A few days ago, I received an e-mail from a good friend on the subject of the “internment camps” allegedly built by Halliburton. The link in the e-mail was to an interview featuring Glenn Beck, who was spewing his usual garbage. I told my friend that I couldn’t stand Glenn Beck and she replied that whether I liked him or not, that I should pay attention to him. Reluctantly, I did some research on him and ended up at a site called PrisonPlanet, the home of Alex Jones, also known as Conspiracy Theory Central. If you think Glenn Beck is bad, try Alex Jones, that’s all I have to say about him. I replied to my friend in words that were taken in a way that was unintended (e-mail is not a very effective means of communication!) and had to apologize. Certainly an apology was warranted, but I also found out some very interesting things about my friend with this exchange. I had always thought of her as a very progressive person, which she is in numerous ways but her response to my thoughts on conspiracy theories led me to see her in a different (and more complicated) light. She and I share an interest in the writings of Robert Altemeyer (see the Authoritarianism links in the sidebar) and his theories of Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). Some of her siblings, she told me not long ago, have more than a few traits of RWA, but I never suspected her of having many of those traits, even though she has expressed support in the past for the conspiracy theories relating to the Federal Reserve, 9/11, and the internment camps as jails for progressive protesters. But her response to my skeptical comments about conspiracy theories shook me into thinking that perhaps she was not the person that I thought she was. Could there be a relationship between a belief in conspiracy theories and Right Wing Authoritarianism? I started doing some research on my hypothesis and found at least one person who supported my suspicion. He writes in a post on the James Randi Educational Foundation that conspiracy theorists, in general, tend to be right wing authoritarians. The poster’s screen name is Ktesibios and the date and time of the post is September 27, 2007 at 7:33 p.m. if you care to read it.

According to Robert Altemeyer, there are three characteristics of right wing authoritarians:

1. Authoritarian submission – a high degree of submission to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives.

2. Authoritarian aggression – a general aggressiveness, directed against various persons, that is perceived to be sanctioned by established authorities.

3. Conventionalism – a high degree of adherence to the social conventions that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities.

These definitions are found on page 7 of The Authoritarian Specter, by Bob Altemeyer, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996.

Ktesibios uses these definitions without attribution but he then goes on to show how these characteristics fit conspiracy theorists very well. If you read the post, the acronym “PCT” stands for Paranoid Conspiracy Theorist.

Searching for more information on the link between right wing authoritarianism and conspiracy theory, I found a very interesting portal that has all kinds of information about conspiracy theories at the website for Political Research Associates, the Public Eye. At this site, there is information about Lyndon LaRouche, Webster Tarpley, Freemasonry, Waco, the Federal Reserve, and the John Birch Society.

Why am I interested in those who believe in conspiracy theories? Because if you listen to the followers of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and the other talking heads of right-wing radio, you will find plenty of believers in conspiracy theories. I have a feeling that the vast majority of the followers of Sarah Palin are avid conspiracy theorists also but I’ll have to do more research on that to verify my suspicions.

These are the people who are vigorously attacking President Obama’s plans to bring about a fairer, more just America and that concerns me greatly. I wrote an e-mail to my good friend’s sister, shortly after the election, in response to her wish that the followers of Sarah Palin would just go away. In that e-mail, I told her that they weren’t going to go hide under their rocks – that they would be back, stronger than ever. I was shocked to receive an e-mail from her some weeks ago that could be politely described as a vicious verbal assault against me. I was stunned to learn that she vigorously defended the John Birch Society and the other crackpot organizations that I cannot abide. I have since constructed a filter in my e-mail program that deletes her tirades so that I don’t have to see them in my inbox.

The world that I have introduced you to in this post is where these people live. Learn about them – they are dangerous and threaten the foundations of this country.