Of course, I’m not currently a member of any secretive, sex-magick-practicing, world-bank-manipulating cults…
In middle school some friends and I exploited the fact that one of our acquaintances had got himself a job as clerk at the campus snack concession. Through a combination of persuasion and intimidation we induced him to sell us sugary treats at greatly reduced prices and for several weeks we gorged ourselves on cheap, empty calories. But then, alas, we were busted: a member of our tong folded under pressure and sold out the rest of us to school administration.
it’s curious, isn’t it, that we tend to assume conspiracies are always pernicious
The whole adventure was, if you will, a conspiracy. The group of us conspired together for private gain, and were semi-successful. So it has never seemed impossible or crazy to me to suggest that the larger world is also a playground for conspiratorial groups… rather, it strikes me as an inevitable byproduct of human association. For after all, if even schoolchildren secretly associate, with some success, to further their own ends it is hardly shocking to suggest that adults, too, take advantage of organized, clandestine activity to enrich themselves at the expense of others. In fact, some historians blithely maintain that the story of civilization is a tale of various secret societies struggling with each other for primacy in world affairs, and that governments, religions and corporations are mere window dressing employed by these shadowy clubs to cloak their hidden agendas.
But if my tale of middle school skullduggery supports the idea of adults meeting in secret to plot nefarious deeds, it also holds out hope for the rest of humanity because, in the end, my friends and I were busted, sold out by one of our own, and internecine struggle appears to be a feature of adult conspiracy as well. Apparently, those who live by the sword of secret activity are wont to die by it as well.
And speaking of hope, it’s curious, isn’t it, that we tend to assume that conspiracies are always pernicious and that the ends they pursue must always be at the expense of the greater good. But as Hakim Bey, Robert Anton Wilson, and other savants have pointed out, the machinery of conspiracy is neutral in itself and works equally well on behalf of the righteous.
So if you can’t beat’em, join’em. In other words, don’t give way to paranoia when contemplating conspiracy but rather, start your own counter-conspiracy…
Did you like this essay? You’ll love my books!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a great argument; the word ‘conspiracy’ induces a near-automatic rolling of the eyes in most people. But really, it’s such a natural human thing to do.
At any given time, one can assume I’m involved in 6-8 fairly sizable conspiracies.
This was just wonderful! I love your middle school example (my mind drifts back to the fast-food-sneak-off-campus conspiracy I had going on with my friends until one day I ended up in the principles office after I looked suspicious hiding something in my jacket on the basketball court, after hours of me stubbornly holding out, I finally let them search me, only for them to find a half cold spicy bean burrito- I can still hear them laughing now, assuming I had pot)
great post!