But by the 1970s, 30% of Americans believed the moon landing had been faked. In July 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the surface of the moon - or did they? Just kidding. Oh, and did you hear the one about Ted Cruz’s father? We’re going to skip it here, but if you feel like a laugh, look into it. A third theory: The assassination was actually a mob hit meant to punish Bobby Kennedy for cracking down on the mafia. In 1982, another committee called those findings into question, but the theory had already taken root. Another theory is that Oswald wasn’t the lone gunman people can hardly be faulted for believing this when a House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations found that there was “probably” a conspiracy involving a second shooter. According to biographer Philip Shenon, Bobby Kennedy, JFK's brother and the attorney general, initially thought a group of rogue CIA agents were involved in JFK's death, though he later reconsidered. One popular theory is that the CIA killed JFK in retaliation for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro. There are a few main JFK conspiracy theories. And as of 2017, FiveThirtyEight reports, 61% of Americans believed the assassination involved a conspiracy of some sort. As early as the late 1960s, more than 50% of Americans didn’t believe Oswald had acted alone. This shocking set of events was ripe for conspiracies from the start: Not only was a handsome, popular president fatally shot in broad daylight, the accused assassin was killed days later, inviting speculation about a cover-up. Two days later, while being transported to a local jail, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a Texas nightclub owner. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested on November 22, 1963, for assassinating President John F. The CIA had a hand in JFK's assassination Lipstadt, a historian and professor who has written books on Holocaust denial, separates Holocaust deniers into two groups: There are the hard-core deniers who say the Holocaust didn’t happen at all then, Lipstadt says, there are the less-fervent deniers who may admit the Holocaust happened but question the official death toll or that gas chambers were used for mass murder.Īmong the many poignant points Lipstadt raises about Holocaust denial is this question: “For the deniers to be right, who has to be wrong? Well, certainly all the survivors… the bystanders… but most of all you have the perpetrators. Poor education on the subject may be one explanation for this, but some conspiracy theorists push the anti-Semitic notion that the Holocaust was invented or exaggerated to garner sympathy and monetary gains for Jewish people while serving and advancing Jewish interests. “It’s easier to believe in some nefarious orchestration than to believe that there is an invisible virus in the air that could harm their family.” “When people feel out of control, they’re attracted to things that offer them an action path,” Miller-Idriss tells Teen Vogue. Miller-Idriss says that people tend to turn to conspiracy theories when they’ve lost a sense of control and feel afraid and anxious because these theories can offer comfort in the form of a black-and-white answer. Conspiracy theories are nothing new in the United States, says Cynthia Miller-Idriss, an American University sociology professor who focuses on extremism and radicalization, but they’ve been able to spread like wildfire over the past decade due to social media, which can easily amplify and circulate misinformation.Īmid a pandemic that has killed more than a million Americans to date, conditions couldn’t be more ripe for conspiracy theories to take hold. In the year 2021, conspiracy theories run rampant, from the halls of Congress to viral Facebook and blush-pink Instagram posts.
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