We should not reject conspiracy theories, we should embrace them

At the point where we find ourselves today, we can admit this truth without hesitation: Postmodernism has won. Our perception of "truth" has been shattered. Not only can we no longer easily distinguish between what is real and what is not, but we have also been deprived of the attention, urgency, and time necessary for this discernment. The slightest resistance or the smallest reaction is labeled as "conspiracy theorizing" by those in power. Factions that conduct "perception operations" in every corner of the world accuse those whose perceptions are beginning to clear up of madness, nonsense, and absurdity.

The situation is dire, but not yet hopeless. We will get to that, too. First, we must diagnose the state of affairs. Where did the fracture occur? The Cold War, the end of the War, the victory of neoliberalism, the collapse of neoliberalism. Our perception of reality was shaped in stages in this order. Economic transformation brought with it a complete overhaul of the political, social, technological, and cultural spheres. However, the first major reality test on a global scale was experienced with the COVID crisis.

In this process, the segments that were called "skeptics" in the mildest sense watched with astonishment as the very groups that once targeted them began cursing the "Bill Gates types," following the files exposed after 2020 and the confessions coming from the health sector.

The global social change that has accelerated over the last six years has condemned the lives of both the generation called Gen Z and the population older than them to scrolling through "reels." Interestingly, in a world where only the Turkish public was once accused of having a "goldfish memory," the memory of billions of people has been significantly limited. Individuals who follow the "current thing"—which has long since become an internet meme—have chosen to side with the authorities on everything from the Ukraine War to Hollywood scandals, despite all the opposing views coming from critical sources. And this is despite the fact that their previous positions quickly lost their legitimacy and power, meaning they were proven "wrong" at every step.

In this flow that pushes the limits of dialectics, the supporters of the "current thing" continued to accuse the groups standing against them of "conspiracy theorizing." The masses, who could generally be grouped under the umbrella of anti-globalism and who blur the boundaries between right and left politics, were declared "nationalist," "Marxist," this-ist, or that-ist everywhere. For example, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was a leading name in MAGA until two years ago in the US, is now accused of being a "Marxist."

Similarly, in our country, opposition segments, whether nationalist or not, are labeled with epithets like "kanzi" (bro/buddy) or "AKP supporter" without looking at their criticisms or arguments. Those who campaigned against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's presidential candidacy have become the biggest Kılıçdaroğlu opponents since June 2023, yet they have not once apologized to the masses they accused of being "AKP supporters, conspiracy theorists, or anti-Alevi."

Today, the "current thing" is the last but most effective weapon in the hands of liberals who have stood against criticism everywhere and collaborated with governments for years. They are at rock bottom. That is why they try to stuff every kind of anti-establishment criticism—from geopolitics to discussions on extraterrestrial life, from health policies to streaming channels—into the sack of "conspiracy theorizing" and silence their opponents without even being able to answer them. (When it comes to their turn, they shamelessly put forward the "Ad hominem" argument!)

In such an environment of indisputability and conformity, our duty is not to reject conspiracy theories, but to accept them. Indeed, as Catherine Liu said, "conspiracy theories are the 'critical theory' of the masses." The broad masses are not aware of Marx and the two-century-long hurricane that followed, nor can they be expected to be. However, they see that the situation they are in is a dead end and try to explain it in their own way.

Let us take the economic crisis that we cannot seem to escape, both at home and abroad. The equivalent of the explanation "they are voting for a pack of pasta or coal" abroad is "they are choosing this in the US or that in France because they are racist, masculinist, etc." For the liberal mindset, there is always a pure psychological or economic explanation for events, and the matter is then closed. This is, for example, the favorite excuse liberals use to explain the new Right-wing populism that has been rising in the West for ten years.

Wilhelm Reich, on the other hand, opposes this purely economist/psychologist narrative. Although he criticizes the "vulgar Marxist" type, he expresses this truth in a magnificent way: "Economic crisis leads either to barbarism or to social freedom." In other words, a government does not necessarily fall just because the pot is not boiling in a house. Ideology, emotions, fears, desires, mass psychology, sexual/social repression, etc., act together to influence the course of society and politics. In this process, politics that categorizes the voter as a "yokel" (çomar) and labels every patriotic reflex as being a "kanzi" or "adolescent" becomes paralyzed.

So what should be done? If we return to Reich, we must grasp the weapon of "criticism" (may Marx's soul rest in peace!); we must not be content with exposing what is bad, but must be able to discover which contradictions in social reality are being overlooked. As used in Hungary, the US, France, and England, calling a portion of the voters "ignorant, racist, misogynist, incel, or religious" and explaining that they were led astray by "disinformation, manipulation, and propaganda" no longer convinces anyone.

Yes, as Jaron Lanier stated, it is certain that social media monopolies have turned into "behavioral engineering empires" and they are influencing all our decision-making mechanisms to the fullest. But in an environment where class contradictions are increasing, job and health insecurity are at an extreme level, central politics has completely lost its credibility, social ties are decaying, and the population is being rapidly transformed, it is not possible to move forward with explanations like millions of people being "manipulated" or "wanting to follow a narcissistic strongman."

Siegfried Kracauer says "the task of reason is to bring truth into the world" and suggests that fairy tales and primitive reason are explanations established to explain the world. It is possible to say the same for conspiracy theories and "conspiracy theorists": In the world we live in, no theory, discipline, or science we have learned can explain what we are experiencing. As such, people ponder the hidden, secret truth behind events, and truth steps into the world with the weapon of "criticism" (or its most primitive form). At this point, what falls to the true intellectual is to strengthen the weapon in the hands of the masses and to honorably wear the "conspiracy theorist" accusation leveled by those who walk hand-in-hand with the powers that be while donning the guise of the "oppressed."