Conspiracy is the Root Cause
of America’s Problems

Friday, October 23, 2009

By John F. McManus
John Birch Society

Consider the following points:

• After decades of federal meddling in education, the quality of its product has deteriorated. But education funding continues.
• In the 1970s, when federal officials discovered that our nation was importing 30 percent of the oil we use, they launched the Energy Department. After it has spent tens of billions annually impeding energy development, we now import 60 percent of our oil.
• Federal involvement in housing brought on the housing bubble whose collapse ushered in the current recession. But expensive housing programs remain on the federal agenda.
• The Obama administration announced that the deficit for the just-ended fiscal year would be $1.4 trillion — three times the largest amount of a year’s red ink in the nation’s history. But they will still give away billions through a foreign aid program.
• The Constitution requires a formal declaration of war before our nation’s forces can be sent into battle. No declarations have been issued for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But no one is supposed to refer to this portion of the Constitution each federal official has sworn solemnly to uphold.

There are only three possible explanations for the seeming insanity.  1) Our leaders are ignorant of these undeniable facts; 2) Our leaders have the facts but are too dumb to change their course; or 3) Our leaders know what they are doing because the destructiveness they preside over fits into their agenda.
 
The third explanation alone makes sense. But accepting it entails arriving at the notion of conspiracy — the shunned concept defined as a secret plot among more than one for an evil purpose. Merely suggesting conspiracy invites ridicule, harassment, even isolation. But it is those who trash this explanation and who defend the indefensible should be ridiculed.  

A brilliant man once stated, “The first job of conspiracy is to convince the world that conspiracy does not exist.” Many who are not themselves conspirators but who benefit from protecting its existence eagerly do the convincing. They know such effort on their part earns them adulation, exalted position, even monetary gain. That’s how a conspiracy works its evil.

The Wall Street Journal’s Thomas Frank has joined the conspiracy-debunking parade. In a recent article, he equates the conspiracy explanation with paranoia, a worn-out theory advanced decades ago by Richard Hofstadter. Frank targets the John Birch Society and Senator Joseph McCarthy by name, and in doing so is correct because both never shrank from using the reviled word to explain why America is in steep decline. He also indicts television’s Glenn Beck and columnist Michelle Malkin for stirring up their many fans.

Frank is obviously worried. So are other conspiracy debunkers. They undoubtedly understand that once a person accepts conspiracy as the source of the harm being done, he or she gets involved. In other words, self-preservation kicks in. Deciding that stupidity is at the root of the nation’s ills customarily does little more than generate hope that our leaders will soon “get it” and reverse course.

While conspiracy debunkers seek to convince the world of its non-existence, they remind us of Shakespeare’s oft-cited line from Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Frequent protesting that conspiracy doesn’t exist continues to suggest that it does in fact explain what is occurring. 

Frank scoffs at the claim that we as a nation “are being marched secretly into communism or fascism.” He asks, “Why would someone bother?” But honest history that is replete with conspiratorial activity proves that many have indeed bothered to generate colossal harm.  

If there were no conspiracy currently steering what the U.S. government undertakes, wouldn’t sensible leaders abolish the completely unconstitutional departments of education, housing, energy, etc.? Wouldn’t there be a termination of the drive to duplicate for America’s medical industry the harm that has already been done in so many other government operations? Wouldn’t foreign aid be ended? And wouldn’t Thomas Frank be among many calling for a reversal of government’s disastrous policies instead of ridiculing the rising number who are demanding real change?

Those who discount conspiracy do so at their own peril. Exposing it is all that’s needed to defeat it and get the nation back on track.

John F. McManus is President of The John Birch Society.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935. At graduation from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, he received a bachelor's degree in physics and a commission in the United States Marine Corps. After serving three years of active duty, he entered the field of electronics engineering, where he won an award from the U.S. Air Force for designing a component used in fighter aircraft.

Jack left the engineering field in 1966 to accept a full-time position with our organization. Working closely with Founder Robert Welch for many years, he was named the Society's Public Relations Director and its official spokesman. In 1991, he was appointed President.

The author of several books and numerous articles, Jack has represented the Society in hundreds of media appearances, spoken from JBS platforms in all 50 states, and written and produced several JBS films and videos. With his wife, Mary, Jack resides in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For further information please refer to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Back to Top

Back to John F. McManus Articles