What did we learn about “conspiracy theories”?

By Richard K. Moore, 22 April 2004

For me, the big lesson had to do with the red pill. If you're ready to believe that our leaders planned and carried out the events of 9/11, then you are entering into a very scary, uncertain, insecure world—“They could do anything! Our democracy means nothing. We can't believe the news. How deep does the rabbit hole go?”. People like to believe there is some security in their lives. That's very important to me, for example, and that's why I live in a small, friendly, town. I'm willing to settle for localized security. Others have adopted certain beliefs, or perhaps got them in childhood, and those beliefs provide an illusion of a more permanent kind of security. The beliefs may not be conscious, or they may be denied. Nonetheless, anything that threatens those beliefs tends to be rejected. The rejection may be accompanied by defensiveness, as the mind protects itself—knowing deep down that its grounds for belief are shaky.

I can now understand why so many liberals have an allergic reaction to any ideas which smack of “conspiracy theory”. Such thinking bursts their bubble about living in a world of progress, a world where humanity has incrementally raised itself up from the beasts, moving ever onwards toward an enlightened civilization. In such a world, leaders may blunder, or they may use a few of the devils tricks, but they always believe they're doing the right thing.

Something like that… something about believing deep down in the reality of democracy. Liberals are people who believe in the system—other people simply need to learn to use it properly, and they need to be better informed, and they need to start thinking more clearly, and give up their prejudices. The problem is with “those people” who aren't liberals. The system itself works and the system doesn't include things like JFK & 9/11 plots.

I may have it wrong, but the main point is that lots of beliefs get threatened by the notion of top level covert ops carried out against Americans. All sorts of beliefs. Humanity did not evolve in a continual state of anxiety, and most people don't tolerate it very well. We have certain teddy-bear beliefs and we hang on to them with a firm grip. In many cases, as I've seen on the list and in private responses, those beliefs preclude giving credence to high-level conspiracies.

For those of us who are willing to look at the evidence, and discuss the most likely scenarios objectively, there is much to be learned about the intentions and modus operandi of the elite regime from their covert behavior. But those discussions are unlikely to serve as a red pill for the others.

For some, an historical perspective may succeed in de-programming certain illusions. I've gotten dozens of responses to that effect from readers of “Escaping the Matrix”. That was my hope, to use the Matrix metaphor to inspire a red-pill experience in those who have accepted mainstream history. For some it seems to have succeeded.

But I think most people reconsider their beliefs primarily in peer settings. When someone in our crowd that we trust starts thinking a certain way, then such thinking becomes “in bounds” for our consideration, even if we don't think that way ourselves. It's not about logic, it's about sociology. What does this say about spreading the red pill? Perhaps it suggests that awakening has more to do with who you talk to than what you read. After meeting and learning from someone, you might then be ready to read recommended material, and you would receive it differently than before. Perhaps building the right networks and communities—enabled by effective dialog—can be more useful than promulgating ideas and understandings.