Conspiracy all around

A couple times a week, the coffeehouse culture calls to me. It's more a matter of just wanting to talk with someone than anything else. My work is lonely stuff. Sitting in front of a computer for long hours gets old - or just boring.
So I end up outside some coffeehouse with a cappucino in hand.

Middle-aged men suffer from their own maturity.
Where women seem to think the biggest issues in their lives are their husbands and children, middle-aged men start seeing conspiracies everywhere. It's an easy thing to do. "They" are responsible for everything: every failing, problem, frustration, and failure in life can be assigned to the ubiquitous "they".
Thing is, some of the conspiracies are real. Which is a straw man is hard to pick out. All of these groups are a bit like Pinocchio: It's easy to tell when they're lying; but very hard to tell when one becomes real.

• al Quaida
  Reactionary terrorists intent on destroying western values. These terrorists are newcomers to the list of conspiracies. Some conspiracies have been around for thousands of years.
• Corporations
  Bankers, corporate executives. Business-minded, looking to replace government with corporate structures around the world. These people would define everyone in a secular legal system.
• FreeMasons
  A conspiracy going back to the Knights Templar, influencing governments and power brokering on religious principles
• Catholics
  Catholics are trying to return the power to the Papacy, and their fiats, the royalty (according to the conspiracy theories, anyway); and trying to gain control of all the money and governments.
• Synarchists
  Royalists and neo-Royalists, Fascists. Looking to return the power to those who have the inborn "right to rule" (see all above)
• anti-Synarchists
  Oppose the Synarchists based on the principles of the American Constitution. FDR, or Lyndon Larouche, is their god. Some people think LaRouche invented Synarchists to give himself a career.
• Neo-Conservatives
  A mix of cloistered busines and religious groups across the world These are the folks that put the two Bushes into power.
• CIA/NSA
  A fearsome power center mostly supporting American interests, but very defensive of their own power and control.
• Mafia
  These guys just want the money and the women. Manipulating governments and agencies is just a means to an end. Everyone seems to know someone in the Mafia, but no one seems to know where they are.
• Socialists
  Under the guise of terms like "progressive" and "reform", these folks either come off as anarchists or just plain old Communists.
• Communists
  For most of the world, communism is dead. The 1.6 billion+ people who live in China would stridently disagree.
• Capitalists
  This one is probably a straw man created by the Socialists and Communists. I doubt there's a group out there who calls themselves "Capitalists".
• Feminists
  These folks don't even try to hide their conspiratorial actions. They publicize it and invite others to join. The modern radical Feminists sound a lot like early 20th century Socialists though.
• Americans
  To much of the world, Americans are synonymous with the CIA. There are all sorts of irrational characteristics assigned to Americans to dehumanize them.
• Politicians
  Many people think Politicians join some sort of club that requires them to be good liars. The sad part is, most people become politicians, at least in the West, to try to "make a difference."
• China
  China is often referred to as one vast conspiracy threatening to take over the World. A little like the perception of America (or the US anyway).
• OPEC
  OPEC is another of the public conspiracies. It's a closed club though. These folks just want everyone to know they are thinking about them - while collecting money from them.
• Media
  A sort of new royalty of intellectuals conspiring to teach the whole world new lessons every day.

Most these groups share a common characteristic: They want everyone to think like they do.
To my mind, that pretty much defines a fanatic. And, if these groups exists as they're characterized, they are all groups of fanatics. Most of the characterizations are intended to dehumanize, depersonalize, and whoever is suspected of being a part of one or more of the conspiracies.

The list is far from complete, of course.
Palestinians would name Israel, the ADL, and Mossad. Israelis would name the PLO, Syria, and Iran. Blacks have formed reverse-racist business groups in the US. Blacks in Africa still blame the Europeans for everything. Any sort of racism, even the Hawaiians and Haolis, can be seen as a conspiracy.
In a two-party system, extremists in each party point to the other as a conspiracy that supports other conspiracies. All in the name of making each other into boogeymen. Every political party wants to name the other as a dark, secret conspiracy.

It's interesting how many dismiss all conspiracies as necessary in order to keep others informed of different points of view. Then go into denial about the actions of extremists.
Down through history, many groups were seen as conspiracies. The goal of all conspiracies is to control and influence the levers of power: economic, military, religion and government.

Secrecy is the key to longevity for conspiracies. The threat of an invisible hand is far more effective than open warfare, or even open declarations of goals.
When a conspiracy turns to violence, it's ready - or thinks it's ready - to take the reigns of power. The resource all require is a near hysterical fear of some sort. Al Quaida is an example. They're usually fooling themselves.
Few radicals are as disciplined and organized in their plans as Mao laid out in his Little Red Book.
The Feminists have found the hysteria about domestic violence and abuse.

There are just too many.
After a while, it becomes hard to imagine anyone who is not a part of some conspiracy or another. Even if One conspiracy feeds into another. Middle-aged men see every action as the result of the influence of one conspiracy or another; if not a conspiring group of conspiracies.
Sheesh.