Conspiracy theories continue to find resonance everywhere

In the film Iron Sky, the remnants of Hitler’s Nazi army are holed up on the dark side of the Moon, plotting nuclear revenge on Earth. Most people watching the film realised soon enough that it was a farce, but apparently, many took the possibility of such a thing happening seriously.

They were conspiracy theorists, like those who believe that Netaji Subhas Bose did not perish in an air crash in Taiwan, but was spirited away by the Soviets or the Japanese or green aliens, and will return in triumph one day with the remnants of his army to liberate our wretched nation from whatever is making it wretched and slashing the retail price of tomatoes.

The conspiracy theorist is a tough creature. He, for it is usually a he, is undeterred by reason, evidence, technology or information overload and holds fast to his faith.

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of JFK, 52% of Americans believed that what the government was telling them was a lie and there was a deeper conspiracy involving another shooter, the FBI, the CIA — anything but the official version.

But that was before information was everywhere and people couldn’t just tap a phone and get the real dope. Really? Then get this: today, the percentage of Americans who believe in a deep JFK assassination conspiracy is not lower, but higher, at 62%.