Conspiracy Theories

America has a fascination--some might argue an obsession--with conspiracy theories. Theories abound about secret government mind control experiments, Microsoft loading its software with subliminal messages, the CIA selling crack cocaine in the ghettoes in order to finance its covert activities, NASA's staging of the Apollo moon landings at a secret military base, the government's use of captured UFO technology at a top secret military installation known as Area 51, and the Holy Grail of conspiracy theories, the assassination of President Kennedy. Many conspiracy theories have become so well-accepted that they are an integral part of the fabric of our culture, and in many cases they have become--like urban legends--a part of our cultural mythology.

Many sociologists argue that America's obsession with conspiracy theories is a recent phenomena, part of our post-World War II, post-modern culture. They argue that the government has become so big and so secretive--a residue of the Cold War--that it has created a culture of secrecy, making society susceptible to epidemics of suspicion in which conspiracy theories thrive and multiply. Others argue--especially in the case of the UFO phenomena--that modern science has taken much of the mystery out of every-day life, and that conspiracy theories such as the UFO phenomena are a kind of quasi-religious response that fulfills our need for mystery.

Whatever the causes, conspiracy theories abound. Some people believe that the U.S. government is secretly conspiring to harvest vital organs from the poor and homeless in order to extend the lives of the rich and powerful. Others harbor the belief that there are secret formulas and techniques, jealously guarded by greedy scientists, which will make them young, rich, and beautiful. With the growth in popularity of the Internet also has come a growth in the number of cyber conspiracy theories, creating a new kind of urban myth. Recently, for example, an e-mail message was circulated across the country claiming that the U.S. Post Office was conspiring with Congress to levy a five-cent fee on all e-mail messages, a claim the U.S. Postal Service vehemently denies on its Web page.