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Product Description
Almost a third of African-Americans believe that AIDS has been intentionally inflicted upon them by whites. Over half of America believes JFK was assassinated as part of an intricate conspiracy. Two Japanese bestsellers have recently argued that Japan's recession was caused by American Jews. In short, conspiracism is flourishing. In this fascinating tour of the world, Daniel Pipes exposes its roots, its future, and its consequences.Conspiracy theories are everywhere and Pipe's material proves they are stranger than fiction -- from the popular theory that there are only six degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and everyone in Hollywood to how sales of a soft drink plummeted when minors spread in inner cities that it caused sterility in black men. Pipes traces conspiracy theories through history and convincingly shows how they have been used as common tools of mass manipulation in the West, and have more recently cropped up in the Third World and among disempowered fringe groups. Conspiracy is a sweeping reinterpretation of the power of the paranoid style in Western history and a wake-up call to those who think it has waned.
Amazon.com Review
The New World Order, CIA drug rings, UFOs in New Mexico, the JFK assassination, the Elders of Zion--all are the products of politically disaffected and culturally suspicious minds, writes Daniel Pipes, author of The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy. Here he examines the nature of conspiracy theories and asks, "What makes otherwise intelligent people believe in phony phenomena?" and "Why is antisemitism so often its central feature?" Pipes usefully lays out a few hypotheses about conspiracy theories, and distinguishes them from actual conspiracies (which are real, of course). Although the book could benefit from some organizational improvement, it contains many astute observations. Readers interested in its subject will find it worth examining.
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