Friend Arthur's Conspiracism... And My Attempt At An Antidote

"Whenever you teach, also teach the need to doubt what you are teaching."

Pax on both houses: Is Ortega Y Gasset The Most Important Modern ...

Jose Ortega Y Gasset's "Rebellion Of The Masses" - Pax on both houses

Pax on both houses: Spanish Philosopher Ortega Y Gasset's Keen ...

Alan: As I grow older, I become increasingly aware that it is futile to try to explain/rationalize/prove any emotionally-charged "issue" that other people see/feel differently than I do.

And so, by nature, we humans "fall" into different ideological camps. 

Time out of mind - and forevermore - there will massive factions on both sides of any aisle who see the other side of the aisle as benighted.

Given the nature of the two camps that you and I inhabit, it is not surprising - indeed it is predictable - that you think "I'm wrong" to believe that Sandy Hook actually took place and that I think "you're wrong" that Sandy Hook took place.

It is also not surprising that you consider my knowledge base and epistemology ill-informed, and that I consider your knowledge base and epistemology ill-informed. 

I was weaned on Marshall McLuhan and I have always believed that "the medium is the message" which is to say that "the medium" reduces "the message" to relative unimportance. 

My interlocking political, social and psychological "medium" is Liberal Democracy and when I examine "conspiracism" -- whatever the validity of its "message" -- I see a movement comprised disproportionately of people whose actual behavior (perhaps distinct from the "positions" they would "argue") is intolerantly presumptuous, making certain proclamations based on evidence that I often find interesting but which never persuades me that they have proven their case, and part of my conviction that they have never proven their case is the unwavering, evangelical passion with which they insist on the validity of the conspiracy they happen to be advocating in any given conversation.

As I have said before -- and more than once -- what is the end of conspiracism?

And what are we to make of the endless ramifying postulates within conspiratorial society concerning motivation and goal. 

Yes, a lot of apparent evidence can be gathered concerning individual actions and events (9/11, Bataclan night club, Pulse night club, Sandy Hook school) but the origin and end often seems murky and there are far too many speculations about origin and end to convince me that it is possible to settle on a single narrative.

Of course there is no need to settle on a single narrative.

But the multiplicity of narratives indicates that conspiracists do not know what a given conspiracy's motivation was and what the goal of conspiracy is.

From my vantage, I do not believe narrative that says mass gun carnage is staged in order to sour Americans on The Second Amendment, if only because support for The Second Amendment spikes after every massacre. 

But mostly I oppose the underlying political philosophy that postulates Second Amendment laissez faire and see this pro-gun element in "massacre hoaxes" as the kind of right-wing politics I have opposed my whole life and will continue to oppose, not because I know I'm right but because my "community of believers" feels right while Cliven Bundy and his thieving, anti-democratic anarchists disguised as patriots are repulsive to me. 

Excerpt: "While the hoaxer world was filled with anti-government and pro-gun supporters, whose vested interest made them impossible to convince, others simply couldn’t fathom a man killing 20 children and were looking for a more comforting explanation."

"What Kind Of Person Calls A Mass Shooting A Hoax?" New York Magazine

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/07/what-kind-of-person-calls-mass-shooting.html

"The Perennial Popularity Of Pseudo-Scientific Ideas," probed by Jordan Ellenberg, a U. of Wisconsin Math professor, perhaps best know for "How Not to Be Wrong." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Ellenberg

But, my introduction to Ellenberg was his interview on NPR's Science Friday. Here's the link if you want to check it out: https://www.sciencefriday.com/episodes/july-28-2017/

And although it just personal conviction, I also think it behooves discerning humans to come to terms with the "fact" that somewhere between 25% and 40% of a given population WANT to be misled, WANT to be lied to, WANT to be deceived. And whether or not those of us who subscribe to "The Academy" are "right" or "have our heads up our asses," we comprise another quarter of the population and we are not changing our mind any more frequently than Christian fundamentalists (who comprise about 12% of the population) convert to liberal Christianity, or -- God forbid! -- "lose their religion" altogether. 

Whether we like it or not -- and whether it is a "good" thing -- most people remain more-or-less on the same band of the epistemological-political spectrum throughout their whole lives.

Sure, lots of people dabble in heterodoxy - and at dinner parties they may sound as if they're fairly passionate about their eccentricities - but there are relatively few "true believers" in this world and LOTS of pragmatists who are always "on the make" looking to bend situations to their personal advantage no matter their rhetorical and oratorical styles. 

Businessman Paints Terrifying And Complex Picture Of Putin's Russia

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/07/businessman-paints-terrifying-and.html

Ron's presumption of enslavement worse than anything before. The kind of marginalization that precludes dignity Pope Francis is worse or so I believe.

"Crisis Acting": A Standard Conspiracist Hoax That Supposedly Reveals Hoaxes (Snopes)

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/07/crisis-acting-hoax-that-supposedly.html

"The Past 5 GOP Presidents Used Fraud And Treason To Steer Themselves To Electoral Victory"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-past-5-gop-presidents-have-used.html

Dear Ron, 

Thanks for your recent email.

Since you do not want lengthy correspondence I will "cut to the chase."

My experience as a blogger has made me aware that "making my case" -- "in print" and "in public forum" -- obliges me to "think things through" rather than live my life in a self-validating swirl of presumptuous thoughts, feelings and unchecked facts. 

This unexpectedly demanding process makes me "see" everything I write through the "imagined eyes" of strangers, people who are not infrequently hostile to my view.

It may sound like as if this is not a matter of consequence. But it is a Big Deal and can only be appreciated when experienced.

In order to continue our dialogue, here is what I would like you to do. 

Start a blog about 9/11 Truth - and other conspiracies.

Such a blog will help me understand your "fleshed out," "well-considered" and mutually-interactive interpretation of history, politics, culture and current events. (Here is how to start a free blog using Google's "Blogspot" - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-blog-google-53130.html)

I promise to read everything you write.

You can stop reading now.

***

Or, beyond this brief distillation, you may consider this.

I am a child of The European Enlightment, an essentially anti-monarchical movement that informed America's "Founding Fathers": I choose to remain faithful to the vision and values of my parent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment

Although most premises are intrinsically unprovable, I believe democratic process is superior to monarchical process. (That said, it may also be true, as Plato posited, that governmental forms morph through endless, predictable cycles. See "Kyclos" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyklos)

In my view, most conspiracy theories (whatever else they might accomplish) undermine the credibility of democratic process, however shoddy or vestigial democratic process may be. 

For example, it is common knowledge that Donald Trump got his foothold in presidential politics by preaching "birtherism" and that he continues to voice unrelenting conspiracies theories promoted by community-college-dropout Alex Jones whom I consider a lying sonofabitch.

Megyn Kelly Presses Alex Jones on Conspiracy Theories in NBC Interview

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/megyn-kelly-presses-alex-jones-on.html

Alex Jones Obliges NASA To Deny It's Running A Child Slave Colony On Mars

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/alex-jones-obliges-nasa-to-deny-its.html

By my lights, conspiracists contribute to America's epistemological crisis -- and consequent corrosion of political process -- by normalizing the popular notion that "opinion trumps truth." 

In the cost-benefit analysis of unbridled conspiracism, the cost is incalculable; the cost is "The Swampification of Truth."

"The Death Of Epistemolgy"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-polls-skewed-death-of-epistemology.html

TED Radio Hour: Truth And Lies; Navigating A World Where Even The Facts Are Up For Debate
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/ted-radio-hour-truth-and-lies.html

"Republicans For Revolution," A Study In Anarchic Apocalypticism

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/10/republicans-for-revolution-study-in.html

I acknowledge that there are many weird discrepancies and significant contradictions in The Official Story of 9/11. The Twin Towers did not fall as they should have. Building 7 looks like a controled demolition. And the hole in the Pentagon appears to have been made by a missile, not a plane. There are also odd discrepancies at the Pennsylvania crash site of Flight 93.

But there is no consensus among "truthers" concerning 9/11's "actual" motive and method. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories

In the absence of a unified, central credo, here is how the inevitability of fractiousness plays out. 

"I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well... are you religious?" He said yes. I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant ? "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist" "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off. 

Emo Philips  

The overarching difficulty with "conspiracism" is that "plausible conspiracy theories" open the floodgates, lending universal justification to conspiracy theories whatever their provenance, whether they are mouthed by Alex Jones, "The Anti-New York Times," "The Thinking Housewife" - http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/2015/07/what-happened-at-sandy-hook/ ... or "your uncle Bob." 

Even worse (as I see it) is that nearly all these people have a fundamentally right-wing agenda. 

In the main I have found America's right-wing to be aggressively ignorant and disproportionately responsible for their ignorance by doubling down not only on Trump's ubiquitous lies but what I see as the open "epistemological sewer" on the right side of the aisle. (If you were to launch a blog, I would benefit by having a clearer vision of your entire worldview and the role Trump and Trumpism have played in its formulation. Not long ago, you expressed disillusionment with Trump but you also suggested that, in the beginning, you saw a measure of hopefulness in his contrarian populism.) 

Once conspiracists (like Trump) dismantle institutions -- and we know that "deconstructionism" is the cornerstone of the Trump-Bannon agenda -- it is clear to me that conspiracists then try to fill the resulting void by turning to right-wing mouthpieces who espouse autocratic absolutism.

Thug kleptocrat Vladimir Putin is a case in point.

I consider this former KGB agent a singularly bad actor whose Soviet-bred autocracy is but a stone's throw from Romanov monarchy. 

Putin, like Trump, is "the man who would be king."

And I, a child of The Enlightenment, am opposed to monarchy. 

To be clear, I oppose Putin's politics; I oppose them tooth and nail. 

If I interpret your position correctly, you consider Putin a beneficent ally in Bashir al Assad's noble effort to secure the good of the Syrian people and to foster Syrian civilization.

But enough of Trump and Putin - two peas in a kleptocratic, anti-democratic pod. (Some people argue that Obama, Clinton and Carter are just as bad.  I don't. Whatever their shortcomings, they are categorically better than Trump and Putin.)

***

You already know Ron that I consider it extraordinarily difficult for conspirators to "keep secret" their conspiracy -- especially when hundreds of conspirators supposedly act in concert. 

In my view, "no more than three people can keep a secret, assuming two of them are dead."

For many reasons I assume that Sandy Hook and other acts of mass gun carnage were NOT enacted by coordinated theatrics mounted by "crisis actors" scheming to undermine The Second Amendment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_actor

Whatever "evidence" can be brought to bear, "The Second Amendment" argument for "crisis acting" does not hold up to rational analysis nor to what we know of "human nature." 

In brief... Newtown/Sandy Hook is a suburban Republican enclave, which - true to type - would harbor a hugely disproportionate percentage of residents who are Second Amendment advocates.

There is also the matter of "total family disruption" caused by the theatrical "disappearance" of young children. 

I am a parent. And it is self-evidently true to me that any sane parent would not "go down that road." 

"My parents would not disappear their kids." 

Your parents would not disappear their kids. 

And you would not disappear your kids if you were a parent.

If any insane parents did agree to the "disappearance" of their children, they would be precious few in number and their lunacy, over time, would predispose them -- and probably compel them -- to spill the beans. 

Conspiracists might argue that no parent-actor would dare "reveal the conspiracy" for fear of lethal retribution. 

But if a "parent-actor" presented her child "out of the blue," the cat would be out of the bag and "revelation of the conspiracy" would be the best possible form of self-protection. 

Who is going to kill a "whistle blower" once the whistle is blown?

Conspiracists contend that some 50 parents have gone along with their young children's theatrical disappearance.

NOTHING about such a scenario makes ANY sense to me. 

And I'm a guy who cites LOTS of discrepancies in The Official Story of 9/11.

Furthermore, I find much of the so-called "photographic evidence" for the theatrical disappearance of Sandy Hook kids to be laughable. 

One photo that purportedly shows a "disappeared" Sandy Hook student subsequently photographed alongside Barack Obama is evidently "doctored." 

And if these Homeland Security "crisis actors" are smart enough to "pull off a ruse" as intricate as Sandy Hook, they would never let a deceased kid appear in a photograph with the president of the United States. 

Finally, there is the matter of supposed widespread "opposition" to The Second Amendment. 

As you know, most of my political views are left-of-center. 

In the late 80s, I was employed by the Sandinista government. 

I routinely argue that unbridled Democratic Capitalism is systematically corrupt - and corrupting.

Throughout my adult life I have been keenly aware that plutocrats are suck-hole, scumbag-nibbling, douche-slurpers.

I am wide open to the formal division of The United States into "Jesus Land" and "The United States of Canada." http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/npr-islamic-exceptionalism-and-need-to_22.html

And against this sweeping backdrop of anti-establishmentarianism, here is the single most convincing argument against "crisis acting" as a tool for 2nd Amendment abolition.

Neither I -- nor ANYONE I know -- wants to abolish The Second Amendment. 

I am sure abolishionists exist, but their political leverage is vanishingly minute. 

A recent MoveOn petition calling for 2nd Amendment repeal got a paltry 2500 signatures.

Furthermore, support for gun control (a far cry from abolition!) dropped after the Sandy Hook slaughter - and almost certainly dropped because of the Sandy Hook slaughter. http://ijr.com/2015/04/301406-new-poll-shows-major-shift-in-how-americans-view-the-2nd-amendment-and-gun-control/

The fact that conspiracists believe that abolition is "central" to "the liberal agenda" is simply not true.

Furthermore, the perception that an abolitionist lurks behind every "Whittaker Chambers' pumpkin" reveals a paranoid thread in conspiracist ideation.

"The Paranoid Style In American Politics," By Richard Hofstadter
paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/01/paranoid-style-in-american-politics-by.html

Donald Trump: The Paranoid Style In American Politics And The Ongoing Festival Of Hatred

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/11/donald-trump-paranoid-style-in-american.html

"Faith, Hope, Charity And Divine Desperation"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/04/faith-hope-charity-and-divine.html

This morning I received an email reply from Paul Schulte who commented on the following post: "Great take!"

Conspiracy Thinking, The Death Of Shared Identity And The Collapse Of Common Purpose

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/conspiracy-thinking-death-of-shared.html

Ron, your commitment to conspiratorial thinking has all the hallmarks of an evangelical religion.

Clearly, evangelicism - whether sacred or secular - is deeply satisfying for many practitioners.

But, as always, the convictions held by "true believers" are not held by non-believers. 

Simply put, the eternal division between "believers" and "infidels" is built into the human condition.

One of my best friends recently reverted to his childhood faith as a bible-thumping Jehovah's Witness and is now convinced -- absolutely convinced -- that he has been "saved" by the one, true religion.

Understandably, my friend wants to share it with "the world." 

But although I listen patiently, Lino will not persuade me to join his faith.

Although I am always prepared to be proven wrong, I would venture that you would not invite a Jehovah's Witness from your doorstep to your living room.

For all of us, some bridges are too far.

At the end of the day, we make our beds and we lie in them.

***

What I think we can agree upon (despite my sense that you "sided" with Trump's campaign populism) is that The Republican Party is joined at the hip with Big Money. 

Yes, the Democratic Party is also compromised by Big Money, but -- despite their compromise -- qualitative differences remain between "the farts" and "the assholes."

Given what I believe to be the futility of "ushering in The Kingdom" by spreading "The Provable Truth of 9/11 Conspiracism," I suggest the achievable Common Ground of "following the money" and of doing what we can to squelch Trump and the barbarians before they squelch us. 

Just an hour ago I bumped into a friend - a chemist - who has worked at the Environmental Protection Agency for 22 years. 

Ken said the damage being done to the Agency "will take generations to undo."

Without any need to construct a conspiracy theory or to evangelize infidels, I cleave to one incontrovertible fact: the epicenter of cultural catastrophe resides in The White House.

The Enemy is inside the gates. 

And his virulent, parasitic presence is a self-evident truth.

I expect the sobmf to conduct shock-and-awe bombardment of North Korea, perhaps with electro magnetic pulse weaponry, and that the only outstanding issue is whether to commence hostilities "a hundred days" before the 2018 mid-term elections, or "a hundred days" before the 2020 presidential election. 

EMP would so paralyze North Korea that at least through election day, the country will revert to "stone age status." 

And Americans will be ecstatic! 

"We Like War!"

Video

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/george-carlin-we-like-war-because-were.html

Even on the face of it, "following the money" leads directly to The Oval Office; immediately thereafter to Trump's billionaire cabinet; and finally (it seems to me) to the world's premier kleptocrat-thug whose fondest dream is to sink The American Experiment in the swamp where he has lived his whole Gollum-like existence.

The Kremlin's Election Meddling Is Paying Off: Trump's Policies Align With Putin's Goals

The Atlantic

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-kremlins-election-meddling-is.html

I am realist enough to know that "following the money" in a system of governance that is bogged in a swamp of plutocratic interests will hold little, if any, attraction for a True Believer who is dedicated to the much more alluring narrative that 9/11 was an inside job probably perped in cooperation with "the Jews" who run the world. 

The True Believer:

Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements

Eric Hoffer

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer

The True Believer

PDF File

http://evelynbrooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/The_True_Believer_-_Eric_Hoffer.pdf

Pax On Both Houses: Compendium Of G.K. Chesterton Posts

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/10/pax-on-both-houses-gk-chesterton-posts.html

You and I are looking at one another across an unbridgeable chasm. 

There are places we can meet.

But conspiracism is not one of them.

In the end, we make our beds and we lie in them.

***

When I lived in the Bay Area nearly 40 years ago, I attended a lecture by a gay psychologist at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on College.

Something he said staid with me.

"Courage is the ability to live with ambiguity."

***

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends," Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Love,

A2

Compendium Of Pax Posts: Persuading A Loved One That His Conspiracism Is Mostly Crazy
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/compendium-of-pax-posts-trying-to.html

My Friends' Devoted Conspiracism Is As Crazy As Trump's Birtherism. What To Do With Lunacy?
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/07/my-friends-devoted-conspiracism-is-as.html

Harvey/Irma Hurricane Conspiracy Reveals The Idiocy Of Most Conspiracism
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/09/harvey-and-irma-hurricane-conspiracy.html

Ongoinog Correspondence With A Conspiracist Friend Re: The "Staged" Slaughter At Sandy Hook
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/09/ongoing-correspondence-with.html