Keith and stuff
07-05-2012, 01:31 PM
Liberty champion Petersen says conspiracy theories hurt movement
Kevin Kervick
http://www.examiner.com/article/liberty-champion-petersen-says-conspiracy-theories-hurt-movement
A few excepts from the article follow. Is Austin Peterson of Freedom Watch correct? What do you think?
The Associate Producer of the FOX Business show Freedom Watch and a powerful advocate for liberty, Austin Petersen, told a raucous crowd at the Porcupine Festival in Lancaster, New Hampshire that he believes the proliferation of conspiracy theories within the ranks of the Liberty Movement might be damaging the movement’s potential. Petersen believes liberty activists are marginalizing themselves by giving naysayers an easy bogeyman. If prominent Libertarians can be painted as paranoid nuts that rely on loose associations and black/white thinking, the entire movement can be rejected as conspiratorial.
Petersen defined conspiracy theory this way:
The term conspiracy theory is used to indicate a narrative genre that includes a broad selection of (not necessarily related) arguments for the existence of grand conspiracies. The term is frequently used to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at stealing power, money, or freedom, from the people. Conspiracy theories are based on the notion that complex plots are put into motion by powerful hidden forces.
He also said,
911 Truthers have twisted the phrase in such a way as to destroy its (preferred) meaning, which is that the federal government covered up its massive neglect of the American people. And now because of it, our ideological enemies, the statists, can paint us all with a broad brush and destroy any opportunity for true justice, and in so doing expand government power. After all, why should Americans trust a libertarian movement with governance when it is so easy for the government to show how the liberty movement is densely populated with paranoia and irrationality? It is similar to how the left delegitimized the tea party by focusing on the unsavory elements while ignoring their very legitimate complaints of the dangers of big government.
Petersen went on to say that he believes some conspiracy theories are harmful. One such example of a harmful theory is the claim that an evil conspiracy of Jewish bankers are attempting to manipulate money and credit to their own benefit. Petersen spoke about this issue in stark terms:
Engaging in this type of backwards thinking can lead not only to madness, but to murder. For if you feed poison into a brain on the brink, you bear some moral responsibility for the violent actions taken by the sick and deranged. And how will you respond when some madman commits a crime thinking he’s saving the world from some evil conspiracy of Jews? Or when a polio or measles outbreak occurs and kills children? Sure some may say they don’t condone racism or anti-Semitism, but there are plenty who are openly racist. We must guard ourselves against and repudiate these anti-libertarian philosophies of darkness that would overcome us and divert us from the task of advancing our common principles of liberty. I argue that these principles of liberty are grounded in reason and logic. They contain a respect for science, evolution, and an understanding of spontaneous order.
Kevin Kervick
http://www.examiner.com/article/liberty-champion-petersen-says-conspiracy-theories-hurt-movement
A few excepts from the article follow. Is Austin Peterson of Freedom Watch correct? What do you think?
The Associate Producer of the FOX Business show Freedom Watch and a powerful advocate for liberty, Austin Petersen, told a raucous crowd at the Porcupine Festival in Lancaster, New Hampshire that he believes the proliferation of conspiracy theories within the ranks of the Liberty Movement might be damaging the movement’s potential. Petersen believes liberty activists are marginalizing themselves by giving naysayers an easy bogeyman. If prominent Libertarians can be painted as paranoid nuts that rely on loose associations and black/white thinking, the entire movement can be rejected as conspiratorial.
Petersen defined conspiracy theory this way:
The term conspiracy theory is used to indicate a narrative genre that includes a broad selection of (not necessarily related) arguments for the existence of grand conspiracies. The term is frequently used to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at stealing power, money, or freedom, from the people. Conspiracy theories are based on the notion that complex plots are put into motion by powerful hidden forces.
He also said,
911 Truthers have twisted the phrase in such a way as to destroy its (preferred) meaning, which is that the federal government covered up its massive neglect of the American people. And now because of it, our ideological enemies, the statists, can paint us all with a broad brush and destroy any opportunity for true justice, and in so doing expand government power. After all, why should Americans trust a libertarian movement with governance when it is so easy for the government to show how the liberty movement is densely populated with paranoia and irrationality? It is similar to how the left delegitimized the tea party by focusing on the unsavory elements while ignoring their very legitimate complaints of the dangers of big government.
Petersen went on to say that he believes some conspiracy theories are harmful. One such example of a harmful theory is the claim that an evil conspiracy of Jewish bankers are attempting to manipulate money and credit to their own benefit. Petersen spoke about this issue in stark terms:
Engaging in this type of backwards thinking can lead not only to madness, but to murder. For if you feed poison into a brain on the brink, you bear some moral responsibility for the violent actions taken by the sick and deranged. And how will you respond when some madman commits a crime thinking he’s saving the world from some evil conspiracy of Jews? Or when a polio or measles outbreak occurs and kills children? Sure some may say they don’t condone racism or anti-Semitism, but there are plenty who are openly racist. We must guard ourselves against and repudiate these anti-libertarian philosophies of darkness that would overcome us and divert us from the task of advancing our common principles of liberty. I argue that these principles of liberty are grounded in reason and logic. They contain a respect for science, evolution, and an understanding of spontaneous order.