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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNoam Chomsky, a Conspiracy Theorist of the Highest Magnitude
One of the main problems with our society is that words have lost their meaning. In spoken languages, the tone of a word can be used to make inferences that may be completely unrelated to the meaning of the word. This is especially true when dealing with propaganda. When certain people or organizations want to dismiss an argument, they tend to phrase words in such a way that makes them appear illogical or treacherous if given credence.
One of these words is conspiracy, and when put together with the word theory it becomes the infamous phrase Conspiracy Theory. Lets take a look at the definition of these two words and try to figure out why they have been used to discredit not only people, but history, data, and facts.
The legal definition of conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit an illegal or unlawful act, or to achieve a legal act but by illegal or unlawful means. A theory is a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena.
So a conspiracy theory is a conjecture that two or more people may have planned an unlawful act, and if certain facts are proven to be true, then the conspiracy theory becomes reality.
As we all know, throughout history our governments and politicians have done exactly what the above states. They have conspired to obtain power, to overthrow governments, to destroy their political rivals, and to make money. Politics is littered with conspiracies but the mainstream media treats this word with contempt. Have we forgotten Watergate, Tonkin, Iran-Contra, Basra, Pinochet, Mohammad Mosaddeq, Reichstag, Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma City, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pine Ridge, COINTELPRO, Oswald and JFK, Northwoods, Condor, Iraq, 911, LIBOR, Robo-Signing round one, Robo-Signing round two, HSBC, The War on Drugs, and much more?
Excerpts from & continued at link:
Noam Chomsky, a Conspiracy Theorist of the Highest Magnitude: Defining Conspiracy Theory, What are the Theories Behind the Conspiracies?
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2013/05/22/noam-chomsky-a-conspiracy-theorist-of-th
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)Whisp
(24,096 posts)CT accusations are often made just to humiliate and put people down.
The proper definition, taken from that article:
So a conspiracy theory is a conjecture that two or more people may have planned an unlawful act, and if certain facts are proven to be true, then the conspiracy theory becomes reality.
As if that doesn't happen on an hourly basis. I am interested to hear from people who hold all Theories as whacko conspiracies lizardmen stories and say that at the same time the Iraq war was illegally being hatched.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Legally, if Oswald had a drinking buddy who helped him plan the JFK assassination, that would be a "conspiracy." And, sure, maybe it's possible that that kind of conspiracy actually happened.
But that doesn't make much difference. If it were two lone nuts instead of one, who cares, it's still the same basic story. And it certainly wouldn't satisfy JFK conspiracy theorists, who insist that there was some kind of Oliver Stone/Jason Bourne thing going on where a secret powerful group in the CIA/FBI/MIC/BFEE/whatever whose interest were contrary to JFK's politics, so they arranged for him to be killed.