-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.floodlight.org/democracy/rise.html Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.floodlight.org/democracy/rise.html">Introducti on: The Rise of the Modern Conspiracy�</A> ----- Yea-haw! Om K ----- Introduction: The Rise of the Modern Conspiracy Theory Movement There are four parallel developments that brought us to this point with the modern conspiracy theory movement. As with any social movement in any given time frame of history, you cannot separate one aspect of the movement without seriously altering its historical context. If things were different, history would have been different. Let's take a look at the following developments that shaped our history as it applies to the current conspiracy theory movement. They are: * the socio-political movements of the 1960s and 1970s * the development of the conspiracy theory movement itself * the modern prophecy movement within the Christian church * the technological development of the Internet The social upheavals of the late twentieth century did much to alarm the American right. In the 1960s the right was alarmed, and for good reason, at the sudden and fundamental changes that took place in a short period of time. Although the social movements of the sixties had their roots prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, his death marked the beginning of the changes that were to take place. It is of no small note that had the Kennedy Administration continued, the war in Viet Nam as we know it may not have happened, since President Kennedy planned to withdraw from Viet Nam. With the premature inauguration of President Johnson, the war in Viet Nam would now take center stage for the rest of the decade and beyond. With the decision to send more troops to Viet Nam, the student uprisings began. It was these uprisings, of course, and their contempt for authority that was so alarming. Social norms were under assault, the Government was under assault, and anyone over the age of thirty was the enemy of the revolution and not to be trusted. Robert Bork would later summarize in his classic text, Slouching Towards Gomorrah: The revolt was against the entire American culture. The United States, it was said, was engaged in an immoral war only because the United States itself was deeply immoral, being racist, sexist, authoritarian, and imperialistic. The arrangements of the liberal capitalist order were themselves illegitimate, conferring power where none was deserved and withholding power from the poor and minorities. The bourgeois class, which sustained and benefited from these societal arrangements, was, therefore, oppressive. It followed that bourgeois morality and standards of excellence were part of the apparatus that supported the status quo and repressed the individual. Destruction was, therefore, the only legitimate response. (p. 32- 33) Welcome to the revolution. But it didn't just stop there. The body politic would be radically altered again with the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. Then, a few short years later, the resignation of President Richard Nixon and the famous Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade. Thereafter, the conservative movement was in full retreat. Morality was out. Authority was out. Indeed the very foundations of the conservative movement were in political disarray. By the mid 1970s, the conservative movement was adrift, looking for signs of life where there was none to be found. The political landscape had changed so dramatically in such a short period of time that the conservative movement had no time to react. In the age of instant political change, the conservative movement had run out of ideas. It was now a distant relic, to be discarded at will to make way for the liberal agenda now sweeping the national ethos. President Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976, largely as a reaction to the Watergate scandal. Four years later the conservatives would be resurrected again with the nomination of Ronald Reagan to the Republican ticket. Reagan was now seen as the political Moses who would lead his people to the promised land. The political left, of course, would have none of this. The most popular President in modern times soon became the object of smear and ridicule. The attack dogs of a liberal press were unleashed not because of the ideas of the Reagan Revolution, but because Reagan was a conservative. And so, to the political conservative, even in victory the conservative movement was denied its rightful place. Of course, as soon as any group begins to feel politically disaffected, the atmosphere is ripe for extremist reasoning to begin to take hold. This political disaffection would not begin to be seen until the events of the early 1990s unfolded. The rise of the modern conspiracy theory movement came just in time to see the political changes of the 1960s and 1970s. According to George Johnson, author of Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia in American Politics, in 1958, a wealthy candy manufacturer named Robert Welch started the John Birch Society. Of interesting historical note, the Soviet launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957, no doubt fed the anti-Communist paranoia the JBS would later preach. At the time, the John Birch Society sang to the tune of anti-Communist thought (not a bad idea) and quickly gained followers as the plume of Sputnik and the ensuing political fallout rose heavenward. Five years later, John Stormer would leave his career as general manager and editor of an electrical magazine and begin work on his first book, None Dare Call It Treason. Published in 1964, it became an instant bestseller; his thesis being essentially the same as that of the John Birch Society. Although Stormer was never a member of the JBS, he did represent them on a few occasions. During the 1960s and 1970s, the John Birch Society version of conspiracy theory continued to develop. In 1966, historian Carroll Quigley wrote what is now considered the "smoking gun" of the modern conspiracy theory movement. By far the most celebrated quote in all conspiracy theory writings is Quigley�s famous quote on page 950 of Tragedy and Hope: I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960�s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments....I have objected to a few of its policies....but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown. When the conspiracy theorists got wind of this, the world was now indeed far flatter than even they had originally envisioned. Eventually, the JBS would sing the tune of far more than just communist conspiracy. The official line was now New World Order. The Federal Reserve, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Illuminatti, and other seemingly disparate groups were included in the growing body of evidence that indeed there was a truly global conspiracy afoot. In 1971, Gary Allen and Larry Abraham published their book, None Dare Call It Conspiracy. The book was very successful, boasting over 5 million in print. To many observers of the conspiracy movement, None Dare Call It Conspiracy was the one that popularized conspiracy on the American right. By the 1980s, the presses were turning out new conspiracy related books faster than lickety split, many of which were aimed at the prophecy movement now growing within the conservative church. With the new movement now gaining followers with each passing day, new conspiracy related organizations were now popping up all across the fruited plain. By 1990, of course, the modern conspiracy theory movement was well developed and gaining widespread sympathy from the far right. So well developed, in fact, that there were by then so many different interpretations of the same New World Order conspiracy that they are all but impossible to document. The third social development that helped to shape the conspiracy theory movement was the rise of the modern prophecy movement within the conservative church. As mentioned earlier, in 1964, John Stormer published his first book, None Dare Call It Treason. Although the book was not written as a biblical prophecy interpretation, Stormer�s work seems to be the first book to successfully bring conspiracy theory to the Christian right. Its success would eventually pave the way for the events of the early 1970s. In 1970, Hal Lindsey published his famous bestseller, The Late Great Planet Earth. An enormous success, Lindsay was now the leader of the prophecy movement soon growing by leaps and bounds. Soon, Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger was rumored to be the anti-Christ of the book of Revelation. The prophecy buffs worked overtime to stop the tide of imminent world takeover by the United Nations. It was too late, they said, the conspiracy was too far entrenched in top government posts and the anti-Christ would be here any day now. By the mid 1970s, the prophecy movement was now making predictions faster than microphones could be passed from one speaker to the next. President Jimmy Carter was the next anti-Christ, the Middle East was the powder keg ready to explode any time soon, and prophecy ministries on television and radio sprang up everywhere. By 1980, the movement was so well developed and now entrenched that there were few if any prophecy ministries that did not speak of the coming New World Order. In 1980, with the election of President Reagan, the far right would again predict that he was the anti-Christ of Revelation. This prediction had even more credibility since Ronald Wilson Reagan had three names with 6 letters each. In 1988, George Bush became the next anti-Christ, as did Bill Clinton in 1992. But these three social developments by themselves do not explain the conspiracy craze of the 1990s. Indeed until September, 1990, these three developments may not have ignited. But there are two more fateful pieces of the puzzle to put in place before we can see the final picture. In September, 1990, President George Bush denounced Saddam Hussein�s Invasion of Kuwait and condemned the act as a violation of the �New World Order.� This speech by itself caused no small fire-storm on the far right. But the next event solidified the conspiracy movement into what it is today. In January, 1991, in his annual State of the Union message before the nation, President George Bush uttered these immortal words: What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea - a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children's future. And later in the same speech: The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order - where brutality will go unrewarded, and aggression will meet collective resistance. And with those immortal words time itself would stand still. The world would hush. Factory workers would stop factoring. Politicians would stop politicking. It was the �pin heard �round the world.� The speech of September, 1990, was bad enough. But now America�s right would be shocked into reality. The politically disaffected would now SCREAM conspiracy. After all, here was the President for the second time in 5 months speaking of the New World Order, and in a State of the Union message to boot. The prophecy movement within the church was now suddenly credible. They had been speaking of conspiracy for twenty years now. Here was the proof. And all the while, the conspiracy theorists were saying , �we told you so.� Of course, the internet would play a key technological role a few years later. With the new avenue of mass communication at their fingertips, the conspiracy theorists took immediate advantage. New web sites broadcast the message, while discussion lists would now be invaded by the far right. Conspiracy newsgroups began to discuss the conspiracy. An entire extremist subculture has now developed with daily internet newsgroup postings of conspiracy theory. Worse yet, the internet was uncensored. What would normally be considered a good thing was now subverted. Freedom of speech quickly became license to lie. You could now say anything you wanted without fear of your peers checking the credibility of your source. The internet became, then, the utopia of mass communication. And since by now the conspiracy theorists were well organized at the grass roots, all that was needed was the will to say it, and the modem to send it. It was these four parallel movements that merged in the 1990s that gave us the modern conspiracy theory movement. Where we go tomorrow, of course, we cannot see. To be sure, the conspiracy theorists are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. The modern conspiracy theory movement, as with all other major social movements, will eventually begin to fractionalize and disappear. In the meantime, however, only time will tell whether our nation will survive the attack of its most basic institutions. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
