*** The Official MAGAposting thread ***

[CoccoBill]

Fun fact - this is a conspiracy theory.

Some may regard it as one, but it isn't. There's extensive information about Russian disinformation campaigns going back to the 80s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION
https://secondaryinfektion.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN21518F
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/...rt_Volume2.pdf

I know you're not gonna read any of those, but the more links I have, the more gravitas my argument has. That's another fact.

[boost]

Some may regard it as one, but it isn't. There's extensive information about Russian disinformation campaigns going back to the 80s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION
https://secondaryinfektion.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN21518F
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/...rt_Volume2.pdf

I know you're not gonna read any of those, but the more links I have, the more gravitas my argument has. That's another fact.

I mean, look, as I said, I think the most obvious distinction is to use "conspiracy theory" to refer to something that isn't yet proven or widely accepted and "conspiracy" for those that have been, but I think it's pretty clear that you're arguing against a meaning that Ong did not intend.

And again, this is why it's so insidious, because I think the way Ong is using "conspiracy theory" here might be novel to this conversation-- the phrase can describe a conspiracy that at a glances looks outlandish, far fetched, implicative of shadowy organizations pulling the strings, etc. As Ong pointed out, proven conspiracies often are lumped in with unproven conspiracies, making the set, "conspiracy theories," for aesthetic reasons, or by conspiracy theorists to bolster their unproven claims.

This honestly is a tough subject to talk about for these reasons, and so if we are going to it's pretty important to take MMM's advice and try your best to take the meaning intended by the speaker, and clarify when unsure.