Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Metropolitan Books (2019), 288 pages
Description
A riveting tour through the landscape and meaning of modern conspiracy theories, exploring the causes and tenacity of this American malady, from Birthers to Pizzagate and beyond. American society has always been fertile ground for conspiracy theories, but with the election of Donald Trump, previously outlandish ideas suddenly attained legitimacy. Trump himself is a conspiracy enthusiast: from his claim that global warming is a Chinese hoax to the accusations of "fake news," he has fanned the flames of suspicion. But it was not by the power of one man alone that these ideas gained new power. Republic of Lies looks beyond the caricatures of conspiracy theorists to explain their tenacity. Without lending the theories validity, Anna Merlan gives a nuanced, sympathetic account of the people behind them, across the political spectrum, and the circumstances that helped them take hold. The lack of a social safety net, inadequate education, bitter culture wars, and years of economic insecurity have created large groups of people who feel forgotten by their government and even besieged by it. Our contemporary conditions are a perfect petri dish for conspiracy movements: a durable, permanent, elastic climate of alienation and resentment. All the while, an army of politicians and conspiracy-peddlers has fanned the flames of suspicion to serve their own ends. Bringing together penetrating historical analysis and gripping on-the-ground reporting, Republic of Lies transforms our understanding of American paranoia.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member DavidWineberg
I never do this, but here is the first sentence of Republic of Lies: “In January 2015, I spent the longest, queasiest week of my life on a cruise ship filled with conspiracy theorists.”
SOLD! Anna Merlan has put herself through a brain-exploding experience to tell us about the astounding variety
To Merlan’s point (and book title), Americans have very good reason to suspect conspiracy. American governments and government agencies have a horrific history of conspiring against citizens and lying about it. The FBI under J.E. Hoover sent a blackmail letter to Martin Luther King Jr, instructing him to commit suicide lest his sexual history be exposed. The Freedom of Information Act has led to whole volumes of FBI files being made public, showing it had files and actively interfered in the lives of innocuous groups and individuals. The FBI admits its COINTELPRO program was designed to insert disinformation into various organizations in the hope they would spin out of control. Similarly, agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration are known to have given informants kilos of cocaine as payment or incentive. There was warrantless wiretapping exposed by Edward Snowden. The CIA experimented on the unknowing with LSD, plutonium and syphilis. So Americans come by the conspiracies legitimately. What you sow, so shall ye reap, someone once said. Americans are highly trained conspiracists.
The government sterilized the feeble-minded (ie. blacks), incarcerated the homeless after Louisiana floods, and routinely classifies everything Top Secret. Most recently, government agencies have taken to seeding protest marches and demonstrations with thugs who start fights and riot in the streets to discredit the efforts. So yes, there is reason to suspect conspiracy.
Into this atmosphere comes social media, the ideal incubator for conspiracy theories. The result is a huge overreaction of conspiracies like false flag accusations. In false flag, absolutely anything that happens can be construed as a government act to scare people, or prepare them for military occupation, a coup, or some loss of rights. So massacres at schools, night clubs and churches never actually happened. No one actually died. They’re all false flag scare tactics. Like astronauts landing on the moon, it was all staged for somebody’s advantage. On social media, this appeals to millions to disbelieve their own eyes, in preference for a conspiracy theory.
Americans have a decided preference for child molestation and slavery conspiracies. They see it everywhere. They suspect it of the “elite” and lowly pizzerias. I remember the Wenatchee child molestation trials, where the complete lack of physical evidence was successfully submitted at trial as proof of guilt, because nothing could be that free of evidence. Merlan devotes a chapter to the epidemic, focused on Pizzagate, which nearly turned into a genuine tragedy when someone took it all as real.
Possibly the most revolting part of the book is these followers’ harassment of the victims of massacres. They have attacked surviving students of the Parkland School and gone after the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook. They demand proof the murdered ever existed. They doxx the survivors. They find and circulate drivers’ licenses, social security numbers and other personal data so more followers can harass and attack them with demands and death threats. Sending threatening e-mails to one parent’s lawyer causes a bill to be generated: a quarter hour for each one received. An interesting way to bankrupt someone. It puts survivors in a double jeopardy having to deal with grief and then also being attacked for good measure. Not responding is no solution either, as the attackers assume that is proof they are hiding something. It is ruining the lives of many undeserving victims. The perpetrators remain largely anonymous and shielded.
What all the causes, cults and movements seem to have in common is they are operated for and by white male Christians. Merlan is Jewish (not to mention a woman) and has reported on highly charged racist gatherings where white male Christians gather to promote the removal and/or death of Jews. She routinely reveals her religion to her interlocutors, which results in backpedaling and diversions like “Well, it’s complicated” or “You’re a very beautiful woman.”
The most valuable service performed by Republic of Lies is the sheer variety of nonsense underway. There is a conspiracy for every topic and every event. There are followers for all of them. It is a much bigger sickness than a simple day of Fox News would demonstrate. There is also far more of it than I realized. Merlan describes a number of political conspiracies I had not known of, but which have thousands of adherents.
And newly minted celebrities. The quickest path to celebrity in America seems to be by conspiracy theory. Whoever makes it up becomes the greatest authority on it, and is legitimized by the media interviewing them and profiling them. Very often, they seem to be losers, with criminal pasts and no future. Their conspiracy theories boost them into fame and a new direction in their failing lives. She profiles a number of them, and they tend to come off as rather pathetic.
They eat their own too, constantly infighting, breaking apart and creating new groups. As one participant memorably described them: “We have a circular firing squad of everyone telling everyone else they are the opposition.”
It has made the USA a paranoid laugh riot.
David Wineberg
SOLD! Anna Merlan has put herself through a brain-exploding experience to tell us about the astounding variety
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of lies Americans tell about themselves and their country. It’s a whirlwind tour of conspiracies, hate, ideology, religion, UFOs, and politics. They are all urgent matters. The nation is at risk. Time is running out.To Merlan’s point (and book title), Americans have very good reason to suspect conspiracy. American governments and government agencies have a horrific history of conspiring against citizens and lying about it. The FBI under J.E. Hoover sent a blackmail letter to Martin Luther King Jr, instructing him to commit suicide lest his sexual history be exposed. The Freedom of Information Act has led to whole volumes of FBI files being made public, showing it had files and actively interfered in the lives of innocuous groups and individuals. The FBI admits its COINTELPRO program was designed to insert disinformation into various organizations in the hope they would spin out of control. Similarly, agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration are known to have given informants kilos of cocaine as payment or incentive. There was warrantless wiretapping exposed by Edward Snowden. The CIA experimented on the unknowing with LSD, plutonium and syphilis. So Americans come by the conspiracies legitimately. What you sow, so shall ye reap, someone once said. Americans are highly trained conspiracists.
The government sterilized the feeble-minded (ie. blacks), incarcerated the homeless after Louisiana floods, and routinely classifies everything Top Secret. Most recently, government agencies have taken to seeding protest marches and demonstrations with thugs who start fights and riot in the streets to discredit the efforts. So yes, there is reason to suspect conspiracy.
Into this atmosphere comes social media, the ideal incubator for conspiracy theories. The result is a huge overreaction of conspiracies like false flag accusations. In false flag, absolutely anything that happens can be construed as a government act to scare people, or prepare them for military occupation, a coup, or some loss of rights. So massacres at schools, night clubs and churches never actually happened. No one actually died. They’re all false flag scare tactics. Like astronauts landing on the moon, it was all staged for somebody’s advantage. On social media, this appeals to millions to disbelieve their own eyes, in preference for a conspiracy theory.
Americans have a decided preference for child molestation and slavery conspiracies. They see it everywhere. They suspect it of the “elite” and lowly pizzerias. I remember the Wenatchee child molestation trials, where the complete lack of physical evidence was successfully submitted at trial as proof of guilt, because nothing could be that free of evidence. Merlan devotes a chapter to the epidemic, focused on Pizzagate, which nearly turned into a genuine tragedy when someone took it all as real.
Possibly the most revolting part of the book is these followers’ harassment of the victims of massacres. They have attacked surviving students of the Parkland School and gone after the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook. They demand proof the murdered ever existed. They doxx the survivors. They find and circulate drivers’ licenses, social security numbers and other personal data so more followers can harass and attack them with demands and death threats. Sending threatening e-mails to one parent’s lawyer causes a bill to be generated: a quarter hour for each one received. An interesting way to bankrupt someone. It puts survivors in a double jeopardy having to deal with grief and then also being attacked for good measure. Not responding is no solution either, as the attackers assume that is proof they are hiding something. It is ruining the lives of many undeserving victims. The perpetrators remain largely anonymous and shielded.
What all the causes, cults and movements seem to have in common is they are operated for and by white male Christians. Merlan is Jewish (not to mention a woman) and has reported on highly charged racist gatherings where white male Christians gather to promote the removal and/or death of Jews. She routinely reveals her religion to her interlocutors, which results in backpedaling and diversions like “Well, it’s complicated” or “You’re a very beautiful woman.”
The most valuable service performed by Republic of Lies is the sheer variety of nonsense underway. There is a conspiracy for every topic and every event. There are followers for all of them. It is a much bigger sickness than a simple day of Fox News would demonstrate. There is also far more of it than I realized. Merlan describes a number of political conspiracies I had not known of, but which have thousands of adherents.
And newly minted celebrities. The quickest path to celebrity in America seems to be by conspiracy theory. Whoever makes it up becomes the greatest authority on it, and is legitimized by the media interviewing them and profiling them. Very often, they seem to be losers, with criminal pasts and no future. Their conspiracy theories boost them into fame and a new direction in their failing lives. She profiles a number of them, and they tend to come off as rather pathetic.
They eat their own too, constantly infighting, breaking apart and creating new groups. As one participant memorably described them: “We have a circular firing squad of everyone telling everyone else they are the opposition.”
It has made the USA a paranoid laugh riot.
David Wineberg
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LibraryThing member johnclaydon
The one big problem with this book is that it is a bait and switch by the publisher. It presents the book as being about conspiracy theorists in general but instead it is only about a tiny and narrow subset of them - UFO nuts, prophecy ranters, et al. The publisher deliberately ignores the fact
Other than that the book is good.
Hint to the publisher: fire your stupid blurb writer. The word conspiracy should not be used in place of the term conspiracy theory.
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that the great majority of conspiracy theorists are sane and mainstream and that their theorizing about actual conspiracies and apparent conspiracies is useful. Other than that the book is good.
Hint to the publisher: fire your stupid blurb writer. The word conspiracy should not be used in place of the term conspiracy theory.
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LibraryThing member 5hrdrive
Conspiracy theories used to seem like such fun diversions; UFO's, the assassination of JFK, the CIA's involvement in the drug trade, fun little rabbit holes to fall down and while away some time. "The X-Files" used to satisfy that little itch I had for wild postulations so well. That was before the
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21st Century when conspiracy theories grew up and ate the world as we once knew it. Now these much more common beliefs have brought back xenophobia, lying for profit, even the Nazis are back. This book explores some of the more dangerous conspiracy theory variants that are so pervasive today and those individuals most responsible for their dissemination. The distrust a lot of folks have in the present power structure coupled with feelings of uncertainty for the future and an overall intellectual decline provide most of the fertile ground for some of the more outlandish ideas to take root. And the folks who profit from spreading these things, Fox News, Alex Jones, a whole host of wackos on You Tube, seem to find a bigger audience than any hard science or intellectual sources can muster. I'm ashamed I ever got any enjoyment in the darned things! Show Less
LibraryThing member JacobDecker
This was a book written about conspiracy theorists, for conspiracy theorists, by what seems to be a conspiracy theorist. If you look for information to look deeper into beliefs you already have then this is a very interesting book. I found it interesting. I however don't think, if it is something
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you are already interested in, it would not be a book that you would enjoy. Show Less
LibraryThing member WCHagen
The book is as convoluted as its subject. Merlan presents a readable survey of more pervasive conspiracy theories making the rounds but with inadequate focus. When reading about conspiracies and this book in particular, it is difficult to identify the bad guys. The word ‘conspiracy’ implies
The problem that arises when dealing with conspiracy theories is that the deniers are quickly identified as a part of the conspiracy or make up another band of conspirators bound to make mischief of their own. It’s difficult to disprove anything—negatives are illusive and even a preponderance of evidence leaves some room for those with strong conviction however erroneous. To her credit, the author does not attempt that but only points to the absurdities.
The title is misleading in that the main focus is not on America government involvement in either the origination or promulgation of conspiracy theories. It is the logical focus of many wild theories because it is an obvious target and it is largely thought to have the capacity and motivation to do so. Our disillusion with government preceded Trump; it took a mature turn in the 1960s with Vietnam and the obvious mistruths by politicians about the conduct of that war. And not surprisingly, conspiracy theories are becoming more numerous—probably in step with the social media growth.
Read and enjoy the book but don’t expect to be enlightened.
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that two or more persons conspire to do some mischief but they are not usually specifically identified other than in vague terms like ‘the government’ or ‘the pharmaceutical companies’. The persons who actively spread those theories are usually identifiable because they want the notoriety to appear the heroic figure leading the fight against those evil forces or for monetary gain. The victims are those gullible persons willing to believe in simple answers to complex questions or are paranoid enough to think that we are all puppets on a string. The author makes a credible effort to address these players mainly focusing on the more notorious promoters and a few misguided individuals who took action—often comical but tragic.The problem that arises when dealing with conspiracy theories is that the deniers are quickly identified as a part of the conspiracy or make up another band of conspirators bound to make mischief of their own. It’s difficult to disprove anything—negatives are illusive and even a preponderance of evidence leaves some room for those with strong conviction however erroneous. To her credit, the author does not attempt that but only points to the absurdities.
The title is misleading in that the main focus is not on America government involvement in either the origination or promulgation of conspiracy theories. It is the logical focus of many wild theories because it is an obvious target and it is largely thought to have the capacity and motivation to do so. Our disillusion with government preceded Trump; it took a mature turn in the 1960s with Vietnam and the obvious mistruths by politicians about the conduct of that war. And not surprisingly, conspiracy theories are becoming more numerous—probably in step with the social media growth.
Read and enjoy the book but don’t expect to be enlightened.
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LibraryThing member TooBusyReading
“In January 2015, I spent the longest, queasiest week of my life on a cruise ship filled with conspiracy theorists.”
The interesting first sentence of this book couldn't help but draw me in, and began her tales of her time on the “Conspira-Sea Cruise. It took much much too long to read this
The author covers a lot of conspiracy theories, and some of them (think Watergate) were proven true. Our government, with some of the unconscionable experiments it has done in the past, can engender conspiracy theories. But some of them are so outrageous, so blatantly false, that you have to wonder why people believe them. The author did try to explain that to my satisfaction, but not entirely. So much of it seems driven by hate, by conflicting views of feeling superior at the same time as needing to feel someone is lesser because of (choose whatever option of many here). Some are harmless. Some are not only continuing to divide this country but are deadly. I can't imagine the survivors and parents of Sandy Hook must feel when they hear that they did not exist at all or that they are simply actors. Some of these theories are believed by incredibly gullible or naive people who will not look beyond their biased “news” sources. And some of the people starting these theories just want to make money. Despicable.
While most of these are right-wing theories or the tin-foil hat set, the left is not immune, as with “Russiagate.” Some of the theories might have some degree of truth to them, but most are made of whole cloth. In these days of social media, the hatred, the lies, the paranoia easily becomes viral.
This is an interesting book for anyone who cares about the direction our world, and especially the US, is headed.
The interesting first sentence of this book couldn't help but draw me in, and began her tales of her time on the “Conspira-Sea Cruise. It took much much too long to read this
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book. The lesser reason is because I have a hard time reading paper books. The greater reason is I could handle only a little of this at a time.The author covers a lot of conspiracy theories, and some of them (think Watergate) were proven true. Our government, with some of the unconscionable experiments it has done in the past, can engender conspiracy theories. But some of them are so outrageous, so blatantly false, that you have to wonder why people believe them. The author did try to explain that to my satisfaction, but not entirely. So much of it seems driven by hate, by conflicting views of feeling superior at the same time as needing to feel someone is lesser because of (choose whatever option of many here). Some are harmless. Some are not only continuing to divide this country but are deadly. I can't imagine the survivors and parents of Sandy Hook must feel when they hear that they did not exist at all or that they are simply actors. Some of these theories are believed by incredibly gullible or naive people who will not look beyond their biased “news” sources. And some of the people starting these theories just want to make money. Despicable.
While most of these are right-wing theories or the tin-foil hat set, the left is not immune, as with “Russiagate.” Some of the theories might have some degree of truth to them, but most are made of whole cloth. In these days of social media, the hatred, the lies, the paranoia easily becomes viral.
This is an interesting book for anyone who cares about the direction our world, and especially the US, is headed.
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LibraryThing member waitingtoderail
This book was fine, a catalog of the usual suspects which show up in these types of books but with more contemporary examples, ufos, Hurricane Katrina theories, 9/11 truthers, etc. etc. But for some reason when it came to the current debates going on in the US the author decided to take a "both
As I'm writing this review after hearing the news that the Supreme Court just allowed partisan gerrymanding to be standard operating procedure throughout the land, I find it a bit difficult to stomach the "both sides" approach.
Read Kevin Young's BUNK instead.
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sides" approach, with "Russia may have colluded with Trump" given equal time with "Trump is actually leading a secret charge to unmask all the pedophiles in public life." Louise Mensch is held up as the liberals' conspiracy theorist while Rush Limbaugh is quoted as a conservative example, as if they have similar reach. As I'm writing this review after hearing the news that the Supreme Court just allowed partisan gerrymanding to be standard operating procedure throughout the land, I find it a bit difficult to stomach the "both sides" approach.
Read Kevin Young's BUNK instead.
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LibraryThing member lpg3d
Why do Americans believe such crazy things? Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power doesn't just summarize all of American's crazy beliefs, it spends time diving in to each one in an attempt to explain why these beliefs are so appealing to us, and why
(Note: this book was provided to me by the publisher as a LibraryThing early reviewer.)
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people keep falling for ideas that have been completely and thoroughly shown to be false. It's amazing to me, as a science oriented person, that people completely believe that all the scientists and researchers in the world are conspiring together to push a 'false' world view that evolution is real, climate change is real, ancient aliens aren't real, vaccines are safe, and on and on and on. Anyone who has ever attended any sort of engineering or scientific conference will quickly understand that a lot of these scientists and researchers are in competition with each other, and many times really hate each other, and would love nothing more than to prove their colleagues wrong. And this is exactly how and why science progresses towards the truth.(Note: this book was provided to me by the publisher as a LibraryThing early reviewer.)
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LibraryThing member LeesyLou
It's hard to read, just like Amy Siskind or any other writer exposing just how outrageous some parts of society are, and how much social and political power these elements can have. This covers most of the current conspiracy theories, including deliberate destruction of New Orleans levees,
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Pizzagate, liberal responsibility for the Boston marathon bombing, and many more. The players are Alex Jones, the KKK, but even more they are everyday people; their demons are Jews, African Americans, recent immigrants, and liberal political figures. Show Less
LibraryThing member ronincats
I received an ARC of this book through the Early Reviewers program. As a result there were numerous typographical errors that hopefully were corrected before the book was published.
The scope of conspiracy theory is so broad that it is not surprising that the organization of the book seemed diffuse
The scope of conspiracy theory is so broad that it is not surprising that the organization of the book seemed diffuse
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and disjointed. Merlan gives broad summaries of mostly well-known conspiracy theories with some history and backgrounds of key figures interspersed with her interactions with them. She also attempts to provide some insight into the factors underlying them. Despite her attempts to provide some depth, however, this remains mostly an overview of the area. Show Less
LibraryThing member theodarling
This is a really fascinating and at times alarming book. Fascinating: The author does a deep-dive into many popular conspiracy theories as well as some I hadn't heard of. Her work is well-researched and extensively documented. Alarming: She also discusses the science behind what makes conspiracy
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theories take off/become entrenched in people's minds and in cultures. The research we have so far indicates that arguing or presenting factual information to counter conspiracy theories/Fake News not only doesn't work, but serves to make people even more attached to their false beliefs. Show Less
LibraryThing member CassiMerten
I did not realize that I did not review this book. At least not on LT. I really thought I did, cause I felt so strongly about it. I will admit upfront that I could not finish the book, which I believe is only a 2nd time event. Reading the promo on the Early Readers' List, had me looking forward
If you have never actually listened to any of the independent reporters that are covered in the work, and if you have a strong general opinion that anyone that challenges the status quo is a crack-pot conspiracy theorist then you will love the fact that is book totally supports your opinion and you can stand stronger in your unresearched judgement of those that are different from you. However, if you believe that everyone has the right to speak their thoughts and opinions and ideas, even if they differ a little or a lot from yours, and were hoping to have a read focused on how America lost having the most accurate and respected press corp to being the biggest joke in the press world, you will not find it on these pages, so look elsewhere.
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very much to the book. I was really excited to read what I thought would be an unbiased expose on conspiracy theories in the US and those behind them. Instead the book is written by someone who was and is completely biased against all individuals that she has decided are "crazies" with a lot more biased titles thrown in. From what little of the book I could stomach through she thinks that ONLY network journalists are honest and truthful, which recent history has shown differently. She wrote the book for the sole purpose of doing as much damage to any blogger or vlogger that she deems to be different in opinion and point of view. Those that she attacked that were white she held nothing back in insulting and belittling. Those that she had to attack cause they were caught in her same broad net that were not white, she insulted as well in a depreciative manner, by allowing them the history of how government agencies have treated them in the past, thus basically reducing their beliefs and work to a naturally expected result of fear and anger, thus completely disregarding their ability to research and form their own ideas and opinions without it being all about historic grievances. If you have never actually listened to any of the independent reporters that are covered in the work, and if you have a strong general opinion that anyone that challenges the status quo is a crack-pot conspiracy theorist then you will love the fact that is book totally supports your opinion and you can stand stronger in your unresearched judgement of those that are different from you. However, if you believe that everyone has the right to speak their thoughts and opinions and ideas, even if they differ a little or a lot from yours, and were hoping to have a read focused on how America lost having the most accurate and respected press corp to being the biggest joke in the press world, you will not find it on these pages, so look elsewhere.
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LibraryThing member SESchend
Not much new for me as a long-time reader on conspiracies but a good overview and more up-to-date look at what's current and growing and how it affects the political discourse.
LibraryThing member Kavinay
It's weird how quaint this book comes across in 2020. Merlan's account isn't chronological or proscriptive but rather an interesting survey of how Americans are prone to conspiracy due to the nature of their state. The legacy of Cointelpro, MK-Ultra, Tuskegee trials and so on is that even the
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majority and powerful often see the possible influence of government subterfuge and secret society false flags. It's this bizarre collision of exceptionalism and paranoia that creates a distinctively American brand of conspiracy cultist that both abuses victims and reaps a profitable grift. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019
Physical description
288 p.; 9.57 inches
ISBN
1250159059 / 9781250159052