Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site pyuxa.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!whuxle!spuxll!abnjh!u1100a!pyuxn!pyuxww!pyuxa!wetcw From: wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) Newsgroups: net.women,net.politics,net.religion Subject: Re: Conspiracy Theories Message-ID: <638@pyuxa.UUCP> Date: Wed, 21-Mar-84 10:20:57 EST Article-I.D.: pyuxa.638 Posted: Wed Mar 21 10:20:57 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 23-Mar-84 08:00:25 EST References: <1997@mcnc.UUCP> <511@pyuxn.UUCP>, <1456@mit-eddie.UUCP> Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J. Lines: 46 }} If, as the last poster said, in effect," people Tend to act in a conspiratory manner, and thus there is a conspiracy," then how can there be a conspiracy? To conspire means to come together to agree to do something without the knowledge of the group or person being aware of the conspiracy or agreement. If the conspirators have no knowledge of one another or agreements with one another, then, there is no conspiracy. For instance, if A and B meet or somehow contact each other and agree to boycott C, that is conspiracy. However, if A and B never meet or even have knowledge of one another, and each on their own initiative decides to boycott C, it is not conspiracy. If, on the other hand, A and B decide to boycott C on the basis of information they received through the media, and still have not met, there is still no conspiracy. There are many ways in which A and B can come to the same conclusion to boycott C, but conspiracy is only that instance in which the two mutually agree to to do something in concert. Conspiracy does not mean that the agreement is good or bad. It simply means that there was an agreement made in private to which a third party was not made aware. You could conspire to throw a surprise party for a friend. Thus, the contention that all men are conspiring to keep women down is false. I am a man. I am, therefore, one of the "all men". I have never meet with "all men" (or even one other man) to agree to do anything to women (other than throw the afformentioned party). The Great Conspiracy theory is a bunch of horse puckey. People may tend to act in concert, but much of this action can be attributed to media influence, upbringing, economic factors, or social pressure. To attribute the actions of large, or even small groups, to conspiracy is nothing more than a blatant generalization of human behaviour. When a group of manufacturers get together to establish a price structure for their products in order to make a monetary gain or squeeze a competitor, that is conspiracy and there are laws which cover this kind of situation. This situation happened in the electrical supplies industry several years ago and was discovered and the participants punished. The statement that men are conspiring to keep women in the kitchen won't hold water under close scrutiny. I have no doubt that there are some men who like this idea and talk to each other about it, but to lump all men under that guise is unworthy of the writer. T. C. Wheeler