and wealthy families who are in offices giving themself and voting themselfs more bonuses and incentives each and every year. And it has been like that for a long long time. So yes you could even say we do not and never lived in a democracy, maybe some sort of republic, but even that is as false as can be. # we even have a sort of monarchy going on in our politics with really wealthy families bringing in there own or basically owning the people in said offices. So yes the closest thing to what we live in and have is probably some sort of corporate fascist oligarchy.

What I am saying is. Democracy like all other forms of government needs no help from conspiracy theories to destroy themselfs, they are quite capable of destroying themselfs. But sometimes conspiracies are an effective way of speeding up some processes, and sometimes it just may have the opposite effect. So yes to much of conspiracy's and our so called "democracies" will never come crashing down around our heads one of these days.

Quite a dilemma I know, because maybe the best course is that they all come crashing down. We shall see I suppose.

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss


Democracy 101 , you've got to have one , before you can destroy one. Democracy is just another figment of the imagination.

It makes the surfs believe they have some control but in fact they are most often living is a
Corporatocracy (Corporatocracy, is a term used as an economic and political system controlled by corporations or corporate interests.)

A more accurate statement would be "Are Conspiracy Theorists trying to destroy "Corporatocracy"
and in the whole in answer to that question , I would say "YES".

OptimusSubprime
reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss

 

Something needs to destroy democracy... before it democracy destroys us.

i wholeheartedly agree

democracy is mob rule
its three wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner! (its always the sheep!)

reply to post by stumason


The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.

A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general.

Let me know when you find the word democracy within the Constitution.

Sorry for thread drift, but that needed to be cleared up.

I do not think conspiracy theories do not destroy it, but only draw attention to it. Hopefully the conspiracy theories will get folks to ask questions. That's what we need to do. We also need to pay attention.

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss


No more conspiracy theories? Nothing to see here folks. Just move along now.

Conspiracy theories can be used as tools of subversion or as a bulwark against subversion in the sense that they can help to form a consensus among people who are actually being conspired against.

As a side note, it would be very interesting to attempt to elucidate just exactly what the United States of America is. People who grew up nurtured on the stories of the battle of the great democracies of Europe and North America against the rise of fascism and later communism are often surprised to learn that the United States is not actually a democracy in the simplest, one man, one vote, first past the post sense.

People who have paid more attention to developments in the United States since WW2 will have noticed that the actual situation is more complicated.

Off the top of my head, knowing what I know now, I would say that the United States was set up to preserve the interests of the landed gentry of the time of the Revolution. Guessing, I would say that a republic was chosen and designed, not because a republic was a superior form of government but because a republic would serve the interests of the power elite in the US at the time it was formed.

To put it in overly simplified terms, I think the United States was conceived of as a "plantation" in which there would never be any danger of democracy raising its ugly head.

William Buckley Jr., I believe, at one time said that he didn't think everyone should be allowed to vote. This is not an uncommon idea in the United States. Not long ago Barbara Bush said that she thought the Bush family had done enough and that Jeb Bush should not run for President because there were "other families" who could supply fine candidates.

These sorts of sentiments or beliefs are typical of an oligarchy. The man in the street may believe that America is a classless society and a democracy but that view would be regarded with amusement in the seats of power, by and large. Some oligarchs themselves such as the Kennedys or perhaps Winthrop Rockefeller, who enlisted in the Army as a private in WW2, undoubtedly shared to some extent the average man's view of the country.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on the process by which Presidents are selected/elected in the United States, but the electoral college system would seem to me to be a way for an elite to gerrymander results at will and to easily overwhelm the will of the people as expressed in simple numbers.

Obviously what I just wrote is vastly oversimplified. America does have the cosmetic aspects of a democracy and up until recently egregious examples of despotism have been either absent or carefully covered up, as in the assassination of JFK.

In our time democracy is seriously threatening to break out again with numerous responses in the way of police presence, surveillance and increased centralization of power established in law (FEMA, Patriot Act, etc.)

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss


We would believe them more if they would stop lying about WMD(remember the "yellow cake" comments and babies in incubators) in iraq and Saddam's ties to 911.

How is the bank bailouts and tarp going nowadays?

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss


The author of that article didn't do much of anything to attempt to dispel conspiracy theories, did he?

If the foundation of democracy is built upon criminal conspiracies in government then democracy should not exist. At least not in that form.

stumason

Asktheanimals
Indeed. The US never was a democracy

Hate to burst your bubble, but it is.

It is?? Go find the word Democracy ONCE in the Constitution. I'll wait......

reply to post by Wirral Bagpuss



The problem is not the conspiracy theories but the but the conspiracy FACT that the government and corporations are criminal organizations that operate with little accounting for real justice.

I for one in fact find this whole thread absurd. Exactly how many times over how many years does a f'in government or corporation have to lie, cheat and steal and are not held accountable.

why are people blind, dumb and stupid? because they want to be ..... no other reason ..... life is easier and you can get ahead in this corrupt system if you embrace it ....

This is akin to ending all critical thinking. Ponder that folks. Don't ever question, just accept everything at face value. That's what we do here, we question everything.

Who would benefit if we began to demonize/ostracize those who question things?