A thread on right-wing conspiracy theories, inspired by this: https://twitter.com/jocastarora/status/1262240803218427905">https://twitter.com/jocastaro...

Right-wing conspiracy theories aren& #39;t "beliefs" in the traditional sense, they& #39;re instruments used to justify political attitudes and stances. Note how most of them tie with white supremacy, antisemitism, LGBTphobia, or antifeminism.

Those that aren& #39;t directly conspiracy theories about minorities/feminism/lgbt generally target liberal or leftist govts./politicians who are seen as abetting minority rights. In either case, the conspiracy theory, if true, would justify pursuing the political goals of fascism.

And that& #39;s why people "believe" in them: not because they aren& #39;t smart enough to know that they aren& #39;t true, but because they don& #39;t care if they& #39;re true as much as they care about getting what they want. And that& #39;s why trying to show them how untrue they are will never work.

I think a lot of liberals have a hard time understanding conspiracy theories because they& #39;re used to seeing politics as a debate between facts, rather than an struggle for power between values. They steadfastly cling to the belief that it& #39;s a failure of reasoning, a mistake.

Often, liberals put the cart before the horse, and assume that fascists are fascist because they believe these theories, when in reality it& #39;s the reverse.

I& #39;ll end this thread with a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre about 20th-century fascists, that I think still holds true today: