"Free thinker" could be a replacement term.

But the point is to own the term that the media uses to try and dismiss legitimate criticism. Using a different term doesn't help counter their smears.

I believe there's real life hobbit lord of the rings shit going on in the islands known as New Zealand

They know it's not working as well as it used to, which is why they tried to pivot to "Fake News," which blew up in their face so they've retreated to "conspiracy theorist," but that insult is losing its power as more an more conspiracies are exposed.

They're losing, which is why things are getting nastier and will get nastier still. But they'll still lose, and they know it.

it doesnt work like that. the connotation of a "conspiracy theorist" being paranoid, wacky, and unreliable has already been established. the connotation will not leave. its like the word "nigger" black people can call each other it, but others cant call them that because the connotation is still attached to the word, no matter how many way/times you try to rebrand it. the whole notion of this post is ridiculous, why do you feel the need to label things and identify as a group. get away from that and you'll stopped being dismissed as a conspiracy theorist and just be a person with a different perspective.

The meaning of words never change over time.

If you say so bud.

what?

I agree. In fact "conspiracy theorists" perform a noble civic function for society. It's easy to own the term these days, thanks to the avalanche of "conspiracy theories" that have become conspiracy fact.

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

I tell people I'm into Cryptonews.

Some of that is conspiracy theory, but a lot of it is just trying to discover the news that is hidden and obfuscated by the mainstream narrative

Most people are leery of adopting the title because it's nebulous as fuck: covering everything from acknowledging the government/corporations have a stunning history of conspiratorial doings on; to claiming the moon's a fucking hologram that sprays "third eye blinding" rays.

If I disagree with 99% of the shit that gets peddled here, what POSSIBLE merit is there in me agreeing to be a rhetorical shield meant to legitimize said shit?

The problem is there are conspiracy theorists who simply question everything, regardless if there’s enough proof or fact to prove them wrong. So you might have someone that rejects the official government story on specific events, while you have someone who is a flat earther who also thinks the sun is fake and Nibiru is coming to get us as well.

Labels are dangerous.

Which is why this one should be destroyed. You don't destroy it by running from it, you embrace it...and when a shill posits their own official conspiracy theory let them know that their conspiracy theory is interesting. Statements from anonymous intelligence sources are conspiracy theories as well.

but never forget the true purpose is to unearth truth and expose corruption for the good of the average person.

Is that why I get called a s-word all the time for asking for evidence or for pointing out basic physical laws?

I don't like be labeled as anything, getting labeled isn't a good thing. If you are labeled as something people are able to stereotype you.

Most people are conspiracy theorists. They believe a conspiracy of Muslims attacked the US. They believe a conspiracy of Russians hacked our election. They just don't like anti-government conspiracies, unless it's anti-Trump, then they'll believe anything: He's a Russian puppet Manchurian sleeper agent installed by mastermind Putin. He may very well be all of those things, but it certainly isn't Russia who is pulling the strings. Try to accuse the CIA of doing any of these things, and you'll still be derided unironically as a "conspiracy theorist," which of course, the CIA itself helped to popularize.

Or call a spade a spade: "Truth Seekers". My evidence for this is the flat earth movement 100% failing to penetrate the conspiracy community. People want truth, not stories.

Believing in conspiracies does not make one a "theorist", just a believer.

Watching YT videos and then believing them is not theorizing.

One is not a "conspiracy theorist" until they have constructed a theory about a conspiracy.

"The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious, one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated." - James Baldwin

We are a minority that should be protected.

There's a belief associated with this term. A connotation.

When most people hear the word "conspiracy theory" they think false.

I could talk about MKULTRA, Paperclip, the Business Plot, etc and people would call them "conspiracy theories", regardless of how many sources I could site.

What people call "conspiracy theory" is actually just a narrative. I could talk about the Church committee hearings, some of the revelations that were brought to light regarding some of the things done to people in some of the programs uncovered, and that's all good... but as soon as I mention "mind control" incredulity strikes, and my retelling becomes a "conspiracy theory", regardless of how factually accurate that it might be.

In 2003, when I was telling everyone I knew that the IAEA / UN weapon inspectors didn't find shit about WMDs and that Iraq didn't have those kinds of weapons, I was called a "conspiracy theorist".

The term is a pejorative and a thought-terminating-cliche, and no amount of "taking it back" is going to change that. I'd rather not be labeled with a negative term, thanks.

Operation Paperclip, AKA "Get the German scientists and technology before the Russians do", is some kind of "conspiracy" ??

Stalin would have shit all over NATO if we hadn't gotten those scientists and V1/V2 components, we would have been decades behind in rocket technology.

Where's the "conspiracy" ?

The conspiracy is that it was illegal, and those nazis were war criminals who likely would have stood trial at Nuremberg.

President Harry Truman forbade the agency from recruiting any Nazi members or active Nazi supporters. Nevertheless, officials within the JIOA and Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—the forerunner to the CIA—bypassed this directive by eliminating or whitewashing incriminating evidence of possible war crimes from the scientists’ records, believing their intelligence to be crucial to the country’s postwar efforts.

this is precisely what my previous comment is talking about.

Notice the incredulity?

If they had not gone against Truman's tunnel vision Stalin would have destroyed America.

Paperclip is one "conspiracy" I'm glad happened, we would not be having this dialogue if it had not..

Ah right... if paperclip had never happened we'd all be speaking Russian right now eh?

Thank God certain crimes are OK when they are done for National Security right?

War is hell.

Once you come to understand that you can see many crimes on both sides.

Fire bombing entire cities to ashes.

Unnecessary nuclear bombing just to flex those big pretty muscles.

Letting a couple million POWs starve to death at the end of the war...

Etcetera, ad infinitum.

Operation Paperclip allowed NATO to keep pace with ICBM tech the soviets immediately started developing, end of story.

You understand nothing of the russian nation character or history. Russia was not in a position to become an imperialist power post war. They suffered the most casualties and destruction of all the allied powers.

Operation paperclip was literally treason and a crime against humanity. It marked the beginning of the slow march towards fascism in north america. Germany lost WWII but fascism won.

LOL...

Stalin and Kruschev were both political and military nightmares for NATO.

Operation paperclip was literally treason and a crime against humanity. It marked the beginning of the slow march towards fascism in north america. Germany lost WWII but fascism won.

Hyperbole much ?

German scientists equating to "crime against humanity" and a "slow march toward fascism" !!!! REEEEEE !!!!

Yeesh, get a grip, that level of nonsense is embarrassing.

I always preface my interest in conspiracy with that "I'm a distrusting individual who doesn't participate in faith-based-esque politics or media".

ie. everyone is guilty till proven innocent and i need to see the evidence.

I like to think of myself, not unlike Clyde Lewis it Ground Zero Radio, as a ‘conspiracy theory analyst.’

I prefer to go with Gore Vidal's "conspiracy analyst".

I like to remind folks that “conspiracy” is a felony crime, punishable by prison sentence. You’d never be able to convict someone of “conspiracy” unless someone initially had a “theory” as to its happening.

Reality hypothesist.

Which is why this one should be destroyed. You don't destroy it by running from it, you embrace it...and when a shill posits their own official conspiracy theory let them know that their conspiracy theory is interesting. Statements from anonymous intelligence sources are conspiracy theories as well.

Ah right... if paperclip had never happened we'd all be speaking Russian right now eh?

Thank God certain crimes are OK when they are done for National Security right?