I'm leaving /r/Conspiracy, and here's why.
1 2014-07-20 by GoldReaper
None of you know me, and you probably don't care. But I have something to say.
I am a staunch believer in the possibility of behind the scenes manipulation of various global events.
"Possibility" being a key word in that sentence. I cannot and will not commit to beliefs without sufficient evidence, that is called faith. And I do not believe that faith is reasonable or rational (for a multitude of reasons I will not expand upon unless asked).
Since my first discovering this subreddit, I have thoroughly enjoyed several posts. But steadily over time I have grown more and more annoyed with the composition of this place, both in posts and people. It began with an absurd assertion that our technology has advanced because of the alien technology from Roswell. "DAE THINK THAT IT'S SUSPICIOUS THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY BEGAN TO ADVANCE RAPIDLY AROUND THAT TIME!?"
These correlation arguments without further research are commonplace. The obvious response to the alien assertion is the invention of the transistor, but I fully expected someone to say that was thanks to aliens as well.
The next strike was when I began to notice the proposed solutions to many of these problems. "We need more regulations on this industry!" "The government should outlaw products with this chemical!" "The President needs to support this legislation protecting us from spying!" Not one person had mentioned the link between these proposed "solutions." That link is, obviously, government. The very beast which many here claim to distrust. Because it makes perfect sense to use the problem as a solution to the problem (or at least part of it). When I mentioned this, it went ignored but unopposed. The reason I had even thought of this link between "solutions" was because I had mentioned libertarianism once or twice in the past, and each time it was met with great opposition. To which I was greatly confused. Why would those who oppose government and special interests be anything BUT libertarian is some fashion? It is more intricate than that, I know, but the incredibly negative reaction to the ideology threw me off guard. That was when I decided to look a little closer.
Finally, my last grievance, has been incited by two posts today. One questioning the legitimacy of the Ukrainian AMA where OP props himself above those who believe it to be true ("How can these idiots believe that?") and the other a comic in opposition to Israeli operations. My problem with the Ukrainian AMA criticism is already evident, or so I hope. And of course it is not safe for someone in a country during such turmoil to reveal personal information to the public in order to satisfy those who distrust the mods of /r/IAmA. But my problem with the Israel posts were the final nail in the coffin. I see those in the comments who support my stance on this issue, but even so I still cannot believe how blindly many follow the propaganda against Israel. I don't like big government or violence, but I support self-defense. The Palestinians elected Hamas to rule. Hamas. Fanatical terrorists. And they fire missiles at Israel EVERY DAY. It doesn't matter if they are shot down, the fact of the matter is that Hamas is firing with the full intention of killing as many Israelis as possible. I have friends who are Palestinian, and I have friends who are Israeli. I'm actually closer to the Palestinian friends, if you could believe that, and they agree with me. They wish their people would end the violence. Israel even agreed to the cease-fire, but it was Hamas that refused. And don't confuse my support for Israel as blind support, I regularly criticize them as well. But I can see why they are making the decisions they are, and I understand. I even agree sometimes because I would not stand by and watch as someone tried to kill me without doing something about it, even if I was vastly more powerful and capable of preventing them from succeeding. It is an issue which has more points to discuss, but I will leave it at that for now unless someone would like to discuss it further. But as it stands, I was incredibly disappointed when I saw that anti-Israel comic posted. And it cemented my leaving this sub.
Ultimately, my biggest problem with this conspiracy community is the blatant disregard for one of the most important rules when establishing beliefs. That rule is to analyze all angles and see the effects on all groups before making a decision (I often attribute this idea to Henry Hazlitt, whose work I highly recommend to all). If we ignore any aspect of reality, we have failed in our pursuance of the truth.
Thank you for reading this rant. To those of you who do not fall into the category of "sheep," I apologize for generalizing the entire subreddit. It was my intention to highlight a core percentage rather than generalize an entire subreddit. I know cognitive dissonance will prevent many (if not most) of you from acknowledging criticism, so it is really rather irrelevant to me if this makes a difference. I just wanted to vent. In all honesty, if we are right about government control and conspiracies, this sub is probably already controlled by them anyways. But that is not an assertion I am willing to make without evidence. I probably fucked up in here somewhere, so feel free to pick me apart.
Good luck to all, and have a nice day. Hopefully I will see you at the end of the path to liberty and truth.
TL;DR: Screw you guys, I'm going home.
26 comments
5 [deleted] 2014-07-20
UPI: Analysis: Hamas history tied to Israel
WSJ: How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas
Global Research: Hamas is a Creation of Mossad
Mondoweiss: How many people have died from Gaza rockets into Israel? (full source)
Washington Post: The lopsided death tolls in Israel-Palestinian conflicts
3 downtowne 2014-07-20
Okay, seeya. If you find a better place let us know. Zionara.
2 Enochx 2014-07-20
Zionara ....lmao
5 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
So you saw that too? I, too, enjoy puns.
1 ugdr6424 2014-07-20
Brilliant.
2 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Sorry to hear you are leaving. And you are right, i dont know you. But from your rant you see pretty logical, like someone who compartmentalizes thdir mental facilities of belief and speculation. That is something i try hard to do, especially in this sub.
I have seen what you have ranted about personally, and i cant blame you for leaving.
Im just sorry we havent met before you made your decision, as maybe we couldve had nice constructive discussions.
All the best, friend.
1 GoldReaper 2014-07-20
Thank you for your comment, it gives me some small hope that perhaps there are a few individuals here with a genuine desire to discover truth rather than fabricate mystery. But I am only leaving this sub, not reddit as a whole. For several months, I have contemplated created my own subreddit. I'm not sure if I would want it to be focused on specific topics and public or just to be a private haven for those few true intellectuals I manage to find on this site (I am leaning towards the latter), but I am more than happy to discuss any topic with you in the meantime. Again, thank you for your comment, and I look forward to talking to you soon.
2 qthagun 2014-07-20
You are way too sensitive to be wandering into the propaganda wars taking everything seriously.
2 IntrinsicThought 2014-07-20
Well, bye
2 OWNtheNWO 2014-07-20
This extremely long winded shitpost brought to you by some asshole college kid in a propaganda war room in Israel.
1 [deleted] 2014-07-20
Found your post in /controversial.
Keep fighting the good fight, glad to have your insight.
I personally view the Isreal issue as very divisive.
0 Parasymphatetic 2014-07-20
The fact that your post is downvoted instead of discussed says a lot... sadly. But don't fear, there are some good subreddits that you might like:
There is: http://www.reddit.com/r/actualconspiracies
And http://www.reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries/
Regarding this subreddit: I discovered this subreddit a few days ago in a newspost about MH17. I thought that reddit, a place that likes to color itself as highly intelligent, would actually have some discussions about conspiracy theories and such. But that's not the case. What is going on here is censorship. You question for a source of some ridiculous claim? You get downvoted. You come up with facts against some of these conspiracies? You get called "shill" or downvoted.
It's kind of funny because i thought that exactly conspiracy theorists would be against censorship.
I have yet to find one single conspiracy where i think "Mhhh that's interesting" and want to read more about.
2 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Have you heard about the one in regards to how the constitutional amendment that set forth the creation of the federal reserve (or the irs, i forget which one it was now...) That was actually not passed by the three fourths margin dictated by the constitution, as some states didnt ratify it correctly according to their own laws and regulations?
If true, the fed (or irs) would undoubtedly be considered null and void.
If that doesnt interest you, then what about the one in regards to ancient aliens? Thats my favorite. Although, i refuse to say i believe in it 100%. (Same for most theories, actually...)
2 Parasymphatetic 2014-07-20
Don't read too much into my last sentence, as i said, i am just here since a few days and the last few days have actually been clustered with (what i think) borderline insane stuff.
I will look into what you wrote (not the alien stuff though :p)
1 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Haha fair enough. To each his own.
2 Parasymphatetic 2014-07-20
You are alright.
1 GoldReaper 2014-07-20
Added you both to friends. Perhaps we will have some interesting discussions in the future if I ever get around to creating that sub of mine.
1 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Sounds good to me!
2 GoldReaper 2014-07-20
Already subscribed to /r/UnsolvedMysteries, pretty interesting sub. Not the usual that I have become used to on reddit. Reminds me of /r/MuseumOfReddit for some reason. I'll check out /r/actualconspiracies in a few. Thanks for the suggestion, mate.
I agree with your assessment, I see it a lot. But I would disagree with the lack of interesting conspiracies part. There are quite a few posts here that I tend to enjoy reading, even if I have difficulty believing many of them I still find them thought provoking. But the crap has buried the diamonds so deep that it has become too tedious to bear.
0 Parasymphatetic 2014-07-20
Yeah, i probably made the comment about interesting stuff a bit prematurely, judging mostly by what was posted within the last few days (which has been either boring, off-topic or insane). I would edit the last sentence out but people already quoted me on it. :)
1 BlackSwanX 2014-07-20
Go look at my post history, and you will see that this is not actually the case. I don't have enough time to get into everything with everyone so most of my posts here are either questioning sources or criticizing claims. Often it is low hanging fruit, but whatever. Every little bit that gets us closer to truth and farther from disinformation is useful, IMO.
And yet, most of the time my comments are not in the negatives.
Even so, downvotes are not "censorship".
They are disagreement.
Having a rule that bans disagreement?
THAT is censorship.
1 GoldReaper 2014-07-20
You're right, downvotes are not outright censorship. But the voting system does create a few problems. People gain a negative expectation automatically upon seeing a comment with negative karma, which translates into their reactions to it. Additionally, reddit hides heavily downvoted comments, so it is somewhat censored. Even if it is only meant to represent disagreement, it becomes mob censorship.
0 downtowne 2014-07-20
Those seem like some really scary conspiracies I think I would stay here. Out to kill the nickel, bastards.
0 Foresthroughthetr33s 2014-07-20
I call bullshit on your post. You think that there is nothing in here of worth? I beg to differ. Operation Northwoods, MK Ultra, the Bush family connections to the House of Saud and the Bin Laden family, CIA recruiting/training/putting Al Qeada on the payroll to fight the Russians in Afghanistan,Gulf of Tonkin,Operation Mockingbird, FBI involvement from the 50's thru 70's to "neutralize civil rights activists" also found guilty in the death of MLK http://www.globalresearch.ca/court-decision-u-s-government-agencies-found-guilty-in-martin-luther-kings-assassination/5320024
Shall I continue? There is crazy shit in here and most of it is to discredit the genuine article. All of the above items listed I learned about through this sub. You need to wade through the B.S. and focus on the items that have documentation that backs up what it's saying.
0 oBBKo 2014-07-20
Don't let the door hit your already hurt butt on the way out!
0 4to4 2014-07-20
Disgruntled Jew, defending Israel, nose bent out of joint because we criticize Israel. Nothing to see here.
0 downtowne 2014-07-20
Those seem like some really scary conspiracies I think I would stay here. Out to kill the nickel, bastards.
2 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Have you heard about the one in regards to how the constitutional amendment that set forth the creation of the federal reserve (or the irs, i forget which one it was now...) That was actually not passed by the three fourths margin dictated by the constitution, as some states didnt ratify it correctly according to their own laws and regulations?
If true, the fed (or irs) would undoubtedly be considered null and void.
If that doesnt interest you, then what about the one in regards to ancient aliens? Thats my favorite. Although, i refuse to say i believe in it 100%. (Same for most theories, actually...)
0 Foresthroughthetr33s 2014-07-20
I call bullshit on your post. You think that there is nothing in here of worth? I beg to differ. Operation Northwoods, MK Ultra, the Bush family connections to the House of Saud and the Bin Laden family, CIA recruiting/training/putting Al Qeada on the payroll to fight the Russians in Afghanistan,Gulf of Tonkin,Operation Mockingbird, FBI involvement from the 50's thru 70's to "neutralize civil rights activists" also found guilty in the death of MLK http://www.globalresearch.ca/court-decision-u-s-government-agencies-found-guilty-in-martin-luther-kings-assassination/5320024
Shall I continue? There is crazy shit in here and most of it is to discredit the genuine article. All of the above items listed I learned about through this sub. You need to wade through the B.S. and focus on the items that have documentation that backs up what it's saying.
1 strokethekitty 2014-07-20
Haha fair enough. To each his own.
2 GoldReaper 2014-07-20
Already subscribed to /r/UnsolvedMysteries, pretty interesting sub. Not the usual that I have become used to on reddit. Reminds me of /r/MuseumOfReddit for some reason. I'll check out /r/actualconspiracies in a few. Thanks for the suggestion, mate.
I agree with your assessment, I see it a lot. But I would disagree with the lack of interesting conspiracies part. There are quite a few posts here that I tend to enjoy reading, even if I have difficulty believing many of them I still find them thought provoking. But the crap has buried the diamonds so deep that it has become too tedious to bear.
1 BlackSwanX 2014-07-20
Go look at my post history, and you will see that this is not actually the case. I don't have enough time to get into everything with everyone so most of my posts here are either questioning sources or criticizing claims. Often it is low hanging fruit, but whatever. Every little bit that gets us closer to truth and farther from disinformation is useful, IMO.
And yet, most of the time my comments are not in the negatives.
Even so, downvotes are not "censorship".
They are disagreement.
Having a rule that bans disagreement?
THAT is censorship.