WHO RULES THE WORLD?

Whether it is true or not, what on earth can we do about it?

Advertising manipulates us, that's for sure but we either choose to buy what they peddle or we don't.

Just live your life the best you can; buy what you need; be kind to one another; teach your children to be respectful and help others - and don't get your knickers in a twist.

What more can we do?

And BTW, you're all wrong. I rule the world

Had a handyman in to do some work and while he was fixing the gubbins he explained how some random Jewish guy had been responsible for shooting JFK. There was no doubt he believed every word and he went on to elaborate on his view of the world.

Completely batsh*t. It worried me for a bit and then I remembered that most people are motivated by and adhere to some sustaining narrative whether religious, political or social. His seemed somewhat more harmful and bigoted than most but really, was it much worse than (still) blaming every ill on 'Thatcher' or 'The Tories'.

Fear drives intolerance and conspiracy theories. That and the need for scapegoats.

Best get on with our lives and mind our own beeswax.

Sorry, missed a question mark in the above post.

Putin is making quite an effort in that direction and he is probably more ruthless than most contenders.

absent I have no sympathy for conspiracy theorists no matter how confused, vulnerable and unhappy they may be. They spread fear, hatred and unhappiness - did you not read about the theory they spread about the Sandy Hook school massacre? Grieving parents were abused and told they had made up the killings, made up their children's very existence.
And Lily blaming ‘the Jews’ is nothing like blaming the Tories. No one making anti-Semitic remarks like that would be allowed to stay in my house for a nano second after uttering a comment like that.

A lot of work has been done into why people believe conspiracy theories. At one point it was thought that those feeling diempowered supported them because they could then feel comfortable that there were powers beyond our control who caused everything.

In the end it is comfort that draws us to conspiracy theorys. We want simple answers to complex problems that are difficul tto handle www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-47144738

I've a friend who believes in all sorts of strange stuff, that she spent years researching.

She has given up an excellent career (and a huge wage) as an accountant for a huge worldwide company, and taken off to find like minded people.

I wouldn't have said she was disempowered, but maybe she isn't a typical conspiracy theorist.

Quite a few conspiracy theories have eventually been proven to be true- MKUltra is one-

Somebody recommended the documentary Zeitgeist earlier in the thread, I second the recommendation- The part about religion, specifically, is fascinating -

I loved X-Files ..