The New Statesman Essay - History isn't always a cock up
Frank McLynn argues that conspiracy theories sometimes happen to be right
Recently I was discussing with a friend the events of 1978, "the year of the three popes". I happened to mention casually that the death of John Paul I, the so-called "smiling pope", after only 33 days in office, was clearly a case of murder. "Ah," my friend replied, "so you're a conspiracy theorist." In vain I tried to draw the distinction between a conspiracy theorist, who is presumably someone who believes that significant events in history happen as a result of conspiracy by hidden, unseen forces, and the honest historian who is sometimes forced to the conclusion that undetected conspiracies have occurred. But the encounter, and others like it, have left me with a firm conclusion. Anglo-Saxon culture, justifiably suspicious of conspiracy theory, has parlayed reasonable scepticism into the dogmatic assertion that conspiracies never take place. [...]
Full Essay:
newstatesman.co.uk
As I said: conspiracy-bashers are just as conspirational as the alleged 'yarn-freaks' they used to slam --call'em the boob tube's yesmen.... |
