The enduring allure of conspiracies
Conspiracy theories seem to meet psychological needs and can be almost impossible to eradicate. One remedy: Keep them from taking root in the first place.
Jan. 19, 2021, 9:28 a.m.
The United States of America was founded on a conspiracy theory. In the lead-up to the War of Independence, revolutionaries argued that a tax on tea or stamps is not
just a tax, but the opening gambit in a sinister plot of oppression. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were convinced based on “a long train of abuses and usurpations” that the king of Great Britain was conspiring to establish “an absolute Tyranny” over the colonies.