Conspiracy Theories

THE ARTICLE (a mini-conspiracy theory)

A political mystery that has been talked about for four decades in Australia has finally been solved. The Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt vanished in 1967 while swimming off the coast of the state of Victoria. His body was never recovered. Dozens of wild and strange theories about his disappearance quickly developed. Some people believed he committed suicide or faked suicide to live in Switzerland with his lover. Other rumors included a shark attack, a Chinese submarine kidnapping him and a CIA assassination plot.

Australian authorities have finally said that Harold Holt accidentally drowned in heavy surf. It has taken so long to reach a conclusion because the law has only just changed. Coroners can now make a decision on death even when there is no body. Coroner Graeme Johnstone said: “It is sad that, over the years, all of these…unusual theories about Mr. Holt’s disappearance should…overshadow his life and require an explanation.” He also said this case should have been cleared up many years ago.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES:

a. John F. Kennedy was assassinated by the CIA. b. Dutch flower growers assassinated Princess Diana to increase flower sales. c. Israelis organized the World Trade Center attack in 2001. d. Elvis Presley faked his death and is still alive. e. Eurabia – the idea that the Islamic world is taking over Europe. f. The AIDS epidemic is a CIA conspiracy. g. The Apollo moon landing was a hoax.

MYSTERY: Consider it a mystery and use the appropriate vocabulary. Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “mystery”.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a. mystery incident b. finally found c. vanished plan d. recovered at last e. plot ruling f. reach puzzle g. decision cloud h. overshadow resolved i. case disappeared j. cleared up come to

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a. A political quickly developed b. finally an explanation c. theories about his disappearance plot d. he committed conclusion e. a CIA assassination cleared up many years ago f. Harold Holt accidentally mystery g. reach a suicide h. overshadow his life i. require been solved j. this case should have been drowned in heavy surf

Questions:

a. Did the headline make you want to read the article?

b. What were your feelings after you read the article?

c. Did you know anything about this story before you read the article?

d. What do you think happened to Harold Holt?

e. Are there any mysteries surrounding the leaders in your country?

f. Have you heard any strange rumors recently?

g. What’s the latest gossip about your country’s leaders?

Part Two 2 Read the conspiracy given to you and highlight the most important facts. Do you think this theory is plausible? Does it have merit – why or why not? Write an executive summary covering the 5WH’s while providing proof. You will present this to the class.

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

Write your own conspiracy theory! 1. Define Your Conspiracy Subject Matter

First, choose something people find puzzling. It’s no good providing a theory for something that is already sufficiently clear; conspiracy theories develop where people are mystified, not where curiosity is already appeased. If you believe that aliens abducted Elvis for their own evil purposes, it’s probably because his death seemed impossibly sudden and, therefore, incredible.

People have a built-in need to feel that there is sense in what happens in the world, and we’ll make a story for why events happen even where there isn’t sufficient evidence to really know. The clearer the events in the story, the better.

Second, make sure what you choose to explain is significant to enough readers. Money, especially for those caught in the middle-class crunch of supporting their families, is a powerful motivator. So is fear.

Building a good conspiracy theory is improved by taking it international. Don’t just think local. Think global. What’s the international connection to your local problem? Where are the links and pattern?

What if a foreign country had invented a new secret weather machine and a failure in the preliminary tests created the dramatic 2005 hurricane season which culminated in Katrina? What if they set it against the U.S. on purpose? Maybe Japan is behind the powerful weather machine, seeking revenge for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or the Russians? Maybe the machine was created as part of the effort to fight against or speed up global warming, and the flooding in New Orleans was just a taste of what’s to come when the oceans rise? Are we ready? Bad weather isn’t a local issue. If you can find a global angle, you will reach a wider audience with your conspiracy theory.

2. Identify The Agents Responsible For The Conspiracy

It’s normal and entirely human to long for someone to be responsible for the bad things in the world. After all, the alternative world view - that horrible events fall on us haphazardly and randomly - is hardly easy to live with. It’s a complicated, confusing world, and the need for scapegoats is rapidly outstripping the supply.

Let’s face it, explaining a sequence of events without laying blame is not only profoundly unsatisfying to many people, it’s just not a conspiracy theory. Let’s consider the siphoning off of local city water supplies by large corporations who sell bottled water. This is only a conspiracy theory if you hand the corporations a goal and a reason.

If you pick as the goal the total control of the U.S. water supply, then you must supply a motivation. Greed and power are always good. Perhaps your theory would claim that large corporations want to put us into the position of having to buy back our own water, thus gaining them more money and more control.

So pick a villain or villains, and hand him/her/them a motive. Stretch out your imagination to encompass the unlikely. Who could possibly have benefited? What would it have gained them? Give consumers of your conspiracy theory a hat upon which to hang their angst.

3. Connect The Dots

It’s up to you to make the links between the phenomena (your topic, or what you are explaining) and the actors (those responsible for the conspiracy). You are, in effect, revealing what up to this point has been industriously hidden by the conspirators. If those powerful agents were really so powerful, this ought to be a tricky business. In fact, conspiracy theories are amazingly successful in producing just these links. Some brilliance must be going on - or some skulduggery.

Don’t forget to connect the villains to the wrongdoing. The death of Princess Diana wounded many of the people who admired her as a fairy tale princess, a role model, an activist, an abandoned wife, and a beleaguered mother. How can you make the link to someone who might have benefited from her death? Did Prince Charles say anything on those wiretapped conversations to imply that he might want to be rid of his ex-wife? Are you sure?

If you can’t find evidence, though, you may well be able to do without it, using some time-honored techniques.

First, blacken any other theory out there by calling into question the evidence or the reasoning.

Evidence: Were there even tiny anomalies to be found in the photographs and film footage of the Kennedy assassination? Numerous people reported to the police and government about hearing multiple gun shots not coming from the building, but these were dismissed. There was only one assassin, they say. Couldn’t this indicate that the government was lying about the official story?

Reasoning: Numerous crop circles made at one time is just too much of a coincidence to believe. (Surely the mass arrival of aliens is more plausible.) If you can’t provide evidence that the the holocaust was a made-up event, slam the evidence that it ever existed. As a last resort, claim that no evidence for your theory is forthcoming because they are hiding it.

You can also choose to rely less on evidence than on testimony or story. If you can find one person who swears by your theory, people may be willing to believe that over evidence to the contrary. One person with a vivid and detailed story to tell about being kidnapped by aliens - especially when it’s exotic, adventurous, scary, horrific, or sexy - may trump carefully reasoned explanations.