Why you can't ignore conspiracy theories

Over the years there have been any number of strange events and apparent coincidences that have started out as conspiracy theories that have ended up being exposed as conspiracy fact. This is a crucial point. There can be no doubt that there are all sorts of conspiracy, from the mundane attempts by individuals to commit fraud, to the outrageous attempts by governments and corporations to conceal wrong-doing. Sometimes these conspiracies remain hidden from the public, sometimes they are uncovered and lead to confession on the part of the conspirators and sometimes they are uncovered but denied, either directly, or by branding the discoverers as cranks or as being paranoid. So, lets have a look at a couple of conspiracies that have been proved to be factual. There are more than you might think, and they suggest that there might be more. Lets start with one that answers the question of whether or not democratic governments are prepared to kill their own citizens. Lets start with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study run between 1932 and 1972 in which African-American men with syphilis were deliberately given ineffective, experimental or dangerous treatments for their condition, and denied adequate treatment. 200 men or more died as a result of their condition or of complications from erroneous treatments.

Still think the government couldn't kill its citizens? How about government sponsored drug smuggling? Through the 1980's the CIA ran drug smuggling operations through paid drug informants with flights of cocaine coming into an Arkansas rural airport directly from Columbia, at the same time providing funding for the contra rebels in Columbia in the war against the Columbian government. How many American citizens die of drug related causes? Now, of course you can argue that drug users would find sources whether the CIA was involved or not, but government sanctioned drug dealing is still an odd way of carrying out a “War on drugs”. So, if governments can and do kill their own citizens, what about the question of keeping conspiracies secret when there are thousands of people in on the conspiracy? Surely there is no way that even a government could keep thousands of people quiet, is there? Well, what about the Manhattan project? Americas nuclear weapons development project running from 1942 to 1946 although the project actually began in principle in 1939, costing $22 billion in todays money and employing 130,000 people spread over 30 sites in three countries. It was 25 years before the American public found out about the project that ended Japans involvement in World War II. This is particularly interesting as the media knew of the project but agreed with the government that it had to remain secret. Of course, this was a project of national defense significance at a time of war, and to talk about it would have been an act of treason, but it does show that in the right circumstances, with the right incentive, secrets can be kept very well indeed.

So, it isn't just conspiracy theory that suggests that governments are capable of killing their own citizens in large numbers, and that conspiracies of silence can cover many thousands of people, interestingly two of the biggest counter arguments to a conspiracy involving the US government in the events of 9/11. Whether the government was involved or not, to say that they couldn't be because they wouldn't kill their own people, or couldn't keep the secret if they did is to fundamentally misunderstand the power and ability of the elite.