If the majority of Americans believe that the people they elect to office are the ones that hold the power, and it turns out that its instead people whom we don't even know the names of that do...then yeah it seems pretty secretive to me.
Turn on any of the major news network and they will rarely, if ever, place blame to the specific special interests or lobbyists that actually influenced the policies, law, whatever, but rather the politicians that voted them into law.
I would commit a number of conspiracies to get my hands on a well done steak this late at night.
I'm inclined to believe that a world-controlling group doesn't exist. Certain industries? Perhaps.
I just want to say with utter disgust that I'm sick of special interest groups and lobbyists in politics. I think voting for a politician is meaningless when these outside parties are influencing laws and policies.
The biggest conspiracy is money itself. You don't need all these secret societies. The money does all the work and people follow it. When the Pope says we worship the God of Money, he is right on the money.
Because that's how it works.
A politician still has the actual power. Special interests have influence over those who have power, which is a kind of power, but not exactly the same thing.
The comfort from believing an explanation is when it aligns with your views.
But there is a serious fallacy in dismissing those theories based solely off that concept.
All the scientific and philosophical progress we have ever made are based off of ideas that were once only believed by romantic outcasts. Its not an effective argument to dissuade "conspiracy theorists". To do that you have to actually counter their reasoning and clearly make your own case, not just group them all together as romantics and dismiss them as such.
Not necessarily. Look at it this way: do you think people are born believing in specific religions?
That particular part of the post was in specific reference to the possible appeal/psychological reward/benefits that believing in 'conspiracy theories' or similar can bring.
Without wanting to run myself out of the thread (I do find this stuff absolutely fascinating), I'm not sure there is a reasoned argument to be made here, is there? Like, your OP is thoughtful and well written, but... I dunno, this isn't something you can verify or debunk with any hard facts, is it? Even if there are, people are often very selective of which ones they choose to believe (see 9/11). That's why I think it's a very intellectually safe position to take. It's geopolitical fan fiction.
In many ways it's not dissimilar to trying to argue that God doesn't exist. How can I prove beyond a reasonable doubt something that is beyond the parameters of being provable; that is, immeasurable? A united global conspiracy is just as elusive.
If folk want to add complicated, imaginary, and unsolvable problems in the guise of some secret truth to the list of very real and very immediate ones people across the world face on a daily basis, then they are more than welcome to; whatever gets you through the day, I say. I love reading about it and I love popping a comment or two down about it to distract myself from the real horrors too.
Oh boy. Well thankd for stopping by
They don't rule the world, as such. They just control the British crown and keep the metric system down; they keep Atlantis off the maps and the Martians under wraps. Hold back the electric car, made Steve Gutenberg a star. Rob cavefish of their sight and rig every Oscar night.
Haha! Don't be like that, I wasn't trying to offend, dismiss or end the discussion. I was stipulating why I don't believe in a united global conspiracy and why I think engaging in an attempt to sway you to my way of thinking with a well-reasoned and logical debate about it is ultimately a futile gesture. We aren't going to convince each other of jack; I imagine we both made up our minds a long time ago.
That doesn't mean I'm not interested in discussing it or hearing what you have to say. I wouldn't have read through the OP or even posted here otherwise. I find this endlessly fascinating and my last post contained an honest question: How does one go about proving the existence of something as ineffable as an all-powerful, super secret, global cabal with unlimited resources and reach...?