Do They Make Any Sense

Conspiracy Theories

I have never been one who would put too much weight behind any of the theories that I have heard. Though I will admit that some of them do have an entertainment value. See, the way these things work is if you give credence to one, you must do the same for all. Think about it, most of the theories involve some sort of crazy or hard to believe events that when put together tell a story. Even though there is a shred of truth to some of the stories, that is usually it. These stories need some truth to them in order to give the impression that they could be legitimate.

So why is it then that they are so hard to believe? I think a large portion of the reason why is because of saturation. The world has been saturated with so many conspiracy theories that you cannot even begin to try and find any real ones. If there are any that could be considered real. This saturation too has become a sort of theory. It has been said that the American government has used mis-information to cloud the judgement of people who might believe any of these theories. By flooding the Internet, news media, and other sources of news and information with tons of other so-called conspiracy theories or stories, it makes the real ones harder to find and harder to believe. This method has been used before to cover up regular news announcements so why not for these theories as well?

Personally, as a writer, I use these occasionally for fodder for a story sometimes. You have to admit that some of the circumstances or events in some of the better conspiracy theories make for good content. Like I said before, there is an entertainment value to them. Is this another reason they are so unbelievable? It could very well be. The Internet alone could be said to be responsible for the proliferation of such a reason. With the advent of e-books, e-zines, and various other fictional and some non-fiction websites have put out a lot of material over the years.

China and the United States

I suppose it could almost be said that China and the US are waging what amounts to a new cold war. Just like Russia and the US did decades ago, both countries have been playing spy games. Anytime someone gets caught they claim ignorance. The only difference between this cold war and the one of the past is there is not such a worry of nuclear war. Regardless, there is definitely a whole lot of espionage going on. Whether they will admit it or not.

Just take a look at recent news regarding the two superpowers. The US has made claims that China is responsible for hacking multiple military and non-military websites all of which China has denied. Of course, the information that has made the news in the US would seemingly tell a much different story. Essentially an Internet security firm in the US has tracked multiple hacks to a nondescript building in Shanghai with ties to the Chinese military. Even though what the US has amounts to some pretty hard evidence, China denies having anything to do with the hacks or the building.

This type of thing has continued to go on since then and probably will for a while to come. I hardly think the US will threaten the Chinese government with military action over something they will not admit. Then again, who knows. If it was up to me I would want the US government to stand firm and tell China to either keep to themselves or else. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

Is doing nothing or taking a wait and see attitude a good idea? Maybe not. Recently it was made news that when an American citizen named Shane Todd was found dead in his Singapore apartment in June of 2012 from an apparent suicide, that his parents think he was murdered. Without going into too many details, there are a lot of incongruities with what the police have said in their report and what the Todd's have found in their son's apartment. What makes this story even more interesting is the fact that Shane Todd was an engineer working for a company in China who has secret ties with the same company that was caught hacking the US. There is enough here to fill the script of a Hollywood blockbuster. That is precisely why these things are sometimes hard to believe.

Coming to a Head

So where does all of this leave us? Well.. considering the state of the world, and what is happening in N. Korea right now, some would say on the brink of war. I have a different feeling however. Sure, these are all circumstances that could lead to war but all the countries involved have too much to lose. Not to mention the fact that none of the countries, except for North Korea, want a full scale war. For the most part, China and the United States will continue in their cold war era spy games. Blaming each other back and forth for various things. North Korea will continue being the crazy guy on the block until someone knocks him out. Likely the US and South Korea.

The conspiracy theories will continue to come out and they will continue to help me fill some of my pages (I'm sure many other writers do the same). Then again, some of the more believable theories might come to fruition one day. Maybe one day really soon. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.