3 Whisky Happy HourThe Ricochet PodcastGLoP CultureBeyond the Polls with Henry OlsenGray MattersDaily SignalThe Erick Erickson ShowGiving VenturesMom Wars3 Martini LunchChicks on The RightParsing Immigration PolicyFederalist Radio HourWhat the Hell Is Going OnFreedom to LearnThe Learning CurveThe Conservative Woman’s GuideHeritage ExplainsNot Dead YetWho Funds that?The Radio Free Hillsdale HourThe Glenn ShowFirst Things PodcastCall Me Back - with Dan SenorHillsdale DialoguesLaw Talk with Epstein, Yoo & CookeThe LibertarianThe Report Card with Nat MalkusThe Kevin Roberts Show with Larry O’ConnorThe American IdeaMadison’s NotesConservative Crossroads with Henry OlsenThe Back of the BookMartini ShotThe Dave Carter ShowThe Powerline ShowIn DissentHeard at HeritageSmart Girl PoliticsJames Lileks’ The DinerCase in Point: The Legal Show on the Hottest Legal Cases in Politics and CultureJobMakersOne on One with Robert DoarHomeschooling Journeys with Curious MikeHubwonk

Get the Ricochet app

Ricochet will work fine in a browser on your mobile devices, but for the best experience please download our app.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Become a member.

Tired of the toxicity of social media? Why not join Ricochet for just $5/month? Think of it as an online bar. Come in, have a drink, hang out, say whatever you want. But don’t badger, bully, or berate the other drinkers. That's our only rule.

  1. Main Feed/
  2. Conspiracy theories should concern Democrats
April 25, 2024 at 11:30 AM

Conspiracy theories should concern Democrats

Dr. Bastiat
@drbastiat

To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

Join to bookmark35likesJoin to like52comments
Illustration: Samrit Pholjan/Shutterstock

Dave Rubin recently interviewed Peter Boghossian and asked him why Democrat mayors are turning our cities into dystopian hell holes. I paraphrase, of course. And I paraphrase Mr. Boghossian's answer for brevity and clarity. Please watch the whole thing (link below). But the conversation went sort of like this:

Dave: Why are Democrat mayors turning our cities turning into dystopian hell holes? Peter: The most generous answer would be that the powers that be see inequalities in our society, and seek to remedy them through policies which inadvertently cause suffering, destruction, and death. But they view their policies as virtuous, regardless of their horrifying outcomes. I think that's their thinking. Not sure. Dave: That's pretty generous. Peter: If I were prone to conspiracy theories, I'd believe that they were in service to a foreign enemy state. Because it's difficult to believe that such rapid destruction could possibly be due to mere incompetence.

I found that passage fascinating. Not because I take an opinion on his particular point. But because the recent rapid and efficient destruction of American institutions and society has led to a wave of conspiracy theories about all sorts of things. China is paying Biden to open the border so they can get special forces troops into America. Russia is funding Black Lives Matter protests to win elections for Democrats. Iran is organizing riots on college campuses to stir up hatred for the Jews, and to destabilize America. I could go on and on.

I used to laugh out loud at such things. Now I discretely roll my eyes. But I'm beginning to understand the origin of such thinking. Surely the collapse of Western Civilization couldn't be the work of just a few idealistic hippies, right? Destroying American society would be more difficult than just passing a couple misguided laws, right? Surely.

I still believe that destroying things is much easier than building things, and the efforts of millions of people over hundreds of years can be destroyed by just a few radicals intent on revolution. It's happened before. In history, such things are more the rule than the exception.

But I understand how some people continue to search for some world-wide hostile force. And yes, there are such forces out there. Everyone from Iran to the UN to Russia to our media to China and so on and so forth. Yes, they do seek to weaken America.

I just don't think that they're succeeding here. I think it's us. Great cultures don't die of murder. They die of suicide. Over and over, throughout history. But Democrats should be listening to these conspiracy theories. When their policies convince half the population that they're under assault from a foreign hostile force, Democrats should be ready for significant resistance at some point.

Democrats have made satire impossible. And they've made conspiracy theories plausible.

That is a serious problem for America. And it's a serious problem for Democrats. I hope the leadership of the Democrat party isn't laughing or rolling their eyes. I hope they're wondering if perhaps they're pushing too hard, too fast.

Maybe they're creating a conflict they can't manage. Maybe.

Or maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, too.

What do you think?

This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

Discussion (52)

Sign in to commentSign in
  • Banned Member@DrewInWisconsin·2y

    Like you, I would say it's not China paying Biden to open the border; its not Russia is funding Black Lives Matter; it's not Iran organizing riots on college campuses . . .

    It's agencies within our own government or otherwise directly funded by our own government.

    Which is why people correctly say "We're not voting ourselves out of this mess."

  • To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

    Lunchbox Gerald@Jose·2y
    Dr. Bastiat (View Post):
    What do you think?

    All of the above. Plus greed, stupidity, arrogance. And senility and cocaine.

  • To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

    MikeMcCarthy@MikeMcCarthy·2y

    Mad, bad, terminal stupidity, and, lots of dark money.

  • To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

    Lunchbox Gerald@Jose·2y

    Add in a big scoop of naivete

  • To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

    Django@Django·2y

    Somebody once said in a book I read years ago, "The distinguishing feature of modern man is his unawareness of how indebted he is to previous generations." I took that to mean that people today seem to believe that the greatness of America and Western Civilization just sort of happened. They took it as a given, that the world they knew is the baseline, and that they are free to enjoy their situation. They don't think or understand that if we could hold on to what we have it would be a major achievement. IOW, they don't believe in consequences and especially what is called "The Law of Unintended Consequences."

    You have that fool representing Louisville who said that the government couldn't go broke because it can print money. He probably has no idea what gives that piece of paper any worth. There is the moron from CA who said that if you can't afford to pay your employees a "living wage" which she considered to be $100K per year, you are too incompetent to own and run a business. These people make laws.

Scroll for later comments
+47 more comments
Join the conversation

You're seeing five of 52 comments. Sign in, or join for just $5 per month, to read them all and add your own.

Trending

Become a member.

Tired of the toxicity of social media? Why not join Ricochet for just $5/month? Think of it as an online bar. Come in, have a drink, hang out, say whatever you want. But don’t badger, bully, or berate the other drinkers. That's our only rule.

Join Ricochet

Get the Ricochet app

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play
  • •
  • •