QUACKERY

DAVID AARONOVITCH ~ THE TIES THAT BIND ~ VOODOO HISTORIES ~ 2010

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~ HS ~ HISTORICAL PRECEDENT

~CWHTCPTCIE-AITWSLIIAEHOSCCBC ~ Conspiracists Work Hard To Convince People That Conspiracy Is Everywhere – An Individual Theory Will Seem Less Improbable If An Entire History Of Similar Cases Can Be Cited

~ S&S ~ SKEPTICS AND SHEEPLE

~ A-CT-ILTB-PP-ITIUCTLBAATBASPEATP-BC-BITCMYPOA-GHEG-WCSPTOV-B-TPTB ~ A – Conspiracy Theory – Is Likely To Be – Politically Populist – In That It Usually Claims To Lay Bare An Action Taken By A Small Power Elite Against The People – By Contrast – Belief In The Conspiracy Makes You Part Of A – Genuinely Heroic Elite Group – Who Can See Past The Official Version – By – The Powers That Be

~ JAQ ~ JUST ASKING QUESTIONS

~ TTIJA-CDQ-BOADT-SOT-A-TRISLTMU-H/H-M ~ The Theorist Is Just Asking – Certain Disturbing Questions – Because Of A Desire To – Seek Out Truth – And – The Reader Is Supposedly Left To Make Up – His / Her – Mind

~ EW ~ EXPERT WITNESSES

~ CDUTEO-C-A-‘E’-TVTT-AY-ACFO-MCT-I-TEOTSOE ~ Conspiracists Draw Upon The Endorsement Of – Celebrities – And – “Experts” – To Validate Their Theories – And Yet – A Constant Feature Of – Modern Conspiracy Theories – Is – The Exaggeration Of The Status Of Experts

~ IN-TBIOATQOTE-AAOTFITTACTQEOSATSAWSOELSTTA ~ If Necessary – Theorist Become Interestingly Opaque About The Qualifications Of Their Experts – Another Aspect Of This Fudging Is The Tendency Among Conspiracists To Quote Each Other So A To Suggest A Wide Spread Of Expertise Lending Support To The Argument

~ AC ~ ACADEMIC CREDIBILITY

~ TCWHTGT-WE-TVOS-TAHBDA-DBF-ATEOTTIA-DM-O-D-AO-UI-B-LOAA-AT-OTTI-SBQ-F-N-CS-TAITOTB-MAS ~ The Conspiracists Work Hard To Give Their – Written Evidence – The Veneer Of Scholarship – The Approach Has Been Described As – Death By Footnote – Accompanying The Exposition Of The Theory Is A – Dense Mass – Of – Detailed – And Often – Undifferentiated Information – But – Laid Out As An – Academic Text – Often The Theory Is – Supported By Quotations – From – Non-Conspiracist Sources – That Almost Invariably Turn Out To Be – Misleading And Selective

~ CIT ~ CONVENIENT INCONVENIENT TRUTHS

~ CAAW-TAHA-DF-WA-NAI-T-CBAWTTI ~ Conspiracists Are Always Winners – Their Arguments Have A – Determined Flexibility – Whereby Any – New And Inconvenient – Truth – Can Be Accommodated Within The Theory Itself

~ EAO-PITT-MBAT-DD-OWT-IP-DTTAOTS ~ Embarrassing And Obvious – Problems In The Theory – May Be Ascribed To – Deliberate Disinformation – Originating With The – Imagined Plotters – Designed To Throw Activists Off The Scent

~ US ~ UNDER SURVEILLANCE

~ CAITSTTIISTTA-EIT-‘S’-O-C-SE ~ Conspiracists Are Inclined To Suggest That Those Involved In Spreading The Theory Are – Even In The – “Safest” – Of – Countries – Somehow Endangered

DAVID AARONOVITCH ~ VOODOO HISTORIES ~ 2010

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~ FC ~ Fashionable Conspiracism

~ ABDOACTMB:TAO-DA-TS-TIMLTB-AOU ~ A Better Definition Of A Conspiracy Theory Might Be: The Attribution Of – Deliberate Agency – To Something – That Is More Likely To Be – Accidental Or Unintended

~ OR:OTBE-OHIMPTA-I-IIFNONA ~ Occam’s Razor: Other Things Being Equal – One Hypothesis Is More Plausible Than Another – If – It Involves Fewer Numbers Of New Assumptions

~ CIBMCI ~ Conspiracist Ideas Beget More Conspiracist Ideas

~ TUOR ~ The – Untidiness Of Reality

~ HFL ~ History For Losers

~ DBF ~ Death By Footnote

~ BICT-I-HII-IDOVOH-A-TO-TP-A-IWE-LT-DD ~ Belief In Conspiracy Theories – Is – Harmful In Itself – It Distorts Our View Of History – And – Therefore Of – The Present – And – If Widespread Enough – Leads To – Disastrous Decisions

~ TI-HC-SA-W-SAP-A-U ~ The Internet – Has Created – Shadow Armies – Whose – Size And Power – Are – Unknowable

MARK KINGWELL ~ SINGULAR CREATURES ~ 2022

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~ POPH ~ Politics Of PostHumanism

~ GAIA ~ Generalize Artificial Intelligences [With] Autonomy

~ SF ~ Speculative Frame

~ PH ~ PostHuman

~ T-EC-OT-BHC ~ The – Essential Contours – Of The – Bare Human Condition

~ CL ~ Conscious Life

~ WOP ~ Wholly Owned Property

~ WS-I ~ Welcome Semi-Individuals

~ FA-EU-CO0RO ~ Full Autonomy – Even Under – Conditions Of – Radical Otherness

~ PHH ~ PostHuman Hybrids

~C/B/B ~ Cloned / Built / Born

~ T-CI ~ Techno-Capitalist Immersion

~ NOM ~ Nightmare Of Meaninglessness

~ POOED ~ Product Of Our Emergent Desires

DANIEL STEDMAN JONES ~ MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ~ 2012

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~ NI-M/D/M-BR-WNNIT-1970-B-TWTI-TW-PACS-TTA-TBECSTGD ~ Neoliberal Ideas – Monetarism / Deregulating / Market-Based Reforms – Were Not New In The – 1970s – But – They Were The Ideas – To Which – Politicians And Civil Servants – Turned To Address – The Biggest Economic Crisis Since The Great Depression

~ A-SOTM-H-NI-GSP ~ A – Simplification Of The Message – Helped – Neoliberal Ideas – Gain Significant Purchase

~ WA-N-RIR-WA-J-SA-N-IP-F-TMS ~ We Are – Not – Raising Interest Rates – We Are – Just – Setting A – Non-Inflationary Path – For – The Money Supply

~ AHBCN-DTRO-RBTS-IAR-EGA-T-RTBB-SAM-IFOTL ~ As Has Been Commonly Noted – Despite The Rhetoric Of – Rolling Back The State – It Actually Required – Energetic Government Action – To – Recast The Balance Between – State And Market – In Favor Of The Latter

~ FD-WAEMO-T-N-FIM-IW-AMUF ~ Financial Deregulation – Was An Extreme Manifestation Of – The – Neoliberal – Faith In Markets – It Was – A Mantra Universally Followed

~ M-‘FT’-T-LOT-O-IR ~ Monetarist – “Fine-Tuning” – The – Loosening Or Tightening – Of – Interest Rates

~ RNTATWEWA ~ Radical New Thinking – About – The World Economy – Was Absent

~ R-B-P ~ Reason-Based-Policymaking

~ TFTSPANWETS-THEOA-GE-T-P/D/BE-WGOIA-VPL-O-F-A-EO ~ The Fact That Some People Are Not Well Equipped To Survive – The Harsh Environment Of A – Globalized Economy – The – Poor / Disadvantaged / Badly Educated – Was Glossed Over In A – Vacuous Political Language – Of – Freedom – And – Economic Opportunity

~ TCWNMTAC ~ The Citizen Was Nothing More Than A Consumer

~ A-AATAF-TP-LAL-O-MF-IKSPA-SA-E/H/H-TLWL-WM/DS/IFR-ATST-TLO-P/E/C-R-TO-C/S/S

~ Abandoned – Any Attempt To Account For – The Possibility – Let Alone Likelihood – Of – Market Failure – In Key Social Policy Areas – Such As – Education / Housing / Health – The Losers Were Labeled –Welfare Moms / Dole-Scroungers / Indigent Free Riders –At The Same Time – The Language Of – Profit / Efficiency / Consumption – Replaced – That Of – Citizenship / Solidarity / Service

~ DBTFMG-TIOT-BNW-WT-IPE-CPH:I/S-S-CC/V-A-T-COC ~ Dominated By The Free Market Gospel – The Irony Of This – Brave New World – Was That – It Produced Everything – Conservative Politicians Hated: Insecurity / Social-Sexual-Cultural Changes / Violence – And – The – Collapse Of Community

~ T-EOTIC-TDO-TFDB-CAC-HBLF-TA-LOC-A-T-L-BAL-B-PWINI-AGAO-TPOPI-TAMT-IPL-AS-MB-CAA-IRTE ~ The – End Of The Ideological Conflict – The Disappearance Of – The Fundamental Division Between – Collectivism And Capitalism – Has Been Lamented For – The Accompanying – Loss Of Certainty – And – Tribe-Like – Belonging And Loyalty – But – Perhaps What Is Needed Is – A Greater Acknowledgement Of – The Point Of Political Ideas – They Are Meant To – Improve People’s Lives – And So – Must Be – Changed And Amended – In Response To Evidence

~ F-EASFI-IL-AET-FM-SNDTAO-A-M-I-IT-R-S&E-P-R-B-P-NTR-T-MR-O-IR-A-R-TM-UHN ~ Faith – Even A Secular Faith In – Individual Liberty – As Expressed Through – Free Markets – Should Never Drive The Application Of – A – Model – Inflexibly – Impervious To – Real – Social And Economic – Problems – Reason-Based-Policymaking – Needs To Return – The – Mundane Reality – Of – Incremental Reform – And – Regulation – To Meet – Urgent Human Needs

ADAM SMITH ~ AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS ~ 1776

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~ TTWHT-GVIU-HF-LONVIE-A-OTC-TWHTGVIE-HFLONVIU ~ The Things Which Have The – Greatest Value In Use – Have Frequently – Little Or No Value In Exchange – And– On The Contrary – Those Which Have The Greatest Value In Exchange – Have Frequently Little Or No Value In Use

~ NIMUTW-B-IWPSA-SATCBHIEFI ~ Nothing Is More Useful Than Water – But – It Will Purchase Scarce Anything – Scarce Any Thing Can Be Had In Exchange For It

~ AFO-A-NFOP-S-IEAOTW-THB-TVMOTMOM ~ All For Ourselves – And – Nothing For Other People – Seems – In Every Age Of The World – To Have Been – The Vile Maxim Of The Masters Of Mankind

~ NSCSB-F-A-H-OW-TFGPOTMA-P-A-M ~ No Society Can Surely Be – Flourishing – And – Happy – Of Which – The Far Greater Part Of The Members Are – Poor – And – Miserable

~ I-GE-T-PWLI-TC-AI-TP-RFTSOA-F-MOT-SAI-F-TW-B-E-ATE-TAORITN-TEOTOFAA ~ In – Great Empires – The – People Who Live In – The Capital – And In – The Provinces – Remote From The Scene Of Action – Feel – Many Of Them – Scarce Any Inconveniency – From – The War – But – Enjoy – At Their Ease – The Amusement Of Reading In The Newspapers – The Exploits Of Their Own Fleets And Armies

~ O-M-A-M-M-CMO-TBEO-HW-I-RTP-A-T-LTSOTG-BA-HAA-TSNC-TBEOHP-TASWRT-TPEOTOG-TCOOTOOP ~ Our – Merchants – And – Master-Manufacturers – Complain Much Of – The Bad Effects Of – High Wages – In – Raising The Price – And – Thereby – Lessening The Sale Of Their Goods – Both At – Home And Abroad – They Say Nothing Concerning – The Bad Effects Of High Profits – They Are Silent With Regard To – The Pernicious Effects Of Their Own Gains – They Complain Only Of Those Of Other People

~ TSOES-OT-CTTSOTG-ANAP-IPTTRA ~ The Subjects Of Every State – Ought To – Contribute Toward The Support Of The Government – As Nearly As Possible – In Proportion To Their Respective Abilities

JONATHAN CHAIT ~ THE BIG CON ~ 2007

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~ HAH-B-CE ~ Hoodwinked And Hijacked – By – Crackpot Economics

~ CAC ~ Charlatans And Cranks

~ WMPWRWSD-AT-THBRBE-B-EBP-S-S-CIABOH ~ While Most People Would Regard With Some Distrust – A Theory – That Has Been Rejected By The Experts – But – Embraced By Politicians – Supply-Siders – Consider It A Badge Of Honor

~ OOTHO-CT-I-AA-A-UAT-EA-IF-TFSFW-T-LD-WEMCATBTE-B/S/W-TCOTOI-AAA-THPHW ~ One Of The Hallmarks Of – Cult Thinking – Is – After All – An – Uncanny Ability To – Explain Away – Inconvenient Facts – The First Such Facts Were – The – Large Deficits – Whatever Else May Come Along To Buffet The Economy – Bubble / Scandal / War – Tax Cuts Ought To Overcome It – Again And Again – This Has Proven Horribly Wrong

~ L-DNH-PC-ANST-FOIR-ANGALT-JS-PA-A-GHASINTPTPD ~ Lobbyists – Do Not Hold – Press Conferences – Are Not Subject To – Freedom Of Information Requests – Are Not Given Anything Like The – Journalistic Scrutiny – Politicians Are – And – Generally Have A Strong Incentive Not To Publicize Their Political Dealings

~ TMOTFO-BAG-ITAAMOC ~ The Merger Of The Functions Of – Business And Government – Is Treated As A Matter Of Course

~ IP-A-C ~ Influence Peddling – And – Corruption

~ T-RD ~ The – Revolving Door

~ B-T-PVB-DNCTCTALTDTT-PED ~ But – The – Party Voting Base – Does Not Cherish Tax Cuts To Anything Like The Degree That The – Party Elite Does

~ OP-STTP-B-OM-PU-TS-FTOT-TC ~ Opinion Polls – Showed That The Public – By – Overwhelming Margins – Preferred Using – The Surplus – For Things Other Than – Tax Cuts

~ ARWD ~ Any Rationale Will Do

~ ‘TOTM’-I-OC-M-ADTFD ~ “Tyranny Of The Majority” – Is– Of Course – Merely – A Derogatory Term For Democracy

~ TINLK-99%-F-VTIA-100%-T-O-T-WOTR-1%-A-DIAT ~ There Is No Law Keeping – 99 Percent – From – Voting To Impose A – 100 Percent Tax – On – The – Wealth Of The Richest – 1 Percent – And – Dividing It Among Themselves

~ M:TDTDW ~ Media: The Dog That Didn’t Watch

~ TPI ~ The Proudly Ignorant

~ TFTOHTCIPHCA ~ The Forces – That Once Held The Center In Place – Have Corroded Away

JOHN RALSTON SAUL ~ BUREAUCRATIC EMPLOYEES SPECIALIZED IN METHODOLOGY ~ THE UNCONSCIOUS CIVILIZATION ~ 1995

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~ E-PS-A-S-HATI-SA-TTAO-CE-B-AA-TT-POTWOSD ~ Economists – Political Scientists – And – Sociologists – Have Attempted To Imitate – Scientific Analysis – Through The Accumulation Of – Circumstantial Evidence – But – Above All – Through Their – Parodies Of The Worst Of The Scientific Dialects

~ B-D-A-I-HBBU-F-S-N-G ~ Both – Democracy – And – Individualism – Have Been Based Upon – Financial – Sacrifice – Not – Gain

HIITTWHFITS-W-E-IAS-IAIM-DWC? ~ How Is It Then That We Have Fallen Into Taking Seriously – Equating – In A Silly – Indeed An Immature Manner – Democracy With Capitalism?

~ M-BL-WPTI-O-C/FM/PI/R-A-TNC-TAM:BESIM ~ Most – Business Leaders – Who Preach The Ideology – Of – Capitalism / Free Markets / Personal Initiative / Risk – Are – Themselves Not Capitalists – They Are Managers: Bureaucratic Employees Specialized In Methodology

JOYCE APPLEBY ~ THE RELENTLESS REVOLUTION ~ 2010

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~ OCCTBOTCS-W-TAOT-DA-A-HM-TT-W-GS-HMP-A-SAE ~ One Cannot Celebrate The Benefits Of The Capitalist System – Without – Taking Account Of The – Disastrous Adventures – And – Human Malevolence – That This – Wealth-Generating System – Has Made Possible – And – Sometimes Actually Encouraged

~ ‘CTGSTCS?’-HBAUQ ~ “Can The Globe Sustain These Capitalist Successes?” – Has Become An Urgent Question

~TA-‘F’-AI-‘FE’STIPO-MTCIC-PMBFTTAJON-B-TANFFTNTWALATWTE ~ The Adjective – “Free” – As In – “Free Enterprise” – Serves The Ideological Purpose Of – Masking The Coercion In Capitalism – People May Be Free To Take A Job Or Not– But – They Are Not Free From The Need To Work As Long As They Wish To Eat

~ C-IA-C-NA-N-S-LTW-NITMA-S-CS-AIAA ~ Capitalism – Is A – Cultural – Not A – Natural – System – Like The Weather – Nor Is The Market A – Self-Correcting System – As Its Apologist Argue

~ AACMITJOCTD-TIO-CI-A-SC-WDTACL-WNTDTBITL ~ At A Critical Moment In The Journey Of Capitalism To Dominance – The Importance Of – Cultural Influences – And– Social Considerations – Was Dispatched To A Conceptual Limbo – We Need To Drag Them Back Into The Light

FRANCIS WHEEN ~ IDIOT PROOF ~ 2004

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~ TCFTR-WCT-T-S-S-S ~ Tax Cuts For The Rich – Were Central To – The – Supply-Side-Superstition

~C-H-TSQWTLTGCUAEM ~ Curiously – However – They Seemed Quite Willing To Let The Government Clear Up Any Ensuing Mess

~ TC-PE-W-RF-C-AB-TBMB-TT ~ The Consequences – Predictably Enough – Were – Rampant Fraud – Collapse – A Bill – To Be Met By – The Taxpayer

~ AW-JB-AAT-MFN-O-T-1980-A-EFD-IOFOA ~ As With – Junk Bonds – Almost All The – Macho Financial Neologisms – Of – The 1980s – Are – Euphemisms For Debt – In One Form Or Another

~ OSO-NB ~ Old Snake Oil – New Bottles

~ T-MA-O-N-B-P ~ The – Magic Allure – Of – Numbered-Bullet-Points

~ G-A-SE-WP-AC-D-A-RNS ~ Gurus – Are – Safe Enough – While Peddling – Ancient Cliches – Disguised – As – Revolutionary New Strategies

~ ITEOTWAWKI ~ It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

~ T-NO-HL-FTMTA-O-I-MDP-A-FAI-AEL-HPTBA-FIS ~ The – New Orthodoxy – Has Lamentably – Failed To Match The Achievements – Of – Its – Much Despised Predecessor – And – For All Its – Apparently Elegant Logic – Has Proved To Be A – Fundamentally Irrational System

HAROLD JOHNS ~ THE POWER OF STORY ~ 2022

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~ WAAS-WATSWAT-A-WATSWTO-TCOCWNTCOS ~ We Are All Story – We Are The Stores We Are Told – And – We Are The Stories We Tell Ourselves – To Change Our Circumstances We Need To Change Our Story

~ TWIOBISBS-ETYTIFBS ~ The Wiring In Our Brains Is Shaped By Story – Every Thought You Think Is Framed By Story

~ SCHASCK ~ Stories Can Heal And Stories Can Kill

~ ASAI-ASHP ~ All Stories Are Important – All Stories Have Power

~ EIAPS-IPAOMT-IWDTOSILWTES-WANLT ~ Economics Is A Powerful Story – It Permeates All Of Modern Thought – If We Don’t Tell Our Story In Line With The Economics story – We Are Not Listened To