Mike Rothschild - The Worlds Worst Conspiracies

On 4 December 2016, a man named Edgar Maddison Welch walked into a Washington DC pizza restaurant, armed with an assault rifle. His motive wasnt robbery, nor was he working as a hitman. Welch, instead, had become entangled with a conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate the evidence-free accusation that the pizza place Welch entered was actually a secret hub of child sex trafficking, part of a ring of evil that ensnared top level Democratic Party politicians and celebrities.

Claiming he was there to self-investigate what hed read on fringe conspiracy sites like Reddit and 4chan, Welch fired three shots into the floor, one of which bounced into a wall and went into another room. Although the restaurant was full of people, nobody was hurt, and Welch was peacefully taken into custody. In June 2017, he was sentenced to four years in prison, expressing regret for his foolish and mistaken actions.

The Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant in Washington DC, which conspiracy theorists alleged was the site of child sex trafficking.

Pizzagate was a uniquely 21st century phenomenon, a conspiracy theory driven entirely by online supposition and investigation, that becomes much more about proving itself than about explaining something difficult to understand. And its far from the only one.

Many people believe that the moon landings were faked. Belief in one conspiracy theory tends to make it easier to acknowledge the merits of others.

These conspiracies weave themselves into politics, pop culture, food, healthcare and media; driven by social media and the instant availability of internet research. And theyve become hugely influential in all of those circles. So we end up with a presidential election dominated by fake news, a Brexit vote influenced by bots and misinformation, an alternative medicine industry that makes tens of billions off sham cures and quackery, baby boomers falling victim to conspiracy theories and scams, and shooting victims harassed over their crisis actor roles in supposedly faked attacks.

The modern era presents us with both classic conspiracy theories and brand new ones, feeding off each other and creating an alternative universe where the only things that happen are things that were being lied to about.

The migrant caravan filled with Honduran refugees makes a stop in Mexico. Belief that the Jewish George Soros was funding the caravan has fuelled anti-Semitic extremists.

And belief in one conspiracy theory begets belief in others. If you wonder what really happened to John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr., or think that the moon landings were fake, youll probably also believe that the US government is faking mass shootings, or that Big Pharma is poisoning us to sell cures, or any number of other popular conspiracy theories of the past few decades.

You also wouldnt be alone. Far from it. A 2014 poll reveals that half of Americans believe in some kind of medical conspiracy theory, such as mobile phones causing cancer or the Food and Drug Administration suppressing natural cancer cures in service of Big Pharma. A 2013 Gallup poll found that over 60 per cent of Americans are sceptical of the official story behind the JFK assassination, and according to a poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University, 63 per cent of American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory.

And this isnt just an American phenomenon. A 2009 study found that between 30 to 40 per cent of UK residents have at least some belief in conspiracy theories; while a staggering eight out of ten citizens of France believe in at least one conspiracy theory, according to a 2017 poll by the French think-tank Fondation Jean-Jaurs.

While for most people, these theories remain topics for idle discussion, a few true believers have taken conspiracy theories into a sparsely-populated, yet extremely dangerous realm of paranoia. Theyve become obsessed by proving the government is out to get them, that their food is full of toxins, that the Illuminati control every aspect of their life, that vaccines and GMOs are culling the population. And most importantly, that they know the truth and are awake, while the rest of us are asleep.

And a few take up arms against their imagined oppressors, such as Edgar Welch, or Robert Bowers, the gunman who murdered 12 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue, driven by the mistaken belief that Jewish financier George Soros was funding the migrant caravan approaching the United States from Mexico before the 2018 elections.

So are all conspiracy theories as baseless and fictionalized as these? Many actually begin with a germ of real information a real incident, a scientific phenomenon, an actual person. Then theyre grabbed on to by the conspiracy theory community, who often use that real thing as the jumping off point for a fantastical world, full of exquisite detail but essentially unprovable assertions.

And why do they take off? What purpose do they serve for their believers? Mostly, conspiracy theories function as the natural extension of humans ingrained need to seek patterns. They bring order to chaos, and attempt to explain what seems like it cant be explained.

The Kennedy assassination is a perfect example of this. John F. Kennedy was the most powerful man in the world, a handsome and wealthy war hero beloved by men and women alike. His killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, was a loser who had accomplished nothing, and was so inept that he couldnt even defect to the Soviet Union without eventually drifting back. Its simply unacceptable to us that a nobody like Oswald could kill a national icon like Kennedy. Yet the official story is that Oswald assassinated Kennedy on his own, with no help. Hence, millions of Americans have taken to believing in conspiracy theories that not only was such a thing not possible, it didnt happen. Its an alternate explanation for events where the official one is unpalatable or unbelievable.

This book features the worst, most harmful conspiracy theories of the last few decades. These are supposed plots that have driven people to violence, to alienating friends and family, to losing jobs, and to becoming ensnared in a culture full of sugar rushes.

Mostly, conspiracy theories function as the natural extension of humans ingrained need to seek patterns. They bring order to chaos, and attempt to explain what seems like it cant be explained.

Each chapter will run down a conspiracy theory, describing what it is, where it came from, what evidence there is that it might be true and what debunks it. Consider each chapter as a short, easily digestible explanation for why an official story about something is most likely the true one. Share them with people who believe, people who dont, and people who might be on the fence.

And ultimately, read them to understand that belief in conspiracy theories doesnt mean youre crazy or should be shunned from society only that your brain is exercising its natural need to seek patterns in chaos. But sometimes, those patterns just arent there.

Do the wealthy and powerful really kill anyone who gets in their way? More than five decades after the Kennedy assassination, why do 75 per cent of Americans still think Oswald was a patsy? Was a vast government plot to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. revealed in a civil court case? And just how many people have the Clintons had killed, anyway? Find out as we examine the conspiracy theories behind some of the most important killings in recent history.