Debunking Conspiracy Myths
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A NOTE TO THE READER: This page is both tremendously incomplete and horrendously out of date. It represents my efforts as a law student, efforts which I am unfortunately unable to continue to make due to the demands of real life. I am keeping this page available as a resource, but it will not be updated any more. The page was last updated in 1999, and is more or less the same as it was at that time. Please note that only the Alex Jones section, part of the Tax Protestor Myth section, and a little bit of the Federal Reserve Myth section has content beyond this "summary" page. Damien Falgoust, April 8, 2002 |
Anyone who's spent significant amounts of time on the Web or on Usenet knows there's an abundance of wacky conspiracy theories put forth by the logic-impaired. This collection of pages and links is designed to help debunk many of the more prevalent myths. Thankfully, this task isn't mine alone; there are many other folks out there who have also undertaken to expose this nonsense. Where appropriate, I haven't reproduced the work of others; instead I've just linked to their work.
HEY, WHY IS THIS PAGE OUTDATED?
These myths are perhaps more prevalent than any other. Usually involving international banking interests -- the Rothschilds of England are a favorite target -- or the anti-Semitic version with Jewish bankers, the general idea is that the Fed has somehow stolen constitutional government away from the US.
Two
pages do an excellent job with these myths. The first is Dr. Edward
Flaherty's Federal Reserve FAQ page. Dr. Flaherty, an economics professor at the
College of Charleston, refutes these myths with excellent facts and
analysis. The second is a page by Gerry Rough entitled "In
Pursuit of Reason", which also
does a thorough job.
Another favorite are the various theories that say an individual isn't liable for income tax. Usually relying on a clearly erroneous reading of the Internal Revenue Code or an out-of-context quotation from a court's opinion, they claim that the law as written does not make one liable. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just to be clear: this does not deal with arguments that the income tax should be replaced with a better system. That's a legitimate political position. What this does deal with are arguments that the income tax, as it exists today, does not make one liable.
Without
doubt, the best source for debunking this claim is the Tax
Protestor FAQ, Dan Evan's magnum
opus. While there are a few areas where the FAQ is skimpy (Dan admits
it's a work in progress), it covers most claims in remarkable detail. I
hope to supplement a few of the areas where the FAQ is a bit "thin"
in the future. Another great resource is Joe Adams' Tax
Protestor Hall of Fame; here, you can
read actual court opinions and see how seriously the courts have taken tax
protestor arguments. As a bonus, you can also read the original opinions
on many other "sovereign" claims.
Gold-Fringed Flags and Other Jurisdictional Myths
Perhaps the wackiest claim of all, this myth says that a courtroom with a gold-fringed flag is a military courtroom, or one that can only hear admiralty claims. The long and short of it is this: just because the military requires gold-fringed flags does not mean that any flag with gold fringe is military. That's a little like saying the military requires its troops to eat three square meals a day, so anyone who eats three square meals per day is in the military. Pure ridiculousness.
Anyway,
this section will deal with that claim, as well as others involving the UCC,
mis-reading of the Erie Railroad v. Tompkins decision, and other
matters that claim one thing or another affects the jurisdiction of a
courtroom. Hopefully, I'll get to it soon.
The Illuminati, CFR, Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, etc.
These
are among the most popular bogeymen for the conspiracy theorist. They
believe that somebody is secretly pulling the strings -- usually David
Rockefeller or that old standby, the Rothschild family. This is perhaps
the best conspiracy myth because it is unverifiable. It also has a kernel
of truth -- members of organizations like the CFR undoubtedly have a lot of
influence over United States foreign policy. This section will try to
deal with these theories with a degree of sanity. It will also focus on
the alleged New World Order, since these organizations are allegedly
behind the supposed coming one-world government.
Special Austin Section! - Alex Jones & Exposing Corruption
For those of you not "in the know," Austin has one of the looniest (well, one of several actually) public access cable hosts ever! His name's Alex Jones, and he hosts a show called Exposing Corruption on Tuesday nights, on channel 10. He's also got a Saturday evening radio program on a local FM radio station (98.9 KJFK, which interestingly also carries Howard Stern). Alex actually exists with a group of like-minded folks in an organization called Texas Best Seminars; many of them also have public access shows, most notably a fellow named Jeff Davis.
Alex
believes in all the other conspiracy myths, but he's also got a few of his
own. This section deals with those theories, most notably one about Executive Order
12986. He also rants about
local government; amazingly, although he often starts with a good point, it
inevitably dissolves into a half-baked theory involving the supposed New World
Order.
Here, I'd like to deal with a few other noted theories, things like the drivers' licensing and the right to travel, "invisible contracts," allodial title, the "missing" 13th amendment, etc. This section will be for "minor" theories that crop up from time to time. For now, refer to Jol Silversmith's Titles of Nobility Amendment FAQ for information on the supposed "missing" 13th amendment.
I'd also like to address briefly Gulf War Syndrome; for now, you can read Michael Fumento's article, Gulf Lore Illness, for an excellent demonstration of the junk science behind this supposed cover-up. You can also read other articles at the Gulf War Syndrome's Skeptic's Page, which includes Mr. Fumento's response to various critics.
Got a problem with any of this? Want to make a submission? E-mail me!
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