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club§WV Theme...               #36A / 36B              ...individual<--->group

 CYNICISM / CONSPIRACISM

Once I thought people could be trusted, had good intentions, were caring, decent, honorable--I now know better.  Humans beings, I believe, are self serving and can’t be trusted to do good. Those who profess to be altruistic are deluded, not seeing misguided self interest for what it is. Most are lazy, mean, corrupt, and immoral--hypocrites, too stupid to see themselves as such.  I was once more accepting and forgiving, now I am critical--sneering at, and finding fault with, much of what people do and say. (Note: Some cynics compound their suspicions of people’s motives into imagining that a few individuals with their own hidden agenda are conspiring to infiltrate key institutions, manipulate events and shape outcomes to their liking. They link many societal problems to this belief in conspiracism.)

Related Words, Beliefs, Background -- 48 entries

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #36A: Cynicism

Human Nature (from online encyclopedia)
Cynicism  (from online encyclopedia)
Cynic  (from online encyclopedia)
Cultural Pessimism (from online encyclopedia)
Cultural Pessimism: Narratives of Decline in the Post-Modern World, by O. Bennett (2001 book / Google Books)
The Cynic's Sanctuary
A Monologue on Cynicism, Faith, Happiness, Honesty, Sadness, by Amit Singh
Children Develop Cynicism at Early Age (report on Yale University Dept. of Psychology study)
Humor, Sublimity, and Incongruity, by John Marmysz (insight into why laughter is an escape from cynicism)
Brief Paper on Cynicism
Cynicism in Business Organizations
On Youthful Cynicism, by Bertrand Russell (classic 1930 essay)
The Virtue of Engineering Cynicism, by David Weinberger
Humbug and Cynical Acid, by Duncan Baird (Unitarian Universalist sermon) 
Hypocrisy  (from online encyclopedia)
Hypocrisy Today -- The Official Publication of the American Society of Sociopaths (ASS)
Are You A Hypocrite?  (includes formula hypocrisy = beliefs - actions)
quotes related to cynicism

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #36B: Conspiracism

Conspiracy  (from online encyclopedia)
Conspiracy Theory  (from online encyclopedia)
Conspiracy-net: The Most Definitive Conspiracy Theory Portal on the Web
No Such Thing as Paranoia: On the Culture of Conspiracism
"The Paranoid Style in American Politics" by Richard Hofstadter (classic 1964 essay relevant to conspiracy theory)
Global Advanced Trait: Paranoia
Conspiracy Planet -- Alternative News & History Network
Conspiracy Digest
The American Denial of Global Warming (12/12/2007 UCTV program looks at reasons for this)
Conspiracy Theories (1999 article,  from atheist perspective) 
Post 9/11 Conspiracism (from Political Research Associates Website)
Criticism of Conspiracism, by Chip Berlet  (subtitled Conspiracism and Right Wing Populism)
Conspiracism as a Flawed Worldview
Conspiracy Theorists (organization challenging conspiracism)
Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From, by Daniel Pipes-Washington Post bookreview
The Roots of Conspiracy Denial (another review of Pipes' book) 
quotes involving conspiracy and related terms

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