The Conspirologist

Conspiratologist is a term coined by the character Jerry Fletcher (played by Mel Gibson) in the movie Conpiracy Theory. As he used it, it refers to people who explain various events in terms of their respective conspiracy theories.

In that sense, I am a conspirologist. I believe that major political and economic policy decisions in the US are made out of public view, by a ruling elite. This is not necessarily conspiracy, it's just power politics.

Within the network of the ruling elite, however, you will find factions. Members within these factions can and do conspire against other factions and against those who might upset the established order of power.

Yesterday, my youngest daughter and I watched the movie Conspiracy Theory, again. It struck me that the writer had more than a passing knowledge of what I think of as the more sophisticated approach to conspiracy.

Gibson's character explained that the conpiracy has two main factions, the investment bankers (IB) and the military industrial complex (MIC). The IB, he continued, want (or say they want) stability, while the MIC want (or say they want) security.

The character concludes by saying that the factions oppose each other, but it's more complicated than that, because on some levels they cooperate. And when there's a war, they both sit back and profit.

At that point, I paused the film and commented to my daughter that this was a fairly good summary of how our country operates. It succinctly, yet accurately describes the true currents of economic power that have run the machinery of government in America -- at least up until the recent banking crisis.

I hope, in subsequent posts to flesh out this bare-bones conspiracy theory, so that you may have an idea of how these powers have affected the flow of our nation's history from the beginning.