Elements of the Conspiracy

•   PLAYERS: First and foremost: there is never a shortage of potential conspirators and/or co-conspirators. Anyone (whom you don't especially care for) is suitable for inclusion in the cast of characters. You may wish to differentiate among various subgroups of possible plotters, as actors in different phases or subsets or factions of your conspiracy. But in general, the more, the merrier! EVERYONE is a suspect, EVERYONE is an un-indicted co-conspirator. Except you and your friends, of course. And you can't always be sure of them, now can you? Such thinking isn't paranoia, it's 'being survival-oriented.' Remember that.
  
  
•   EVIDENCE: Next: here's never a shortage of evidence. ANY action or inaction, by ANY potential plotter, can be construed as evidence of a conspiracy. ANY document, image, recording, artifact, no matter what its content or context or construction, can be construed as evidence for the conspiracy. Every move, every word, betokens guilt and betrayal, treason and treachery. There is no innocence, hence no evidence of innocence.
  
  
•   CONTEXTS: Next, and really most important: there is never any shortage of CONTEXT(s) for a conspiracy. Now a conspiracy is, by definition, any plan or action by two or more individuals in pursuit of a goal, especially of those plans or actions are kept secret, and that goal is one that would not be considered legitimate by some people.

  (The limitation on a conspiracy, OF a conspiracy, being, involving two or more entities, need not be considered binding -- it's possible that those two entities exist within the mind of a single individual - thus it IS possible to have a lone conspirator.)

  Since in a conspiracy, any plan or action or artifact may promote, may further the goal of the conspiracy, whether important or not, the plans / actions / artifacts themselves aren't the focal points of the conspiracy, but rather their linkage, their connection, their connection to the furtherance of the conspiracy - their context. Therefore, the complexity, the richness of a conspiracy, is measured not by the importance, the power, the significance of any particular person, action, plan or artifact, but by the number of linkages that can be constructed between the elements of the conspiracy and the goal of the conspiracy.

  The mathematics of combinations is such that only a small rise in the number of elements in a conspiracy dramatically increases the number of possible combinations. Thus any conspiracy, even with only a limited number of players, artifacts and goals, generates a near-infinite number of connections (infinite meaning 'uncountable'). Observers are left to judge the richness of the multiple infinities to decide which may be the most compelling, all-encompassing, nefarious.

• CONCEPTS: Given the immense numbers of possible players, plans, artifacts, combinations in any conspiracy, it's obvious that ANYTHING can be construed to be part of a conspiracy. The prudent conspiratorialist may feel a need to balance between this richness of possibilities, and the difficulty of constructing a coherent conspiracy. But, in action, this is not really a dilemma, since the more confusing and complex the plot scenario, in many ways the easier it is to sell. As long as the HIGH CONCEPT of the conspiracy theory can be stated simply, as long as a single BIG LIE can be emphasized over and over, the quality and quantity of the supporting evidence is really irrelevant. Greater support may add a sheen of validity to the conspiracy theory, but uh it's not the evidence that determines the acceptance of the scenario; rather it's the power of the HIGH CONCEPT, of the BIG LIE.
  
  

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  Constructing The Conspiracy

  

  OK, so those are the basic principles underlying any conspiracy theory. Now, how to *use* those principles? What are the strategies and tactics you should employ to achieve the greatest results? What are the secrets of other successful conspiratorialists?

•   SELECTION: First, select any items you want, any factoids, and present them as evidence of the conspiracy. Any countervailing / contrary evidence, anything that contradicts your conspiracy theory, can either be ignored, or it can be spun as being disinformation presented by your opponents solely to discredit you, and thus is itself further evidence of the conspiracy!
  
  
•   PRESENTATION: Your 'evidence' should be presented as often as possible, with as much volume as possible, in any context / forum possible, and with total disregard for any countervailing or contradictory] comments / discussion or evidence. What other people say or do about you is almost irrelevant, except that whatever they say or do can be construed (spun) to support your conspiracy theory. There is no 'bad' publicity - every time you're mentioned in public, you win. Furthermore, what other people say and do IS important, because anything they say and do WILL support your conspiracy theory / assertion.

  Your goal in presenting evidence, making your arguments, presenting your HIGH-CONCEPT statement, is not necessarily in and of itself to convince anyone of the validity of your argument, but rather, to draw out reactions, to provide yet more evidence for your conspiracy theory. EVERY REACTION IS EVIDENCE.

  
  
•   MOTIVATION: Now at this point we should consider the motivation behind your conspiracy theorizing. Are you in this for ideological reasons, to promote or denigrate any specific uh political, economic, religious or artistic belief system? Are you in it to gain power, money, influence? Are you in it just for the entertainment value, to keep yourself amused? Or are you in it for random reasons?

  Now, any of these goals may be motivating you personally, but this will not have any effect on how you treat the construction of your conspiracy theory. Unless you're in the last two categories, if you're in it for entertainment or random reasons - if those goals do not include gaining a mass audience, then whatever you do is fine, it's all up to you.

  But if your motivations are either economic / powermongering, or ideological, then you stand to achieve the most by gaining reaching a large audience. It doesn't matter if they love you or hate you, as long as they notice you. Gain attention, and you'll gain support - from somebody.

  
  
•   MARKETING: You're trying to sell a viewpoint - not necessarily a product, well possibly a product, but like modern marketers, the product is less important than the attitude. Coca-Cola does not sell colored flavored water, it sells satisfaction. Nike does not sell shoes and clothes, it sells a self-image. Broadcasters do not sell information or entertainment, they sell attitude. The latter also has a product - they sell YOU, the audience, to their advertisers.

  So, in constructing and selling your conspiracy theory, you shouldn't think of it in terms of a product that you're manufacturing, and pushing, even though selling books, magazines, pamphlets, recordings, videotapes, may be an adjunct of this. What you are indeed selling is the mindset that supports your conspiracy theory.

  
  

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  Fear, Greed, Hate

•   People operating in financial markets know that what motivates investors are Fear and Greed. When you want people to invest in your mindset, to buy your attitude, you have to punch those same buttons - Greed and Fear. Along with Hate, either hate of others or hate of self.

  An unsophisticated, amateur conspiratorialist will only play on Fear and Hate. A slightly more sophisticated operator will invoke Sex to provoke the Fear and Hate. But in order to gain mass, international acceptance of your mindset, Greed is an indispensable component of your marketing plan.

  Churches know this - they play upon, not just the fear of damnation, of punishment, of divine retribution - and hatred, of outsiders, of non-members of your belief system, your church your party, your community - but also the greed of gaining immortality, eternal life, redemption, liberation from the Wheel of Karma -- Pie In The Sky When You Die.

  So in your conspiracy theory, it's not enough just to go negative, ya hafta have something positive there too. Hence the attraction of doomsday cults, cults who convince their members to commit mass suicide by playing on fears of the outside, hatred of the outsiders, and greed for a divine reward (and maybe sexual access). See START Your Own Religion For Phun & Prophet! for more on this.

  
  
•   So a successful political / military / governmental conspiracy will play upon not just the fear and hatred of the governmental / military operatives, but also play on greed that you can attain the power that they have. Your conspiracy theory should be structured so that your believers think that they can attain that power.

  And an economic / religious conspiracy theory, not, instead of just playing on the fear and hatred of those involved, should also play upon your members' greed by allowing them to think that they can gain the economic or spiritual power of the group you're targeting, their material wealth, etc.

  Your UFOlogical / Angelic / Extraterrestrial theory should provide for your believers' gaining great benefit from the paranormal entities that you are promoting. These are all just variants of the same thread: go positive as well as negative.

  
  

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  Pyramid Structure

•   The success of your conspiracy theory will depend upon your success in contrasting diverse elements - the complexity of the supporting elements of your theory, and the simplicity of the theory itself. You can visualize the structuring of this as a form of pyramid, where you can choose between a short, flat, squat pyramid, an equi-angular pyramid, or a tall, thin, sharply-pointed pyramid. With each of these models, you have a commonality of having just one peak, one central theme, one HIGH-CONCEPT. If you have multiple theories running, you're going to confuse your possible audiences, potential audience. So you want the apex of your pyramid to as simple, as bright and clear and penetrating as possible.
•   Beneath the apex is the pyramid. If the pyramid is short and squat, you'll essentially have evidence in very little depth, but great breadth. The opposite of that, the tall sharp pyramid, has great depth but small breadth of evidence. And the mid-point, the equilateral pyramid, is balanced.
•   You may find it expedient to go after multiple audiences, in which case you would need multiple pyramids. This may *look* as though you're having one pyramid with multiple points, but those other points are actually in different dimensions, as though one pyramid is overlaid on another.

  Thus, if your conspiracy deals with AIDS, one pyramid may support the theory that AIDS is caused by white doctors trying to eliminate black populations. This would be aimed at, say, an African-American audience. Another pyramid/theory might be that AIDS is caused by aliens, this being for your UFOlogical audience. And the theory that AIDS is promoted by drug companies to maximize their profits, may appeal to a commercially-oriented audience. These 3 distinct theories may rest upon a great shared base of evidence, yet they'd be best sold as separate theories to separate audiences, rather than being included all as different prongs of the same theory. You'd have pyramids overlapping each other, but emphasized in different dimensions.

  
  

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  Simplicity Succeeds

•   KEEP IT SIMPLE AND STUPID, especially. We can see that organizations that allow themselves to promote complex, more complex conspiracies, such as Lyndon LaRouche's party, and the John Birch Society, and the Moral Majority, all these have fallen by the wayside, and are no longer major players in the conspiracy game. Whereas those that stick to a single point, especially neo-fascists, have increasing audiences, sway, influence, believership.

  What this all boils down to is that your theory will succeed if you have a simple message, and you repeat it over and over and over. Simplicity will win. Your supporting evidence is nice, but it's really just icing on the cake. Or, think of that pyramid -- shove that pyramid into your opponent's heart, and that evidence is the weight that drives your point.

  Thank you, thank you for your attention. (Dictated whilst strolling, 26 April 2000, Forestville California, 1:30 in the afternoon)

CONTENTS:

PART I

1. Elements Of The Conspiracy:
   Players, Evidence, Contexts, Concepts
2. Constructing The Conspiracy:
   Selection, Presentation, Motivation, Marketing
3. Fear, Greed, Hate
4. Pyramid Structure
5. Simplicity Succeeds


PART II

6. Codewords, Keywords
7. Establishing Blame
8. Dueling Conspiracies
9. Further Thoughts [needs editing]


PART III

24. Resources
25. FAQs
26. Goto GO! Index

Click here for links to numerous conspiracy resources and FAQs. How can you expect to create a decent conspiracy theory if you don't have a plethora of verbiage and imagery to back it up? Click here for everything you need. Or else...