/s tag necessary

Ever notice that most conspiracy theorists belong to a particular group of people?  They tend to have a similar look, don't they?  Yep, white guys.  Of course ages vary, as well as economic status, but that's the group you find in this activity, by and large.  They might even be straight white guys for the most part, but that's none of my business anyway.

So, why is that worth commenting on?  Well, we've all been in conversation with one of those people, who just absolutely have to angle the flow of talk away from the original topic and into their preferred angle of attack.  It's easy to brush this off as some quirk of personality,  maybe even part of some social disability.  It could even be true in many cases.  However, there might be something else going on, something more sinister.  This is my theory: conspiracy theorists are working hard to distract us from solveable issues while their masters prepare to bring us back to Feudalism.

Consider the conspiracy theories that are bandied about: mysterious poisons in the air; mind control that may or may not be wirelessly produced; technological knowledge hidden from the public "for our own good".  Now, it is true that pollution and general wastefulness have created an unknown danger to us from our own environment.  It is also true that governments and militaries have technology that they do not share.  However, the conspiracy theorist never points to a specific target as the source of the problem, except for vague entities like the Illuminati or occasionally "the government".  They leave us nowhere to aim at if we need to attack.  Everything is a danger, and everyone should be in a state of constant vigilance - or panic.  When the source of danger is ill-defined or omni-present, fear is a great method of preventing action, as much as it can be a spur to action.  We cannot fight against people we see in offices and in the media, but we must fear members of secret societies whose names and faces are a closely guarded secret.  What can this be but demoralizing?  What better way to prepare us to accept a fate of subservience and slavery by telling us we have no chance in the first place?

Now, a good many conspiracy theorists claim to have the good of humanity in mind.  Their fight is against the "elites" who would tamp down the population with either fear or marvel.  But again, I say their targeted problems are not ones that are clear and fightable.  Moreover, they insist on drawing attention to those problems and away from others, which are defined and have people searching for workable solutions.  Interestingly enough, those problems that they distract from tend to affect people who are ... not in the same group as these conspiracy theorists.  Consider: when did conspiracy theories become a popular pursuit?  Perhaps in the mid-twentieth century?  I think another thing became popular around that time, and that was the demand for civil rights by groups of people who not white, men, or either.   Quite the coincidence!

It could be enough to leave it there, with conspiracy theories being a smokescreen for resisting social change.  However, I did mention feudalism towards the top, and as long as we're talking about conspiracy theories, let's go big.  Without trust in technology, health care will decline.  Without trust in expertise, education will decline.  In any case, many people will be denied access to those things.  Those people will then be simple labor, with no way to intellectually impose their will.  They will be cogs in the machine.  Ironically, the decline in technology will mean a greater need for human labor and less mechanization, so it is true that more work will be available.  The question is if it is good work. 

Imagine that people work for one employer who is able to provide them with services they need, such as housing and security.  This is not a new idea exactly, as company towns existed in the nineteenth century in the revving of the Industrial Revolution.  The government, for lack of funds or lack of interest, provides little to nothing.  Who will people be loyal to?  To an abstract government that provides to proof of its very existence, or the source of their daily bread?  People will focus their loyalty on local providers, and the very concept of the nation will vanish.  This is feudalism, the organization of laborers around a local power.  We will exist in a collection of small states that have little to nothing to do with each other, fostering a sense of suspicion and tribalism.  Not only that, but communication will be tamped down to the bare minimum.  For one thing, what does a person with no immediate connection to the outside world care what happens in it?  For another, how will most people be able to pay for access to that information?  We will also be in a world without access to health care, so we can assume there will be little to no birth control.  This works out splendidly for those who need labor, as unwanted and uneducated hands will have few opportunities to work for their own survival.  The human being will be practically interchangeable.  A cog in the machine.  And when we are at the state of laborers and masters, how will we manage to escape?  How will we recognize "talent" if everything is designated from birth and social class?  Naturally, those who were in a privileged position before the decline will have more opportunities to maintain a good position.  So, again, the white male conspiracy theorists only seem to be fighting to protect themselves and their privilege, not humanity as a whole.

Who'd a thunk it!!