A thread on right-wing conspiracy theories, inspired by this: https://twitter.com/jocastarora/status/1262240803218427905

Right-wing conspiracy theories aren't "beliefs" in the traditional sense, they're instruments used to justify political attitudes and stances. Note how most of them tie with white supremacy, antisemitism, LGBTphobia, or antifeminism.

Those that aren't directly conspiracy theories about minorities/feminism/lgbt generally target liberal or leftist govts./politicians who are seen as abetting minority rights. In either case, the conspiracy theory, if true, would justify pursuing the political goals of fascism.

And that's why people "believe" in them: not because they aren't smart enough to know that they aren't true, but because they don't care if they're true as much as they care about getting what they want. And that's why trying to show them how untrue they are will never work.

I think a lot of liberals have a hard time understanding conspiracy theories because they're used to seeing politics as a debate between facts, rather than an struggle for power between values. They steadfastly cling to the belief that it's a failure of reasoning, a mistake.

Often, liberals put the cart before the horse, and assume that fascists are fascist because they believe these theories, when in reality it's the reverse.

I'll end this thread with a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre about 20th-century fascists, that I think still holds true today: