The Danger of Conspiracy

Gwenyth McNulty, Lion's Roar Staff

     Often, the first thought that comes to mind when the word “conspiracy” pops up is the government and its affiliation with aliens. However, unlike this harmless conspiracy, there are also other scenarios, far more dangerous ones.

     Almost two years ago, there was a disturbance on Capitol Hill. In an attempt to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power, crowds gathered outside of the capitol building, rallying at former President Trump’s words. Now, there are nearly 1000 defendants who are being charged for participating in the riot, and there are many more who supported it in the first place. And in order to cover up the horrors that occurred that day, conspiracy theories are being spread to this very day. 

     Statements like the FBI being behind the riot and the insurrection being peaceful are circulating the internet, and people are buying into them disturbingly easily. Conspiracy theories have been a problem in the world for a very long time, and it’s causing more damage than good. 

     Another example of the danger of conspiracy theories lies in rapper Ye, who was formerly known as Kanye West. For nearly ten years, and possibly even longer, Ye has gone on the record, making antisemitic remarks for the world to hear. Only now, Ye is being punished for what he is saying. After his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian came out and spoke about her personal life, Kanye responded by saying, “Kim is a Christian…It’s Jewish Zionists who are about that life, that’s telling this Christian woman that has four black children to put that out as a message to the media.” That has only been one account of antisemitism on Ye’s part in the past few months. Another account of it would be on Twitter in October when he said that he was about to go “DEFCON 3 on the Jews,” following it up with saying that he only meant the ones that screwed him over.

     Ye himself subscribes to a conspiracy that suggests that Jewish people are media masterminds, controlling every aspect of our world from behind the scenes, namely money and the entertainment industry on top of many other things. His subscription to this has caused many other people to rise up with the same harmful thoughts and has given others the opportunity to be hateful to others. 

     The following of these conspiracies have proven harmful to society. Whether it causes violence to erupt or it doesn’t, it’s still detrimental to the minds of people and the world.