olitical disagreements in America used to be driven by the weightiest issues. Should more power be granted to the federal government or the states? Should slavery continue? Should we get involved in an emerging World War? The result of these disagreements was either conflict or compromise. These were disputes over real problems, argued with real facts. Not anymore. Today, politics are driven by conspiracy theories, where reality gives way to illusion, where verbal sparring become shadow boxing.

To be sure, the conspiracy theory is nothing new. Throughout our history warnings have been sounded over the influence of the illuminati, the Trilateral Commission, and the John Birch Society. The impact of these organizations proved largely inconsequential. However, in the 1950’s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy showed the violent potential of conspiracy talk. He darkly warned of an imminent Communist takeover of American government and society. In the resulting furor, people were beaten, ostracized, and fired from their jobs. McCarthy’s “red scare” eventually evaporated for lack of evidence, but not before the country staggered. It was unclear at the time, but his crusade was a distant dress rehearsal for January 6th.

However, McCarthy’s lie also constitutes the greatest difference between conspiracy theories of the past and those of the present. Today, none of the theories ever seems to be decidedly disproved. Not for lack of evidence; but for the intransigence of believers, who will never admit they were wrong. The most outrageous, fanciful, and fact-free theories of current politics feed on themselves, immune from the absence of truth or real substance. People are convinced a conspiracy theory is true just because they believe it. For example, Hillary Clinton and fellow Democrats were accused of running a pedophilia sex ring from the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizza parlor. It made little difference to believers when the restaurant was proved to have no basement. The lie lives on. No conspiracy theory is ever entirely stamped out anymore.

Who believes?

You could paint a picture of a “typical” conspiracy believer as a white male, without a college education, living between the coasts, who describes himself as both religious and conservative. But those demographic descriptions are not just limiting, they’re harmful. They ignore millions of Americans who may be young, rich, female, minority, who live comfortably in the middle of an upscale urban neighborhoods. More importantly, stereotypes focus on who these people are, rather than the far more vital issue of how they think.

Why do they believe?

Here is the much weightier issue, and it deserves some exploration. It’s been the topic of an almost countless number of books, studies, and graduate theses. And from this emerges a general agreement on the mental state of the true conspiracy believer:

You might say there’s nothing inherently abnormal about any of these traits—and I would agree. We certainly live in chaotic and turbulent times, to the point where it would be weird not to feel some disorientation and anxiety. After all, both the left and the right see an existential threat to our democracy, although from different directions. But what sets the true conspiracy theorists apart is what needs those theories promise to fill:

Of those needs, the most consequential may be the last one: control. If there’s one word that capsulizes all the anxieties of the conspiracy believer, it’s a perceived lack of control over life. The believer feels just as smart—in fact, even smarter—than all of those “elites” telling everyone what to do. The believer lives in the “real world,” not some ivory tower. The believer works hard, refusing the “government handouts” that “cheaters” get. The believer finds it harder and harder to make ends meet; “how the hell am I supposed to afford braces for my kids?” Or “get him into the Ivy League?” It seems harder and harder to fit into a rearranging society—it’s a moving target. In short, when there’s no control over circumstances, someone has to be blamed. Someone who’s making all this crap happen. A good conspiracy theory connects the dots and identifies the villains.

(Sidebar: the “Good Old Days” phenomenon)

Sociologists and researchers tend to divide personal outlooks into two camps. First are those who are “promotion-focused.” They view the world with an eye on the future, envisioning a way to make that world work for them. They see a path to success and happiness, and they set out to make that come true. In that future, they feel in control.

Secondly, there are those who are “prevention-focused.” They aren’t thinking about moving forward and getting what they deserve; they’re fearful of losing what they’ve already got. For example, “I’m hearing my company might move my job to China.” Or ,“if these taxes get any higher, I’m just gonna’ have to have to sell something.” And of course, “maybe the government is coming for my guns.” To the preventionist, it’s all about holding on. To them, “it wasn’t like this in the old days. My folks and grandparents made things work— and they did it without all of this modern stuff. No one told them what to do.”

Sometimes people are simply dealt a losing hand. It happens. But sometimes they can truly make things better, but find it more comfortable to simply find a scapegoat. To them, there must be some secret or unseen force at work. And that’s when the conspiracy theory comes knocking on the door.

How do they come to believe?

Do you think that these believers are the worst--being so gullible and angry all at the same time? Do you think nobody is lower than them? If so, you’re wrong. And I’ll tell you who’s worse—so much worse.

There are people who invent these preposterous theories with utterly evil intent. They prey. They bray out of one side of their mouth and sneer out the other. They understand their victims, and their weak spots. They are vultures picking on the bones of the disaffected, simply for the accumulation of wealth and power. This applies to both the polemicists who fabricate these theories, and the politicians and other tools who cynically repeat them for the purpose of harvesting votes.

The most obvious example among the fabricators is radio and online commentator Alex Jones. Among his greatest hits are assertions: 9/11 was actually pulled off by the U.S. government; that this same government can generate and direct tornadoes to destroy certain areas; that (yep) the government is using hidden chemicals to turn people into homosexuals; and that the entire massacre of those sweet little kids at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut was just a hoax—nobody died. (On that last one, Jones had his (first) day in court—and it wasn’t a happy one for him. He’s been ordered to pay $50 million in damages to parents of one of the murdered children. More trials continue.)

But this isn’t just about bombast and b.s. Conspiracy theories thrive in an environment of political polarization, and everyone agrees that’s the neighborhood we all live in now. The more chaos and conflict you can foment, the more likely that anxious and powerless people will grasp at conspiracy straws. And as they do, they transfer “control” from the Republican party, which promised to deliver them from all this mayhem.

To support this, let’s start at the top of the “greatest hits” list of current polarizing issues:

Income inequality
Bias based on race, gender, etc.
Educational level/opportunity
Cultural norms
Public vs. private (schools, regulation, social security, health care, etc.)

There are more, but I think this is enough to make the point. There are plenty of issues that demand attention, but how do we solve them? I’m going to be even more dogmatic here to draw a contrast, but I don’t think this strays too far from fact:

Democrats work to find solutions—even if that gets messy. Argue with each other. Pass a bill. Find the money to pay for it.
Republicans don’t pass anything that doesn’t cut taxes for the rich or retract rights. That’s it.

If you think I’m being too harsh, I ask what the GOP has come up with in recent years in the way of gun control, health care costs, climate collapse, police reform, income inequality or inflation. The answer to each of these issues in absolutely nothing. Do you think they really care if you have an abortion? They don’t. Do you think they really care if someone tries to take away your AK-47? They don’t. Do you think they really care if the minimum wage goes up, or the government pays for your health care? Of course they don’t. But they do talk about these issues, in the most inflammatory terms, because that leads to more anger and disillusionment—an polarization. And that, in turn, leads to more conspiracy theories. Those are he reapers they use to harvest votes.

The fabricators and the spreaders cynically speak to those prevention-focused folks, promising a return to a normalcy that never was. The subtext is always the same: “you don’t have to worry about regaining control of your lives. Just give that control to us, and we’ll take care of everything.”

To envision all this in action, think about the man who claims everything he does or owns is “the greatest.” The same one who declared, “only I can fix it.” The one who triggered this modern era of conspiracy theories by claiming in 2011 that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. And the same one who continues to cling to the mother of all conspiracy lies, that somehow a “deep state” of the U.S. government stole the 2020 election from him. To him, that was the greatest sin of all, because it removed his ample backside from what he saw as a rightful throne. How dare anyone yank his jack boot from the throat of progress. In the end, he will never admit what he truly is: a loser.

Fittingly, Trump’s devil’s bargain with his followers is clear: “I will give you control of your own lives if you will only enforce control for me.” Thus, January 6th.

The Big Lie comes from the Biggest Liar.

n theory, there’s an obvious counter to a conspiracy theory—the truth. But since it’s the role of scientists and journalists and the “elites” to provide such facts, they, too, must be made part of the conspiracy. Thus, experts like Anthony Fauci and politicians like Liz Cheney and celebrated truth-tellers like the New York Times and the Washington Post are planted firmly on the enemies list.

Even when every shred of evidence discredits the conspiracy theory, the believers believe.

But why do they believer so fervently, and why now?

There simple explanation is one that millions of people would never admit—social media. The role of truth-teller has devolved to someone you know reposting something they read on Facebook. No one bothers to determine whether it’s true. It seems like it could be. But no one knows if it originally came from troll farm in Moscow or Beijing. Belief muffles fact. The combination of delusion and confirmation bias allows almost anyone to believe almost anything. And the social media platforms are the intentional super spreaders of this plague, and have developed algorithms that don’t just allow conspiracy theories to exist, they actively promote and underscore them. (If you’re skeptical, please read The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher.)

his all sounds pretty dire, doesn’t it? What could possibly emerge to stem the polluted tide? There is no magic answer, but there may be clues in the experiences of therapists who deal with individuals tormented by foundationless conspiracy theories.

The idea here is to return to the dichotomy mentioned above, between the “promotion-focused” (looking ahead with intent and optimism) and the "prevention-focused” (“…doesn’t matter what I do. ‘They’ are going to take everything away anyway.”) In their sessions, therapists have found some success by having the believers write down on paper their goals…and also list ideas on how to reach those goals. It doesn’t always work—but in some cases it does. Some begin to see a positive path and a way to follow it. They start to imagine control.

Now, there is no way you could ask all of the tens of millions of conspiracy consumers to do that—they’d see it as a conspiracy! But this does give a clue on how progressive candidates can decontaminate at least part of this toxic pool. Right now, the overall Democratic message to voters is--understandably--outrage: “look at what those people have done to your right to choose! To your ability to send you kids to school safely! Look how they lied to those poor immigrants and then dumped them in Martha’s Vineyard without a clue on what to do!”

Those are powerful thoughts—but in the end, it’s just a battle of outrage on the left vs. outrage on the right. Casual voters tune the whole thing out.

But there’s another way. Here's what I mean. Ronald Reagan’s presidency was a disaster—a cesspool of scandals involving the savings and loan industry, the EPA, Housing and Urban development, the Defense Department, illegal lobbying by former top advisors, and the infamous Iran-Contra debacle. His appointees knew he was so disconnected (and possibly demented) that they could do whatever they wanted. So they did.

Bur in the public eye Reagan floated above all this by wearing a sunny smile and projecting unbridled optimism. The slogan for his first presidential campaign was “We can make America great again.” (Sound familiar?) For his second, he proclaimed “Morning in America.” And on his way out the door (scandals be damned), he proclaimed the America he had created had become, “a shining city on a hill.” He projected a country, and its citizens, with limitless futures.

I raise this not to urge Democrats to mimic the pratfalls and corruption of Reagan, but rather to learn from his attitude. If individual conspiracy consumers can benefit from identifying a positive future for themselves, so can millions of voters who might otherwise remain captive to their delusions, or simply choose not to bother filling out a ballot.

Yes, point out the flaws—but also tell Americans that theirs is a nation of greatness. That they, too, can achieve greatness within it. (Joe Biden already practices this.) Explain what the administration has accomplishments to date and explain the plans to make the future better. Tell them they can prosper—that America will be better with them involved. That they can achieve control.

Give them hope…and they may reward you with their votes. And in turn, conspiracy theories may start to wither.

Issue 20

Conspiracy Consumers