Jim Devine wrote:
>
> what is the attraction of conspiracy theory?
>
> the political conclusion from such theory seems to be that we should
> replace the conspiratorial Bad Dad with the Good Dad.
1) It is one of the ideologies that emerge from the fact that social relations under capitalism become mystified. There is almost never any visible connection between cause and effect: e.g., a crude example, there is no visible _local_ cause of factory layoffs or the disappearance of a given product from the shelves of grocery stores. Metaphorically, conspiracy theory is the ideological equivalent of "The Invisible Hand" that guides the market. And of course 'limited' conspiracies are a dime a dozen under capitalism. E.g., : recent posts on either pen-l or lbo about the water for irrigation in the central valley of california; assignment of shelf-space for products in supermarkets; letting of construction contracts by municipal governments; decisions of zoning committees.
2) Political despair & longing for a shortcut to reaching "the masses." This is, of course, naive. Consider how little impact actual conspiracies, when revealed, have on public opinion. One of the most famous, Watergate, had lost all potency in two or three years. The Iran-Contra conspiracy never raised anyone's political temper. And the fact that the bulk of the population take conspiracies no more seriously than they take People magazine stories from two years ago only serves to increase the frustration of the Conspiracists and cement them more firmly in their delusions.
Carrol