Thickening Plots

OK, so now planeloads of anarchist thugs in dark uniforms will be landing in troubled cities to cause more trouble. Really? I was just thinking, if I were an anarchist thug trying to spread chaos, the last thing I’d want to do is put on a uniform, certainly the same color. Too much order involved.But that’s just me.

It seems our President loves conspiracy theories like this, and sadly, he is not alone. As we all understand, we can thank the Internet, because now, everyone has access to a giant megaphone and can connect with thousands of fellow believers and recruit more. But conspiracy worries are not new, as our fairly recent history demonstrates.

It wasn’t all that long ago that some of us were nervous about the Bilderbergers, a private group of elites who first met at a hotel in the Netherlands in 1957 to talk about world peace. Then there is the Council on Foreign Relations, or CFR, a similar US-based organization and think tank. Those on the outside have always been sure that these groups have been secretly planning to establish a dreaded One-World Government.

Remember the militia movement of the 1990s? These folks had to arm themselves, put on camo, and play war games to be ready when the fleets of unmarked black helicopters with government forces aboard touched down in their communities to take away their guns.

But let’s be honest. We love this stuff. Hollywood has been absolutely no help in calming us down, of course, and some TV shows and movies can be uncannily prescient. What do we do in our real life, though,  about the spread of conspiracy theories, or overblown worries about calamities that haven’t happened yet? There’s a current debate about whether debunking these things quashes them or adds to their spread.

Conspiracy theories are built on a grain of truth. There really are Bilderbergers and the CFR. Joe Biden is a real presidential candidate, but is he a Trojan Horse for Antifa? Mr. Trump is a real President. Is he an actual Russian agent? It’s all about data points. The only resolution is hard evidence that reaches the widest audience. As they used to say on the X-Files, The Truth Is Out There (Oops, maybe not the best example).

I’m reminded of a scene from a horror movie of the 1930s, in which one English insane asylum attendant says to his colleague, “Sometimes, I think everyone in this world is crazy, except for me, and for you. And then again, I has me doubts about YOU!”