I'm not saying that leftists should support conspiracy theories, obviously not, but that they shouldn't let such things make them miss the forest for the trees. They still need to have empathy for these people and put forward a positive plan that actually addresses their needs, and explains to them why/how it will work.I've been the leftist economics rant guy here from around 2019. lol Once more a taste of my spiel:
I used to think the right's proto-Marxist rhetoric can be developed into scientific socialism. This might be possible in some cases. Nowadays, I'm inclined to think it's an adaptive mind virus that's more trouble than it's worth.
Propaganda aimed at small business owners is disjointed because such owners:I suspect that fascist conspiracy theories (including theology) memetically evolve to be suggestive about the interests of all classes, poor workers as well as the small proprietor peasant class.
(1) They feel oppressed by big business who can outdo them by using their economies of scale and monopoly power.
(2) They still feel superior to mere workers who simply work instead of own.
Hence how propaganda targeting them decries big business, but still glorifies ownership and cheap labor.
When does Jesus sound like an apologist for tyranny?This is why Jesus can be made to sound like a socialist as well as an apologist for tyranny at the same time.
(1) They redirect anger away from the real targets (the rich and powerful) to alternative targets (the poor, blacks, jews, gays, drug users, etc).That mystification is what these theories are. Their purpose is to preclude scientific analysis that would let people actually solve their problems.
(2) If someone who is rich and powerful is presented as a target, it's not because class division itself is the problem, but because this *individual* person is bad. It makes people think on an individual scale, instead of a systemic scale.
(3) Governments and powerful organizations have done awful things in the past (and present) which makes people rightfully wary of trusting them this time.
(4) Believers are often highly paranoid (which can be induced by economic hardship), if not schizophrenic, making them more likely to believe absurd things.
(5) Believers often lack an organized analysis of society, and thus have to rely on their unorganized mishmash of feelings, slogans (usually nationalist, racist, religionist, and fascist), and stereotypes that they've accumulated over their life, which are inadequate to understand the situation, which leaves them unable to diagnose the problem, which leaves them unable to form a working solution.
(6) Believing a conspiracy theory is easier than reevaluating one's own thoughts/beliefs and realizing that most of the old stuff was wrong. This would mentally hurt.