Conspiracy or Conspiracy Theory?

We have conspiracies and conspiracy theories. In this context, a conspiracy constitutes a secret plan to do something unlawful or harmful and if not exactly either, to collude in such a way that another group is deprived while the conniving group are advantaged.

A conspiracy theory is similar. It holds that some secretive or covert group is responsible for unexplained or unexplainable events.

I can usually dismiss most conspiracy theories. That's because they often lack key components that - prima facie - create doubt or suspicion. Most conspiracy theories are simply attempts by rational people to make sense of a conundrum, circumstance or happening that they cannot or will not understand as they lack facts, a clear method for solving the problem, or don't have the time to bother nutting it out and so go with how they feel.

How I begin to unravel a conspiracy theory is by looking at the number of whistle-blowers. A lack of them is not a good sign. Then I look for corroborating evidence. This is how you establish fact. If you have one person saying something then that is fine, but they may be wrong, or their recollection flawed. It's a start but it doesn't confirm that what has happened happened. How we get to that point is by having other accounts, preferably from those not immediately associated with the original testimony, that 'corroborate' the story even if they don't exactly agree. Then lastly, we have uncomfortable circumstance, the type of thing that screams - funny that, what a coincidence.

I'll give you two examples to illustrate.

JFK being shot. Clearly, this is theory as there isn't much to go on as there is a lack of whistle-blowers, and most accounts tend to agree with one another. Where we get some suspicion is around not his assassination but that of his assassin. Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald and yet he had Mob connections and was suffering a terminal illness. That's a 'funny that' moment but not enough on its own to confirm a conspiracy.

Then we have the assassination of an historical figure, Julius Caesar. That's not a theory as it can be easily proven from first-hand accounts from a number of different angles. Even the place of his cremation in the Forum of Rome is an unofficial shrine to this day. The uncomfortable fact to support this are the events which followed; culminating in the alliance of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra VII against Augustus; resulting in the Battle of Actium and Augustus' conclusive victory (keeping this brief).

So, COVID-19 and the pandemic, conspiracy or conspiracy theory? Clearly CONSPIRACY. An absolute plethora of sources exist evidencing this conspiracy, along with the flawed science. Sources that are not directly connected to one another. Then there have been a number of happenings all of which deny everyday freedoms. As well, a healthcare system that seems hellbent on using the general population as guinea pigs without their informed consent. Resist.