<<CB: No , it is perfectly normal word in this regard. Most words have a sort of range of meanings, and if used in a certain way "become meaningless" , but if not they are helpful. In this case, I only use "conspiracy" , because that is the way it is coming at me from what is now dawning on me as a whole big group of "anti conspiracy theorists" on the "left". I am just realizing that there are a whole bunch of people on this list who are energetically trying to squash thinking of the normal and regular operations of the U.S. government , corporations and institutions as saturated with plots that if widely known would undermine the average person's confidence and belief in the reasonable fairness and honesty of the system. In other words, would go a long way to undermining legitimacy and its use in hegemony. The remarkable thing to me is that skepticism about normal honesty of the government and the regime was the ordinary consciousness of the left 20 years ago. Now you have "lefts" who think, I guess based on some warped version of Lenin's idea that it is a system not a plot, that they are doing a service to the movement by discouraging reference to plots for building skepticism about the system.>>
Scott:
Michael Parenti has a great sarcastic riff on this theme. He really lambasts lefties who respond to the idea that the transnationals get together to rule with the jibe:
"Oh I guess you think they meet in a room somewhere and plan this shit."
"No," responds Parenti, "they meet in space ships and draw their plans from the ether. Of course they meet in rooms, where else?"
It is amazing that the ruling class has been able to convince even it's severest critics that it is paranoid to think that they meet, discuss and plan how to rule. This in the face of protest against the secret goings on of the WTO for example. We are supposed to believe that the only clandestine planning and conspiring they do is "legal," they would never plan any illegal shit........
Also it's kind of crazy ahistorical - there have been great conspiracies throughout history including political murder, but that vanished with capitalism because of it's higher level of civilization!?!?!
The left is not the crazy right, reducing control and rule to silly theories about black helicopters, but to deny that conspiracy, including grossly illegal activities is a part of how they rule is naive.