So what’s the opposite of a conspiracy theorist? Is it someone who believes that most people in positions of power are working for the good of mankind?

As the terms “conspiracy” and “conspiracy theorist” are more and more demonized, it got me wondering about what exactly those terms mean.

I suppose the most basic definition of a conspiracy or a conspiracy theorist is the idea or belief that powerful people often conspire for their own gain or to help forward their own plans, often at the expense of people not involved in the conspiracy.

A perfect yet simple example of this would be something like price fixing between companies or pharmaceutical companies being more focused on long-term, expensive treatments instead of cures.

Both of those above examples have been proven many times over the years, so in actuality they aren’t even “theories”. The only theoretical part is how often and how dedicated those companies are to those specific strategies of price fixing or maximizing pharmaceutical profits.

So then, to help us define conspiracy theories or a “conspiracy theorist” even further, let’s try to define what the opposite would be and see if the opposite version sounds like a more logical and rational choice.

The opposite of a conspiracy theorist would be someone who mostly rejects the idea that powerful entities or people conspire to forward their own goals at the expense of others. Instead, a person who is the opposite of a conspiracy theorist would believe that powerful people and entities are mostly concerned with the common good and betterment of the world in general. These entities or powerful people have no interest in exploiting their positions of power and wealth to gain even more power and wealth.

At this point, I’m assuming the above sounds quite naive and ridiculous for any adult who has spent any time living in the real world.

It’s quite obvious that powerful and wealthy people got that way by doing exactly what an “anti-conspiracy” person thinks they don’t do. By nature, powerful and wealthy people got that way by being predatory and hyper-competitive towards any force that would restrict their ascension to power.

So looking at it like this the question then becomes rather simple when determining if being a “conspiracy theorist” is more rooted in reality than being an “anti-conspiracy theorist” .

The answer should be rather obvious, and literally thousands of years of history and literature bear this out. Powerful people and entities often exploit those around them for personal gain. They also have no problem using every angle and advantage they can to further their own goals, whether those are ethical or even legal.

The above paragraph isn’t a theory, it’s a fundamental truth proven over 2000 years of western civilization.

So therefore, to think the opposite, or to think that most powerful people and entities are actually working towards the common good, even at the expense of their own success, is to go against thousands of years of proof and real world examples.

So when it comes to conspiracy theories, thinking the opposite is actually a much more ridiculous and naive position than virtually any “conspiracy” out there.

 

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