July 13, 2018 Conspiracy Culture in American History Indiana University Bloomington professor Stephen Andrews taught a class about conspiracy culture in American history. He described how conspiracy theories have changed over time, but often include involvement of groups such as the Illuminati, Freemasons, and Skull and Bones. He talked about how in the 1950s a prominent aspect of conspiracy theories was the threat of communism, but in later decades a global “New World Order” was a more common feature. This is the first of a two-part seminar hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Conspiracy Culture American History, Jul 13 2018 | Video | C-SPAN.org
Culture and politics are central to conspiracy theories, suggesting their existence may be a way to communicate to people that the crap is about to hit the fan. Censoring the news and internet are proving to be counterproductive to instilling any trust whatsoever in any news source as reliable. When everyone is screaming bullshit and nobody is listening, conspiracy theories have the advantage of still spreading and helping to warn people when the crap actually does hit the fan, by supporting social networks.