The Truth Seeker published the following critique of an article on "Conspiracy Theories" carried by the Independent.
Introduction – April 4, 2013
The following article portrays “conspiracy theories” as the exclusive preserve of the weird and/or gullible.
After all, who else would “think the Bush administration deliberately misled the public over weapons of mass destruction in an effort to start the Iraq war…”
Or that …”a New World Order controls the world”.
From the poll conducted by the Public Policy Polling it would appear that a substantial and growing number of Americans do. So the corporate media is now fighting a rear guard action to persuade us that such “bizarre beliefs” are without foundation.
Note too that in reporting on the survey the Independent doesn’t analyse why 11% of Americans think the U.S. government was complicit in the events of 9/11. As if the very notion wasn’t worthy of serious consideration.
However, what really caught my attention was the finding “that 37 per cent of Americans also think global warming is a hoax “.
The fact that a growing number of people give credence to such “bizarre beliefs” has obviously got the scribes at the Independent working overtime. After all, little more than a decade ago the very same Independent was reporting “Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past“.
Since then of course, the record breaking cold winters and heavy and sometimes unseasonable snows have helped expose the Independent’s “global warming” for what it is.
From which we can conclude that the Independent is yet another mouthpiece owned by the elite — in fact it’s owned by a Russian oligarch – and used to manipulate and misinform the public. While its journalists are in every sense of the term “intellectual whores”.
Finally it should be noted that the Independent lumps all “conspiracy theories” together — putting notions about “lizard people” together with accusations of U.S. government complicity in 9/11. Despite compelling evidence pointing to U.S. government collusion in 9/11, that has been pointedly ignored by publications like the Independent.
This lack of discernment and genuine analysis is a tell-tale sign that what follows is an attempt at dumbing down.
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Obama the antichrist? Global warming a myth? Lizard people controlling the world? Conspiracy theory research reveals bizarre beliefs prevalent in US
John Hall – The Independent April 4, 2013
One in five Republican voters believes Barack Obama is the ‘antichrist’ and nearly a third of all Americans think a secret power elite controls the world, according to new research on conspiracy theories.
A national poll conducted by the Public Policy Polling organisation found that 37 per cent of Americans also think global warming is a hoax, while 11 per cent of the population think the US government allowed the September 11 terrorist attacks to take place.
The surprising results form part of the PPP’s in-depth study of how political affiliation can dictate the likelihood of an individual believing in various conspiracy theories.
The research found 34 per cent of Republicans polled believe a New World Order controls the world, compared with 35 per cent of independent voters and just 15 per cent of Democrats.
While a total of 44 per cent of Americans think the Bush administration deliberately misled the public over weapons of mass destruction in an effort to start the Iraq war, that breaks down to 72 per cent of Democrats and just 27 per cent of Republicans.
Other conspiracy theory beliefs have similar political overtones. Only 23 per cent of Democrats think global warming is a hoax, but over half of Republican voters think climate change is an elaborate myth.
Meanwhile 33 per cent of Republicans think Saddam Hussein was in some way connected to the September 11 attacks, while 78 per cent of Democrats disagree with them.
Some conspiracy theories saw Democrat and Republican voters more united however, with a total 51 per cent of Americans thinking there was a larger conspiracy at work in the assassination of President John F Kennedy, and more than one in ten believing in Bigfoot.
A combined 29 per cent of US voters also believe aliens exist, while 21 per cent think an alien craft crashed at Roswell in 1947.
The full list of PPP’s finding can be found by clicking here, but select highlights appear below:
* 37% of voters believe global warming is a hoax, 51% do not. Republicans say global warming is a hoax by a 58-25 margin, Democrats disagree 11-77, and Independents are more split at 41-51. 61% of Romney voters believe global warming is a hoax
* 6% of voters believe Osama bin Laden is still alive
* 21% of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, NM in 1947 and the US government covered it up. More Romney voters (27%) than Obama voters (16%) believe in a UFO cover up
* 28% of voters believe secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order. A plurality of Romney voters (38%) believe in the New World Order compared to 35% who don’t
* 28% of voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks. 36% of Romney voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, 41% do not
* 20% of voters believe there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, 51% do not
* 7% of voters think the moon landing was faked
* 13% of voters think Barack Obama is the anti-Christ, including 22% of Romney voters
* Voters are split 44%-45% on whether Bush intentionally misled about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 72% of Democrats think Bush lied about WMDs, Independents agree 48-45, just 13% of Republicans think so
* 29% of voters believe aliens exist
* 14% of voters say the CIA was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America’s inner cities in the 1980’s
* 9% of voters think the government adds fluoride to our water supply for sinister reasons (not just dental health)
* 4% of voters say they believe “lizard people” control our societies by gaining political power
* 51% of voters say a larger conspiracy was at work in the JFK assassination, just 25% say Oswald acted alone
* 14% of voters believe in Bigfoot
* 15% of voters say the government or the media adds mind-controlling technology to TV broadcast signals
* 5% believe exhaust seen in the sky behind aeroplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons
* 15% of voters think the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry “invent” new diseases to make money
* 5% of voters believe that Paul McCartney died in 1966
* 11% of voters believe the US government allowed 9/11 to happen, 78% do not agree
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