American political conspiracy theories

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American political conspiracy theories are usually defined by the same theme: a small, powerful group strives to hide secretive, destructive information, harm another rival group, or undermine society in general. Theories play off of actual conspiracies, which include a similar concept: a few individuals work together in secret to unravel a larger system. [1] [2] [3] Often, the struggle between a real conspiracy theory and a misconception of one is what leads to conflict, creating polarization in elections, dispersing distrust in government, as well as racial and political divisions. [1] [4] Many political conspiracies begin and spread due to politically charged circumstances, individual's partisan affiliations, and online platforms that form echo-chambers with like-minded individuals. [1] [5] Belief in American political conspiracies applies to all parties, ideologies, races and ethnicities, socioeconomic levels, and genders. [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Contributions

Circumstantial fear

Conspiracy theories quite often arise during new political or social circumstances, in which one group of people feels threatened by another set of actors that are either politically, religiously, ethnically, racially, or economically different. [1] [8] [9] [4] Theories have begun as early as when Europeans began to colonize the United States, and deemed the Natives as threatening actors. [10] As a result, many colonizers, including Cotton Mather, speculated that Native Americans were controlled by the devil. [1] Some even believed in the "myth of the super-chief," where every Indigenous attack was orchestrated by one Native American chief that controlled thousands of Indian soldiers, striving to wipe out the white. [1]

Theories also arose in response to the counter-culture, feminist, and anti-war era in the 1960s. [1] Many conservatives felt threatened and began to believe that these movements were formed with communistic motivations to undermine the current government. [1] During the 1990s, many right-wing conspiracy theorists also feared that the Clintons were involved in drug cartels and assassinations. [1] Some currently theorize that the government is planting drugs in predominately African-American neighborhoods, breeding a greater rate of incarceration and crime in the community. [1] [9] [7] [2] In the year 2020, conspiracy theories spread out of increased anxiety, more staying at home, and a greater focus on the Internet and social media outlets. [11] [12] One such conspiracy that has proliferated from the 2020 Presidential election is QAnon. [13] [14] [11]

Conspiracy theories exist not only because of the fear of the "other," or a frustration with one's own disenfranchisement. [9] [8] Rather, they also come from an increase in change, whether that be social, political, or economical—and the theories are a response to rationalize anxiety about these events, and bring them into context with the country's ideals and laws. [2] [1] To elaborate, Frank Donner, a 1980s civil liberties lawyer, claimed,

Especially in times of stress, exaggerated febrile explanations of unwelcome reality come to the surface of American life and attract support. [The increase of conspiratorial movements] illuminate a striking contrast between our claims to superiority, indeed our mission as a redeemer nation to bring a new world order, and the extraordinary fragility of our confidence in our institutions. [That] has led some observers to conclude that we are, subconsciously, quite insecure about the value and permanence of our society. [1]

Conspiracy theories arise among all races and parties because of the fear of a society and a country destabilizing, and how that would affect one's own life. [1] [6] [9] Conspiracy theories, according to Benedictine University Professor of Psychology, James Davis, come about because of three reasons related to this:

A recent review proposes three categories of motivations underlying belief in conspiracy theories...The motivation people have to seek causal explanations to reduce uncertainty ... and to feel in control and safe in their lives ... A third motivation for conspiracy theory endorsement is the desire for individuals to see themselves and their group in a more positive light. [2]

Class structures and a lack of trust in government

Class structure is also likely to predict one's belief in a political conspiracy theory. If one has a low income, a lack of higher education, a lack of secure employment, they are more likely to believe in a conspiracy due to a general feeling of helplessness. [8] [15] This lack of control is correlated with class: individuals from higher classes have been proven to feel more in control with their lives, employment, education, and living standards. [8] [15] Low socioeconomic circumstances can generate political and economical anxiety and a desire to explain the dire circumstances. This helplessness would lead several to find a psychologically soothing explanation: the idea that a group of government actors are plotting against the poor. [8]

This is not to say that those with higher education or a higher IQ level will not believe in conspiracy theories. To understand the theory, many conspiracies require substantial mental effort. [6] Believers are defined by more than just their class: they also engage in a psychological phenomenon called "confirmation bias" where they only accept information validating their belief, and reject information that is inconsistent with the conspiracy. [6] [16]

Many individuals also live in positions where specific government policies may cause economic distress. For example, many Americans believe that the government is forcing health industries to hide the cure for or cause of cancer; [1] [17] they also have been intaking drugs that are not FDA-approved because they do not trust the American Medical industry. [1] This likely may stem from a fear of, and frustration with current US policies on public health; several ill Americans that cannot afford healthcare may look to sources that blame the Medical industry, including conspiracies. [8] [1] It may also originate from a history of fear about the government's lack of transparency or truth in terms of medication: US doctors in the past have approved of mercury, radioactive material, and cigarettes, deeming them healthy when they are in fact the opposite. [1] [18] [19]

Partisan affiliations

The blue donkey and red elephant: the two symbols for America's main political parties Donkey and elephant - democrat blue and republican red - polygon rough.svg
The blue donkey and red elephant: the two symbols for America's main political parties

Partisan affiliations sometimes determine a belief in conspiracy theories, but belief usually depends on the theory. [3] There is a correlation between political parties and beliefs in the "birther" conspiracy, the JFK assassination conspiracy, the "truther" conspiracy, the "levee branch" theory, and the "death panel" conspiracy. Partisanship loyalty affects beliefs in some theories, while "conspiratorial thinking" (a general paranoia about the government [20] ) determines others. Conspiracies directly affiliated with the Obama Administration (such as the "birthers" and "death panel" conspiracies) leaned politically to the right, [21] while Democrats were more unlikely to believe in theories that lobbied against President Obama and his policies. [3] As for the "levee branch," "truther," and Kennedy assassination, both political parties had a similar number of people who believed in the theories. [3] The individuals that believed in those specific theories also had a previous affinity for conspiratorial thinking, or questioning the credibility of governmental actors. [20] However, it has also been studied that conspiratorial thinkers may be more focused on an anti-governmental mindset—due to their lack of trust for higher authority—rather than a specific theory or party. [20]

Each partisan group is partial to believe in conspiracies that target the opposite party, doing so because of their disbelief in the other party's ideologies and policies. [3] [22] [21] Therefore, conspiracies can come from both political affiliations. [6] [3] In fact, University of Miami political scientist Joseph Uscinski stated that "both sides are equally conspiratorial in their thinking ... No one has a monopoly." [6]

Intuitionists vs rationalists

Political parties are not just what determine the cause of conspiratorial thinking. Rather, intuitionism and rationalism are two psychological patterns of thought that can determine specific conspiracies, and perhaps even catalyze partisan divisions. [16] Intuitionism is when individuals rely on their emotional responses to current events, and then use heuristics to create an explanation for why the events are happening. Rationalists instead determine the causes and effects of events based on quantitative evidence. [16] While both intuitionists and rationalists believe in conspiracies, intuitionists more commonly associate themselves with conspiracies due to their association with more qualitative, emotional data stemming from anxiety about society. [16]

Polarization

Current polarization occurs because of increasingly far right and left thinking, and may also come from the conflict between intuitionists and rationalists. [16] Because both have different ways of thinking, if an intuitionist conservative argues with a rational liberal—or vice versa—disagreement will arise. [16] Over the course of history, the right wing has become increasingly intuitionist, often using Biblical or Christian reasoning for justification behind political beliefs [23] or trust in conspiracies. [16] The left wing has been commonly associated with basing belief on quantitative thought rather than religious affiliation; [24] conspiratorial belief may increase because of misinterpretation of numerical data. [16]

Often, political parties engage in the "us vs. them" mentality when understanding theories, believing that the opposite party has cooked up the conspiracy to literally conspire against them. [4] By defining specific theories to one's political affiliation, many party members become polarized. [4] In fact, Steven Smallpage, Adam Enders, and Joseph Uscinski, all political research writers of Research and Politics, explained,

Although conspiracy theories are often attributed to cognitive hiccups, psychological traits, or psychopathologies, they actually follow the contours of more familiar partisan battles in the age of polarization ... Many conspiracy theories function more like associative partisan attitudes than markers of an alienated psychology. [4]

Conspiracy theories do not arise just because of one's psychology; rather, they usually exist because of divisions in society. Once conspiracies increase, political divisions only grow with them. [4] [5] [11] [25]

Political ignorance

A lack of awareness about political issues also may perpetuate belief in conspiracy theories. [22] Often, because individuals engage in the mindset that they only hold "just one vote" and may believe that they have little impact, there is little motivation to look at politics objectively, or discover credible information about current events. [22] Because individuals may have apathy towards politics, some may rather remain ignorant about issues. As constituents latch onto ignorance and apathy, some may have little care as to whether political information is biased or sometimes even true. [22] When there is a lack of knowledge about how political systems function, or even a lack of information about a political candidate, they are much more likely to believe in extreme or false claims, such as conspiracy theories. [22]

Echoes and spread

Conspiracy theories have evolved with the media's always increasing developments. Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media sites use algorithms that bring up posts, videos, and news that correlate with past searches and interests; conservative users commonly receive conservative information, liberal users usually receive liberal news, and every opinion in between likely receives likewise. [5] [26] Social media is a key element in creating echo chambers for conspiracy theorists to express their opinions.

Alex Jones, the creator of InfoWars. Alex Jones (12844952283).jpg
Alex Jones, the creator of InfoWars.

One example of theorists using echo chambers is Alex Jones, the talkshow host of InfoWars . A far-right-leaning host who discusses and analyzes political issues, Jones frequently brought up information that was deemed extreme and sometimes even false, several times having little evidence to back up his claims. [5] [27] Because of the abilities of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites to contact individuals that think and believe similarly, [26] InfoWars and its community grew quickly, where several like-minded individuals were given extreme information that they were more likely to believe due to their political affiliations. [5]

Nationalism and multiculturalism

The fear of a divided nation, or the definition of what it means to be "American," is also another cause to several conspiracies. Often, whenever a nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender differs from specific identities one already affiliates with, fear of national overthrow, of oppression by a separate group, or of attack on one's own way of life, form a distinct "us vs. them" mentality. [1] As these fears and mentalities proliferate within like-minded groups, conspiracy theories form about the opposing party to justify the group's existence and beliefs. [5] [22] [28] [9] [3]

For example, conspiracies have been perpetuated in the African-American community that the federal government have instigated AIDS or cocaine into the population; this follows the fear of one group oppressing another (specifically, whites against Black individuals). [9] [2] [1] [29] [30] Conspiracies have also been created concerning Native Americans, either arguing against Native Americans or advocating for them. [10]

Robert A. Goldberg, a University of Utah professor on history, also states as to why stigmatized and more privileged groups both struggle with conspiracy theories about the other,

"Recall a uniquely American word – Un-American. There are no unFrench, or UnSwedish, or UnIsraeli counterparts. Americans harbor this suspicion, the danger of betrayal from within..." [31]

Americans are afraid of having their identity as "Americans," comprised by the "other" group that is different from them culturally, ethnically, racially, or religiously. [31] Thus, several conspiracies have affected the social life of the Indigenous, the Black, and the white. [1] [7] [10]

Impacts

Elections

Several conspiracies have been generated out of elections; one election-specific conspiracy is the belief in election fraud. The fear that ballots may have been faked, or cast incorrectly, spans political parties, genders, and races. [25] Partisan affiliations and conspiratorial thinking are both to blame. [3] Commonly, before the election, a belief in widespread voter fraud influencing the election outcomes are likely to come from conspiratorial thinking and a distrust in higher authority. [25] After the election, a belief in fraud is likely to come from partisan affiliations (usually originating from the losing party). [32] Democrats and Republicans, while both believing in election fraud, generally accept differing methods of fraud: Republicans often fear that Democrats will cast illegal ballots (such as if they are not a legal citizen of the US), and Democrats worry that members of their party will be prevented from voting by voter suppression. [25] Conspiracy theories, and the fear of an opposite party and their influence as a result, can also drive citizens to vote, and influence the outcomes of an election. [4]

2016

During the 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, many conspiracy theories developed and spread on social media about the opposite candidate—particularly theories against Clinton or Trump's other opponents. [33] As a result, social media, especially Facebook, came under fire for fanning the flames of fake news. [34] Because 44% of Americans receive their news from Facebook, some claim that if Facebook does not filter disinformation in extreme posts, the conspiracies could potentially be dangerous. [34] Many also argue about the potential conflicts censorship has with the First Amendment. [35]

2020

QAnon's symbol QAnon.svg
QAnon's symbol

In response to the 2020 presidential election—and the fears generated out of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden would win—several conspiracies have spread around social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. [36] The QAnon conspiracy theory (which originated in the U.S.) alleges that Trump is fighting against a deep state cabal of child sex-abusing and Satan-worshipping Democrats. [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] QAnon is one such conspiracy with a massive following; it has generated over 100 million comments and likes on Facebook in the year 2020 alone. [11]

The number of QAnon adherents is unclear, [37] [38] [42] but the group maintains a large online following. [37] [38] Many have expressed the fear that, because of QAnon's influence and beliefs in Donald Trump as the current Savior of the world, it supports Trump's threats to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. [11] Since the Associated Press declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 Presidential election, [43] however, QAnon followers have experienced either a crisis of faith, or have been in denial, believing that President Trump is working behind the scenes to defeat "shadowy forces" that determined Biden's win. [44]

Facebook has banned over 790 QAnon groups, 100 pages, and 1,500 ads tied to the theory in an attempt to dispel the following. [45] Instagram has also taken action, restricting over 10.000 accounts where QAnon could have an effect on the populace and the election. [11] [45] To avoid the creation of echo-chambers and further polarization, Facebook prevents QAnon groups from forming, but allows individuals to occasionally post their support. Facebook has also prevented followers from organizing fundraisers and selling merchandise to raise money for the organization. [45] After Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, updates from Q declined dramatically, with the last post by Q made in December 2020. [46] QAnon beliefs became a part of attempts to overturn the election, culminating in Trump supporters attacking the United States Capitol, leading to a further crackdown on QAnon-related content on social media. [36] [47] [48] [49] [50]

List

The Moon landing is one of the most commonly known conspiracy theories, where many theorize that the government staged the landing. AS15-88-11866 - Apollo 15 flag, rover, LM, Irwin - restoration1.jpg
The Moon landing is one of the most commonly known conspiracy theories, where many theorize that the government staged the landing.

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