It seems like there’s a conspiracy for every aspect, event, and occasion in our life. Think of the theory that there is some kind of a connection between 5G internet and the coronavirus pandemic, which has been continually debunked by our experts. In fact, raising these rumors is considered inappropriate, and those who do can even get into trouble for spreading fake news.
But leaving the pandemic conspiracy aside, there are numerous other conspiracies that people genuinely believe in: Area 51, Bigfoot sightings, chemtrails, New World Order, Freemasonry, Illuminati, Sandy Hook, “stolen election,” the list goes on. And while most skeptics cringe at such improbable scenarios, some actually scratch their heads and wonder… “what if?”
So when someone asked “What is a conspiracy theory you actually believe in?” on r/AskReddit, people, skeptics included, shared some very interesting answers. Let’s see what they had to say below and be sure to share your thoughts on conspiracies in the comment section!
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The media is the biggest stirrer of fear and anger and use it in order to stay relevant to keep the funds rolling in
That my phone listens to conversations. Far too many situations where I’d talk about something random and see adverts about it on FB and Instagram without me ever searching for it
Bored Panda reached out to the redditor Come-What-April and the author of this thread who said they were always fascinated with themes about the paranormal, conspiracies, and scary stuff.“I always wondered if I could maybe get this channel to dedicate a video to a question I could ask on r/AskReddit and that’s how I ended up on Reddit writing my question one night I was pretty bored,” they said.
Come-What-April added that “the conspiracy theory stuff being a subject I know inspires many people, I knew I could get many interesting (and different responses) if I were lucky enough for my post to be seen by many.”
Aliens 1000% exist, maybe not UFOs and all that but there’s no way in hell we’re the only life in this gigantic galaxy
This might not be a groundbreaking hot take, but i think that applying for disability status/benefits is intentionally made to be a convoluted mess of bureaucratic jargon and endless hoops to jump through SOLELY so that disabled people don’t take advantage of them, either because they give up trying to navigate an intentionally confusing system, or because they make a mistake along the way, and the process gets f***ed up. I’m really lucky I had my mom helping me with a lot of the paperwork because otherwise I would never be able to get the supports I need in post secondary. It’s like someone purposefully designed the process to be as unobtainable, messy, and overwhelmingly complex for a disabled person as they possibly could.
The successful appeal rates for disability benefits in the UK is very high, because of the bollox applicants are put through. Stories of people in wheelchairs having appointments for a second floor room with no lift; where if they crawl up the stairs they fail as that is evidence that they are fine, and if they can't get to the room they fail for missing their appointment.
That's just extremely vile. You know, whoever decided this needs their brain checked - with an invasive method.
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My son is on disability due to his autism and the amount of crap I had to go through to get there was infuriating. Even a school placement took ages. Definitely needs to be more support out there.
U.S. SocSec Disability Insurance "standard" is that the first application is automatically rejected. Second one is glanced at, and unless BLATANTLY qualified, rejected also. Only when an SSDI lawyer is hired (for usually 1/3 of initial settlement) does the claim actually pass.
Oh, absolutely. I was temporarily disabled following a bad accident and have no idea how people navigate disability full-time. Eventually my partner had to take on sorting our insurance, disability, appointments, etc. because I was unable to focus on recovery while dealing with the red tape. The kicker was when he took me to a Trevor Noah concert to cheer me up... and someone stole my insurance-issued wheelchair. The venue felt horrible and offered to pay or a new one. My insurance was more than happy to take their money, but refused to issue me a new chair. I was learning to walk again, so without a chair I literally could not function. Luckily the wheelchair rental company felt so bad for me they struck my missing chair from their records so that I could get a new one. I supposedly had top-of-the-line insurance... so that's the American healthcare system for you!
Applied for disability in the USA twice. Failed, twice. It's so hard here. I have ME/CFS and the basis for getting SSDI is next to impossible. Add in the fatigue, pain, brain fog and everything else and even with a lawyer I couldn't get it.
And I've seen some people lie and scam and they seem to get it the first time around! It also feels like they'd rather have people keep trying and/or die. If they keep applying and get denied, they still don't have to pay. If they're lucky, the patient end up dying and they still won't have to pay! It's all so disgusting!
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I was just about to say the same! The requirements contradict themselves.
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Find a SOAR representative. They are amazing and have been trained to navigate this!
Sadly, I think that this one is the byproduct of the bureaucratic process...
This is absolutely the case in several state unemployment systems. In FL they boast about it.
I'm sure this will come as a shock, but this is 100% true in the US. Social Security disability turns everyone down the first time, in order to weed out the people who won't push it. You must hire an attorney, because otherwise you will keep getting denied until you give up.
My mom couldn't get the highest rate of pension (Denmark) because she could still dress herself and therefore still work. She has MS (diagnosed in 98') and needs to use a Walker with wheels, just to get around the house. She can't maintain a job, shop for groceries, make dinner, clean, take care of a household and still have time to have a small social life (if any) if she works! When she worked, it was 3 times a week, every other day. Monday = work. Tuesday = completely flat (tired) with cramps in legs and couldn't even get out of bed. Wednesday = work. Thursday = same as tuesday. Friday = work. Saturday and sunday = same as tuesday and thursday. Yea. She can still work. Work herself to death. That's not how it's supposed to be. The woman is 63, widowed woman (my dad died in 06'). Let her have some peace!
I could answer "no s**t Sherlock" to almost every. single. comment. on here
In the US, yes. This happens. It's so insurance companies can continue to make record profits.
As a disabled person, this is 10000% true in America. Disability insurance is an even bigger scam. Insurance companies have sole discretion over who THEY solely decide is disabled. They do not base their decisions on the recommendation of doctors or other professionals. They do not even employ doctors or health professionals. Some shmo sat behind a desk is ordered to deny disability benefits regardless. Your disability insurance in America is absolutely worthless.
UK as well for mental disabilities. If it's obvious its fine, if its hidden/mental you are faking
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You will be turned down at least 3-4 times you apply. Only in extreme cases do you get approved the first time you apply. Your average wait time is 48 months to get approval....and that is with an attorney helping you, too!!!
This might be accurate if the systems in place for those thing (and pretty much everything else) where designed and implemented at one time... but they never where. All such systems have been built up over time (decades), often with people in charge changing many, many times and having conflicting political viewpoints. All public assistance programs are a hodgepodge. They are like a building built in sections by different contractors, and without a common set of blueprints.
The system is in place and designed and implemented at the same time. Its the same private American company that gets funding from not just the US government, but also the Australian and UK government too. The same system for all. Neoliberalism is a cancer on the world. And governments are responsible for the increase in anxiety and mental health issues. They have actively white anted the foundations of society for profit. People know its wrong and feel powerless. Of course we feel unwell. Watch BBC documentary...'Cant get you out of my head.'
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Bureaucrats don't consider people human unless they can both do paperwork and fit in a category. They act on other prejudices, too.
Over here, the president hates people who don't work hard, even if they can't. That the guy himself is filthy rich says a lot...
The wheelchair in the pic is one from a hospital and not very indicative of most wheelchair use. It's 30 years outdated and stereotypical in its depiction!
Your 100% right my man. I’m a disabled combat veteran with brain damage and if it wasn’t for my Wife and father navigating the paperwork in the VA system I would be dead. No support with disabilities is a death sentence. I’m so lucky
Many industries do this unfortunately. They know that a certain percentage of people or applicants will give up along the process and they count on that. Insurance industry is another big player in this type of behavior. It's sad.
Not only will social services make it nearly impossible to get , but once in, it’s forced poverty with so many rules and regulations, each designed to boot people off the system. Add to that some agencies purposely trying to get you off their books by not sending time sensitive materials, then claiming they were never turned in and breaking the rules themselves (our housing authority insisted family members, then when those scum puppies were found breaking the rules, their employed kin, just reinstated them, a massive case of breaking public trust. They make it nearly impossible for people in need to get what they need (housing etc), through their dysfunctional actions. Insanity extraordinaire
im on disability it was a pain to get but one year wen i was renewing it ended up having to see a judge bc they didnt think i needed it. the judge ignored both my nueroligist and therapists letters stating both my epilepsy and socail anxeity prevent me from working any job and y i also have a bad knee that prevents me from doing work where im on my feet for long hours. the judge even asked if i couldnt just suck it up. u cant suck it up with epilepsy and my social anxiety i cant take meds for it bc all the meds have seizures as a side effect which is dangerous so i cant suck that up either the physical pain mayb but doing so will make my knee worse. they literally thought someone who cant even do zoom meetings with strangers without panicing could find a job easily and i didnt need disability. literally any social contact with ppl i dont kno freaks me out for crying out loud my own wedding made me panic. ended up in a lawsuit we won bc my attorney was amazing and made it his mission to point out the judge was incompetent and didnt do his job correctly. the judge actually lost his job and got debared bc i wasnt the only person he did it to.
It ISN'T difficult because of an intentional mess, BUT BECAUSE of bureaucrats. Most government bureaucrats "follow' rules set up by some committee. Congress passes a law and leaves it to bureaucrats to "apply, interpret, and make rules for application." There is not a single democracy ANYWHERE. We are ALL ruled by bureaucrats.
Absolutely. I have Adhesive Arachnoiditis, and have been unable to work since my son was born, and my disease progressed. The disability process has been hell, and o still haven't seen a penny. If it weren't for my family, I'd be on the street.
Part of it is lawyers who have a whole business helping people. I think they lobby to keep the laws hard.
This is definitely true of most immigration ''services'' as well. The government saves money by hiring only the most incompetent people they can find ( I once met a woman working for Immigration Canada who didn't know how many provinces the country has and couldn't locate them on a map, either). Then prospective immigrants are led through the hoops created by the semi-literate incompetents until most of them just give up. Voilà, a perfect and inexpensive winnowing system!
The US doesn't provide free college because military numbers would plummet
The U.S. doesn't provide free college because Republicans understand that educated people tend not to vote Republican.
Many responses the redditor received were something they expected. “I know how conspiracies on Covid/vaccination, 9-11 and such are pretty well spread. I loved reading some more 'personal' conspiracy theories, like that guy talking about the weird soup place in his town that seems to be a facade to hide illicit activities.”
When asked if the author themselves believe in a particular conspiracy theory, they said they’re open to the multiverse theory (which is not really conspiracy stuff). “But I like to believe we all evolve on a specific timeline and that other (if not infinite) timelines where things are different exist. I love reading posts on the r/Glitch_in_the_Matrix subreddit.”
There are people out there hired by companies to make dozens of fake accounts that retweet, reblog, etc and act like real people just to advertise products.
The “Fine Art” market is a scam used/run by the ultra wealthy to hide and preserve their wealth.
Women's clothing doesn't have adequate pockets because the purse and handbag industry wants to ensure women continue to buy bags to carry their things.
“I believe that as citizens, there definitely is some information we are not yet aware of. I mean, definitely, some things are hidden from us (Area 51 is a good example). By knowing some stuff is hidden/covered up, how can we be sure about what to believe in?” Come-What-April wondered.
“I find the Covid conspiracies interesting,” they said and added that “I am staying very neutral in the Covid category. I don’t take a position regarding the virus’s origin and vaccination theories since the Covid conspiracies tend to divide so much. I strongly disagree with everyone saying the virus is fake, though. I saw people die from it working in a long-term healthcare facility,” the redditor concluded.
Trump ran as a stunt. He was never supposed to win and didn't even want to.
That the government creates or at least promotes crazy conspiracy theories to make the true ones seem crazy by association.
Everyone’s going heavy with theirs but I have one that’s less serious.
Baby wipe containers are purposely made so that you always pull 2-3 wipes out at a time and therefore need to buy more often. It’s definitely something I can see Big Wipe engaging in to get just a few more containers out of us each year!
That Facebook’s outage the day before the whistleblower went in front of the Senate was no accident.
That video game companies got a taste of the kind of money that gambling brings in and changed an entire industry to emulate the casino structure but for children.
Oh it's definitely all about money for sure, and they'll keep monetizing it for as long as regulation allows, but there's a fundamental difference between casino gambling and gacha or lootboxes people seem to ignore: money. In a casino you have the [extremely small] chance to win a life changing amount of money. In a game, you're only ever getting in-game rewards that have no impact on your life outside. It's still scummy, but it's not a fair comparison. Buying in-game currency so that you can try to win some kind of in-game lootbox reward is far more similar to playing for tickets in an arcade than gambling in a casino.
That questions like this are market research, and this question in particular is likely to be used for some pretty nefarious purposes.
The conspiracy that created the term "conspiracy theory". Think back to the 30s, 40s, 50s. There were stories of the black cars showing up and making people that start finding out too much "disappear". Enter the 60s and 70s. Mass media starts growing at a massive rate. A rate at which the government realizes that they cannot ever fully control. Their genius solution is to open the floodgates of crazy. Push a bunch of conspiracy theories into the populace that makes real conspiracy reports be ignored as just "tinfoil hat crazy". Label ALL reports as conspiracy theory. This over time creates a societal misunderstanding in the form of the term "conspiracy theory" becoming equated with "crazy". An example of this is I believe that there really aren't many people that truly believe the earth is flat. There are just some entities planted that push it as a "theory". This then becomes one of the main examples of "all conspiracy theorists are not to be taken seriously".
The government deliberately works on keeping the populace uneducated. From school funding being tied to local property taxes, to allowing militant religious parties to "politicize" and censor science based education. It's easier to manipulate an uneducated society by pitting it against itself across socio-economic and political lines. In the mean time the civil servants meant to b representing us do favors for the wealthy in return for funding and insider trading privileges.
That the international establishment are not cracking down on the slave trade because too many of them benefit from slaves, wage slaves, debt slaves, indentured servants, passport hostage victims, magdalene laundresses, unpaid internships, etc. themselves.
Unfortunately, everyone in the west benefits from slave labour. Fast fashion? Slave labour. Fresh produce (like fruit and veggies)? Slave labour. Phones, Laptops? Also slave labour. I'm not sure what we as consumers can do about it but that is the only reason those things are so cheap in the first place. Although, buying second hand is always better than buying new
Republicans/Democrats aren’t as hostile as we’re lead onto believe and actually agree a lot but are using our differences in beliefs to control us.
Marilyn Monroe did not die from an “accidental” overdose.
Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he was still in office and his advisers told him to write a letter to the American people to be released later after it got too bad to hide. When his condition went public in 1994, they released the letter and it was almost perfect handwriting, spelling, and grammar. Six months later he couldn't carry on a conversation. I'm convinced he didn't progress that fast in 1994 and that the entire thing was constructed over the years to look like he was mentally competent while he was president.
Observers at the time questioned whether he was quite all there. However, he died ten years after his diagnosis which is around average. If he'd already had Alzheimer's while he was in office, he would have had a life expectancy around twice as long as the average sufferer.
China is using tiktok to develop a database to experiment and perfect deep fake technology and techniques.
No that's ridiculous why would TikTok do that? You should download TikTok! You can watch funny vidos and more! 习主席万岁！
The cardboard rolls that toilet paper are on have gotten wider in diameter over the years. This is one way to make the rolls look bigger. Because you know 6 mega rolls equals 32 normal sized rolls...
The world stock market is rigged, and most trading happens behind the scenes
That the government collaborated with tech companies to promote taking "selfies" to advance facial recognition software.
Good luck recognizing anyone from a selfie with all the heavy editing, filtering and photoshop lol
Bic doesn't fill their lighters with as much fluid as they used to.
All countries have Ninjas. We only know about Japanese Ninjas bc they're the worst.
Chap stick actually causes your lips to feel more chapped after their affect wears off, causing you to use it more often and buy more chapstick
Well I don't actually believe the government is putting stuff in our water that's turning the frogs gay
I do however believe the large amount of urine containing birth control waste getting out into the sewage is becoming an ecological problem
That accounts for less than 1%. The majority is from effluent overflow and seepage from farms getting into waterways and the ground. "Analysis found that EE2 has a lower predicted concentration in U.S. drinking water than natural estrogens from soy and dairy products and animal waste used untreated as a farm fertilizer. And that all humans, (men, women and children, and especially pregnant women) excrete hormones in their urine, not just women taking the pill. Some research cited in the report suggests that animal manure accounts for 90 percent of estrogens in the environment. Other research estimates that if just 1 percent of the estrogens in livestock waste reached waterways, it would comprise 15 percent of the estrogens in the world's water supply."
Note: this post originally had 55 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Russia is controlling social media with bots and trolls and increases polarization in society with this army of trolls. There is evidence for this theory, but I feel it goes way further than people think
Substitute "controlling" with "manipulating" and you have the simple truth.
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Someone makes it rain every day at school drop-off and pick up time. Might be crazy but I am convinced this is true
A conspiracy that I just made up is that the Anti-Vax movement was started by a misogynistic group of men to bring back high infant mortalities to get women out of the workforce and back to being baby makers full time
Most of these aren't conspiracy theories at all. I think this bored panda needs to research what that term actually means.
Does it mean: a nonscientific theory without any facts that has an elite group of people who know what is really happening and purposefully hiding it from others? Because that is what this post was doing.
Load More Replies... After all these years and all the millions of dollars given for cancer research the best they've managed to come up with is chemo? I have a hard time believing that. I think they just don't want the money to stop coming in.
There have been massive strides in cancer treatment over the decades. Cancer survival rates increase every year, and there are many non-chemo treatments either available or in trial or research. Not to mention that we have a literal vaccination for cervical cancer. Cancer is not a single disease with a single trajectory.
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a theory i heard recently is that the lottery was invented to trap time travelers
My local bus company is owned by the same guys who own the taxi firms. So it's in their interests that buses don't go places before or after a certain time of day.
Scott Morrison is an AI or robotics experiment. I am yet to see that man show any emotion.
Instagram and social media preys on people's insecurities and then sell you beauty products. Previous generation didn't use these many products, their skin looked better, they didn't have a skincare daytime nighttime routine. A lot of business would shut down completely if only people started getting Ok with their appearance, not talking about health, just appearance
The one I believe in is that the 2008 Housing Crash and Economic Crisis was allowed to happen. There is evidence to support this as well, since people from the Financial and Real Estate Industries had gone to Congress as far back as 2004 to warn them about what was going on. But I guess people were making too much money to care.
Totally random, but the DC Snipers could've been orchestrated as a distraction from the ongoing and mishandled lead crisis in the city.
Russia is controlling social media with bots and trolls and increases polarization in society with this army of trolls. There is evidence for this theory, but I feel it goes way further than people think
Substitute "controlling" with "manipulating" and you have the simple truth.
Load More Replies... Someone makes it rain every day at school drop-off and pick up time. Might be crazy but I am convinced this is true
A conspiracy that I just made up is that the Anti-Vax movement was started by a misogynistic group of men to bring back high infant mortalities to get women out of the workforce and back to being baby makers full time
Most of these aren't conspiracy theories at all. I think this bored panda needs to research what that term actually means.
Does it mean: a nonscientific theory without any facts that has an elite group of people who know what is really happening and purposefully hiding it from others? Because that is what this post was doing.
Load More Replies... After all these years and all the millions of dollars given for cancer research the best they've managed to come up with is chemo? I have a hard time believing that. I think they just don't want the money to stop coming in.
There have been massive strides in cancer treatment over the decades. Cancer survival rates increase every year, and there are many non-chemo treatments either available or in trial or research. Not to mention that we have a literal vaccination for cervical cancer. Cancer is not a single disease with a single trajectory.
Load More Replies... a theory i heard recently is that the lottery was invented to trap time travelers
My local bus company is owned by the same guys who own the taxi firms. So it's in their interests that buses don't go places before or after a certain time of day.
Scott Morrison is an AI or robotics experiment. I am yet to see that man show any emotion.
Instagram and social media preys on people's insecurities and then sell you beauty products. Previous generation didn't use these many products, their skin looked better, they didn't have a skincare daytime nighttime routine. A lot of business would shut down completely if only people started getting Ok with their appearance, not talking about health, just appearance
The one I believe in is that the 2008 Housing Crash and Economic Crisis was allowed to happen. There is evidence to support this as well, since people from the Financial and Real Estate Industries had gone to Congress as far back as 2004 to warn them about what was going on. But I guess people were making too much money to care.
Totally random, but the DC Snipers could've been orchestrated as a distraction from the ongoing and mishandled lead crisis in the city.
