Who’s Behind the Conspiracy Theories?
Deaglán de Bréadún
When the world starts falling apart, the conspiracy theories flourish. It’s a source of comfort for the bewildered. Back in the 1930s there was a ready audience for wild and wonderful scenarios and nowadays public opinion is ready for some new ones.
The latest to surface is that Barack Obama’s administration is a plaything of the Bilderberg group which is allegedly scheming to achieve world domination. For the “evidence” you should click here.
When you go through the photographs it has to be said that a goodly number of White House figures are “Bilderbergers”. But that’s because the group is essentially a gathering of the great and the good. You won’t find the bin collector of the milk delivery driver there, although they might well have something to contribute.
I met a very old friend on the street the other day. A fine mind, he has now yielded to conspiracy theories. The Freemasons are behind the current crisis, he told me. They are manipulating the international financial system to their own ends; they’re the hidden hand behind the current crisis.
The European Union also provides fertile ground for the conspiracists. It’s all a big plot to undermine our sovereignty, our morality, bring in widespread abortion and euthanasia, straighten our bananas, etc., etc.
Then we have the Trilateral Commission which is somewhat similar to Bilderberg and whose membership includes our own former president Mary Robinson.
The arrival of the internet has given a whole new lease of life to the conspiracy theorists who can sit all day at their desktops composing fantasies. It is of course perfectly legitimate to raise questions about, and take a hard look at, these bodies, whose activities are a matter of public interest, but that’s a long way from the spider’s web of plots and intrigues that has been concocted about them.
Thankfully there have been no anti-Semitic theories so far. They bedevilled the political scene during the Great Depression and were used by fascist leaders such as A. Hitler as a means of getting to power.
What I want to know is (tongue in cheek here): who’s behind all these conspiracy theories?
