The term “Conspiracy Theory”

 

Wikipedia states that "a conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public."

The term “ Conspiracy Theory” has become close to useless for serious analytical purposes, since it is only used by promoters/defenders of official narratives to render the targeted person unworthy of further hearing.

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Conspiracy: A conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future.
A 'theorist' is someone who creates theories.

So the literal denotation of a 'conspiracy theorist' is someone who theorieses about conspiracies.

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Nowadays the label 'conspiracy theorist' has become an ad hominem attack used on those with opinions which threaten official narratives or have well-founded doubts about the official narrative.

Consider how quickly that label, once pinned on a person, prevents any further consideration of the person’s rhetoric, writings or discoveries.

The commercially-controlled media clearly have a vested interest in casting suspicion on anyone whose primary source of information is elsewhere as inherently suspect.

Conspiracy theory’s acutely negative connotations may be traced to liberal historian Richard Hofstadter’s well-known fusillades against the “New Right.” Yet it was the Central Intelligence Agency that likely played the greatest role in effectively “weaponizing” the term.

Media Professor Mark Crispin Miller recorded that the phrase 'conspiracy theory' only became popular in journalistic discourse as a label for describing commentators who publicly doubted the findings of the Warren Commission.

A declassified CIA memo# 1035-960 entitled "Countering Criticism of the Warren Report" examines the widespread disbelief of the Warren Commission report and reports that “The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists..." The memo recommends that its recipients "employ propaganda assets [in the media] to answer and refute the attacks of the critics".

Professor Miller suggests that an attempt was orchestrated by the CIA and the media to provide the phrase 'conspiracy theorist' with connotations of craziness, noting that since 1980 it has taken on an almost exclusively negative connotation, as if any and all conspiracies contrary to the official narrative are necessarily unlikely.

Today more so than ever news media personalities and commentators occupy powerful positions for initiating propaganda activities closely resembling those set out in 1035-960 against anyone who might question state-sanctioned narratives of controversial and poorly understood occurrences.

The label has been wheeled out in various guises by corporate media outlets, commentators and political leaders to this day and probably will be for a long time.