<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>The tendency of conspiracy theorists to overestimate the ability of those in power to control events (in Doug's example, Al D'Amato) is similar, I think, to the religious impulse. Isn't it easier to understand crop failure by attributing it to a wrathful god than to study climatic conditions? Like reality in general, social and political reality is most readily understood on the model of personal relations because they are something we all participate in. Grasping the more complicated realities of class society, on the other hand, requires abstract concepts, which take a little more work to acquire.   </FONT></HTML>