You’ve probably heard those deluded ramblings about how the Boston Marathon bombing was a government plot, and you’ve probably heard that a Family Guy episode “proves” the tragedy was a false flag perpetrated at the behest a secret globalist cabal. Because they perpetrate everything.
Leaving aside the anti-Semitism inherent in fantasies of shadow governments colluding with The Media™ — it’s all so Elders of Zion, washed and rinsed —to what end does it serve these secret elites for Seth MacFarlane to broadcast the caper in advance on network tv?
It doesn’t.
The entire stupid canard is the daydream of imaginative, if not terribly bright, eccentrics who need to spend a little less time exposing the truth (with Google) and a little more time trying to kiss a girl for once in their pathetic lives.
“…conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public…” – Adam Smith
The great irony of our national obsession with ludicrous conspiracies is that, while large numbers of Americans were convinced Communists tried to sterilize them with fluoride or that George W. Bush masterminded the 9/11 attacks or that a 20-year-old non-binding international statement known as Agenda 21 is a plot to abolish the suburbs or that Sam Giancana, Lyndon Johnson, the entire military-industrial complex, and this one weird gay dude from New Orleans killed JFK, there are actual, verifiable conspiracies taking place under our nose. These conspiracies are working to subvert the public interest for their own gain. And we basically don't care.
If you read Friday's Detroit News then you know that Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and potential contractors have been secretly crafting a voucher program to fund a “technology-centric” value school.
The group consists of nearly 20 individuals, mostly from the information technology field, including [Michigan's chief information officer David] Behen and the state's chief technology officer, Rod Davenport. The group includes employees from the software and tech companies Vectorform in Royal Oak, InfoReady in Ann Arbor and Billhighway in Troy. Also involved is Tim Cook of the Huizenga Group, a Grand Rapids firm that owns and operates West Michigan manufacturing companies.
Conspiracy may be a loaded term, but how else does one describe government officials and businessmen meeting in secret to create policy that could benefit participants, especially when they go so far as to create burner email accounts to hide their activities?
Conspiracy is how Adam Smith characterized such behavior: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary."
Snyder denies any involvement in a scheme quarterbacked by two executive-level aides. His denial seems suspect, but even if true, then it suggests what the NCAA might term a "lack of institutional control" within the administration.
The most remarkable thing about this plot isn’t that our venture capitalist-turned-governor's team is so blithely violating ethical standards laid down by capitalism’s founding father under the increasingly disingenuous claim of "relentless positive action." More breathtaking is that the policy being crafted in secret is reasonably popular. The general public has proven quite comfortable with programs that shift some of the public education burden away from the traditional public school system. So, what’s with the cloak and dagger maneuvering?
Perhaps those involved still like playing spy games, or more logically, and as Smith warned against, this is “a conspiracy against the public” and a “contrivance to raise prices.”
The merits of this value school aside, it would certainly be of greater value to taxpayers if its vendors were selected on a level playing field through open competitive bidding. Taxpayers can be assured they won't receive the best product at the best price when an anointed few are making policies, behind closed doors, that they may be paid to implement. No one actually wants an open market chipping away at their profit margin. So we end up with a conspiracy: Friendly contractors crafting favorable policy with a friendly administration in secret.
Only the most naïve simpleton could fail to see how this process is a great advantage to the participants at the expense of competitors and ultimately the taxpayers, students, and general public.
No, really, the truth is out there. Closer than you think.
Real conspiracies aren't elaborate or exotic plots. If the end game is power and profit, there are easier and less risky ways to get both without staging "controlled demolitions" while pantomiming skyjacking to fool the "sheeple." One of the first and most basic rules of mechanics is that fewer moving parts increases efficiency. The big conspiracy would be not only evil, but it's also bad business.
If a 9/11-inside-job conspiracy actually existed and was uncovered, there would be heads writhing on a pike by sundown. Meanwhile, we can barely muster a collective shrug when the Detroit News publishes details of a public/private group meeting in secret to radicaly alter education policy, and potentially profit from it.
The Oliver Stones, Alex Joneses, and Jenny McCarthys trafficking in conspiracy theory hokum are themselves engaged in their own plot to separate fools from their money. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that books about vaccine plots and New World Order “documentaries,” no matter how dubious, always turn a profit.
And while a vocal minority can be counted on to work themselves into a lather over such nonsense, actual enemies of the public good—Iowa corn farmers paid to grow “food” no one needs, defense contractors profiting from building unnecessary aircraft carriers, Wall Street executives paid seven-figure bonuses from bailout money, home builders lobbying to protect tax credits that make no economic sense, technology firms seeking gain from school reform schemes, etc.—are plotting every day to maximize their profit at the expense of the public treasury and the national interest.
There was no grand conspiracy in Boston last week, just some “losers” from Chechnya. Actual conspirators are too busy glad-handing in corridors of power and chiseling your pocketbook one secret meeting at a time to waste time on grandiose plots.
