First published by Global Research on November 17, 2014
The terms “conspiracy theorist” and “conspiracy nut” are used
frequently to discredit a perceived adversary using emotional rather
than logical appeals. It’s important for the sake of true argument that
we define the term “conspiracy” and use it appropriately, not as an ad
hominem attack on someone whose point of view we don’t share.
According to my Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, the word
“conspiracy” derives from the Latin “conspirare,” which means literally
“to breathe together” in the sense of agreeing to commit a crime. The
primary definition is “planning and acting together secretly, especially
for a harmful or unlawful purpose, such as murder or treason.”
It was in this sense that Mark Twain astutely observed, “A conspiracy
is nothing but a secret agreement of a number of men for the pursuance
of policies which they dare not admit in public.”
Conspiracies are common. If they weren’t, police stations would not
need conspiracy units to investigate and prosecute crimes such as
“conspiracy to import cocaine” or any other collusion on the part of two
or more people to subvert the law.
