Current Events > Do left wing conspiracy theorists exist anymore?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ever since Trump became president in 2016 it seems like every conspiracy theorist is a right-wing Qanon follower (which was preceded by the Tea Party movement who tried to push that Obama birther bullshit conspiracy).

However, I distinctly remember during the George W. Bush presidency there were a lot of people who though 9/11 was an inside job and these people definitely leaned left from what I saw. They hated Bush, hated the Iraq war, and really hated Dick Cheney. None of them seemed to be right-wing.

I wonder, because of the Qanon conspiracy nuts do the left-wing conspiracy nuts simply just hide in the shadows because they don't want to be lumped in with the Qanon people?

Or did these left-wing 9/11 inside job conspiracy nuts actually become Qanon followers (and thus became republicans) when Trump was elected? I notice a lot of Trumpers hate George W. Bush so maybe they used to be left wing back then and then became right wing under Trump?

They were banned from youtube and social media. There's still a lot of left conspiracy theorists. I'm one of them.

BestInTheWorId posted...

They were banned from youtube and social media. There's still a lot of left conspiracy theorists. I'm one of them.

You're just the person I'm looking for then.

So like, do you ever get into arguments with right-wing conspiracy theorists and call each other's conspiracies BS? What is that argument even like?!

The_Sock posted...

You're just the person I'm looking for then.

So like, do you ever get into arguments with right-wing conspiracy theorists and call each other's conspiracies BS? What is that argument even like?!

I don't

BestInTheWorId posted...

There's still a lot of left conspiracy theorists. I'm one of them.

I'm absurdly curious about what the left conspiracy theories are anymore.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I'm absurdly curious about what the left conspiracy theories are anymore.

Well most of the stuff I believe in aren't really political to begin with.

BestInTheWorId posted...

Well most of the stuff I believe in aren't really political to begin with.

So... USS Eldridge?

Will the craziness truly top the Trump cult? There was a dude interviewed at a rally saying that Trump was king of the world because he touched a magic sword in the United Arab Emirates and the person they were gonna see today was really JFK or JFK Jr in a Trump mask...

sonichu posted...

Will the craziness truly top the Trump cult?

That's probably not possible.

a lot of left wing conspiracy theories have been coopted by the right in recent years

and, well, there's a case to be made that capital is feeding conspiracy theories to the left (aside from marxist-leninists, who enjoy a distinct ideological framework) but that's a discussion for another day

TheMikh posted...

and, well, there's a case to be made that capital is feeding conspiracy theories to the left (aside from marxist-leninists, who enjoy a distinct ideological framework) but that's a discussion for another day

Ironically, the Ayn Rand loons are beginning to reject conspiracy theory.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Ironically, the Ayn Rand loons are beginning to reject conspiracy theory.

could you elaborate on this? rather drowsy right now but i'll check in tomorrow morning.

i'm surprised the randians reject conspiracy theory when the conspiracy by fusionists to shut them out of midcentury conservative discourse is a documented phenomenon (the paleos were mad about it being done to them for decades, and echoes of the grievances can still be heard from time to time)

TheMikh posted...

could you elaborate on this? rather drowsy right now but i'll check in tomorrow morning.

The Ayn Rand loons created the very concept of "conspiracy theory" in that the government only exists to fuck you over.

In the decades since Ayn Rand died, it stopped being a conspiracy and/or theory.

Questionmarktarius posted...

The Ayn Rand loons created the very concept of "conspiracy theory" in that the government only exists to fuck you over.

In the decades since Ayn Rand died, it stopped being a conspiracy and/or theory.

19th and early 20th century socialist thinkers might have beaten them to the punch tbqh even if some strains were catastrophically sidetracked by their own state projects, but yeah, there's really no illusion about the nature of the state apparatus these days.

TheMikh posted...

there's really no illusion about the nature of the state apparatus these days.

Ayn Rand and Leon Trotsky strangely collided in rejection of the state.

sonichu posted...

Will the craziness truly top the Trump cult? There was a dude interviewed at a rally saying that Trump was king of the world because he touched a magic sword in the United Arab Emirates and the person they were gonna see today was really JFK or JFK Jr in a Trump mask...

Why the fuck is Qanon so obsessed with JFK Jr?

I hate politics infesting conspiracy theories these days

I know people say it all the time but the main conspiracy subreddit is awful

I'll gladly promote a few if you point me in the right direction.

Can someone give me some examples of "left-wing" conspiracy theories?

indica posted...

Can someone give me some examples of "left-wing" conspiracy theories?

"Everything is racist" maybe

I thought anti-vax started out as a leftwing conspiracy theory for rich housewives in Orange County and then got co-opted by Trumpitarianists.

MedeaLysistrata posted...

"Everything is racist" maybe

I mean "everyone" is kinda racist and sexist so that's not like a conspiracy, just a fact...

indica posted...

I mean "everyone" is kinda racist and sexist so that's not like a conspiracy, just a fact...

That doesn't really extend to things like movies being made to enforce specific racial fixtures and etc. Everyone is biased but the conspiracy is that everything we make is in service to continuing the same state of affairs. Unless you are saying people do that on purpose as a fact... Which I don't think is true of everyone.

TC I suggest you bring this question to /x/ and see if you can get a better answer.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I would say that I'm way far left of those right-leaning democrats and I don't think it's a conspiracy, just that no one really understands them...

Progress itself is arguably a myth, but that's different from conspiracy

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Progress itself is arguably a myth, but that's different from conspiracy

Progress as a constant is a total myth...

MedeaLysistrata posted...

"Everything is racist" maybe

This along with everything is the Patriarchy's fault.

Anyway you're not gonna get anything as wild as resurrected JFK

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

That's a pretty broad group of people and a pretty vague description of "conspiracies", can you elaborate further?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Whatever you say Grover Cleveland Season 2

There's your leftist conspiracy

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Lobbyists influencing government policy, the government giving aid to rich people and corporations, and the whole system always making the rich even richer isn't a conspiracy. It's all legal and public. It's just how the capitalist economy works. There's no need to conspire when independent actors trying to maximize their own profits leads to the same result.

MedeaLysistrata posted...

"Everything is racist" maybe

Closest thing.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Those charts are meaningless and totally bullshit >_>

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Which of the hundreds of "political compass tests" (read as: glorified personality test) did you shit these out of lmao

Weren't a lot of the 9/11 truthers always right wing? I can't really explain why but I think it might have something to do with the unpopularity of all the middle east conflicts. Then again, invading Iraq was at least initially quite popular with republicans, but of course 9/11 truthers are a small outlier.

I guarantee that a lot of those Trumpers who hate Bush now were totally on board with everything at the time, even though they probably wouldn't admit it. They're shameless and don't learn their lesson. A lot, but not all - and definitely more than ex-lefties who switched

Wouldn't that be like "aliens built everything in the past" kinda stuff?

indica posted...

Can someone give me some examples of "left-wing" conspiracy theories?

9/11 truthers back during the Bush presidency. They were absolutely left-wing back then. @indica

all the vaccines cause autism and gmos are giving us cancer ppl i knew were hyper left

Well I do know these modern conspiracy theorists managed to kill off shows like the X-Files ever happening again lol. Even that new season from a few years ago was starting to feel a bit awkward.

indica posted...

I would say that I'm way far left of those right-leaning democrats and I don't think it's a conspiracy, just that no one really understands them...

That's where most conspiracies begin. When something happens that can't be explained in a way for the laymen to understand.

The left-wing conspiracy theories in recent years tend to go into overdrive anytime Bernie is on the ballot.

The_Sock posted...

9/11 truthers back during the Bush presidency. They were absolutely left-wing back then. @indica

No, no they weren't...

indica posted...

No, no they weren't...

Yes they were.

The_Sock posted...

Yes they were.

It was a mix. "Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams" is an Alex Jones thing. An example of left wing 9/11 conspiracy would be that the entire thing was an intentional plot by those in charge of the military industrial complex.

A recent left wing conspiracy: Deep state prefers status quo (perhaps big oil, big pharma, big education interests) and had the DNC tamper with elections to screw Bernie. First they propped up Pete Buttigieg, then Joe Biden.

I guess if you want to strip that down, "deep state existing" would be a more basic one that also overlaps with right wing conspiracy. Right wingers are way more my team vs your team about everything, so their targets might seem random, hypocritical or paradoxical whereas left wing is more simply "corporate interests are subtly to outright evil."

yeah they mostly complain about corporate america conspiracies. i don't mean complaining about the increasing wealth gap (actual data), but i mean the conspiracies that come behind it. I think the absurdity of a pedophile cabal in the back of a pizza shop far outweighs any mainstream leftwing/alt-left conspiracy.

Octans posted...

It was a mix. "Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams" is an Alex Jones thing. An example of left wing 9/11 conspiracy would be that the entire thing was an intentional plot by those in charge of the military industrial complex.

A recent left wing conspiracy: Deep state prefers status quo (perhaps big oil, big pharma, big education interests) and had the DNC tamper with elections to screw Bernie. First they propped up Pete Buttigieg, then Joe Biden.

I guess if you want to strip that down, "deep state existing" would be a more basic one that also overlaps with right wing conspiracy. Right wingers are way more my team vs your team about everything, so their targets might seem random, hypocritical or paradoxical whereas left wing is more simply "corporate interests are subtly to outright evil."

The leaked emails from that time showed that the DNC didn't think Bernie could win the presidency and they did screw him over, along with quite a bit of antisemetic language thrown in...