Conspiracism ultimately destroys its own partisan allies as well as its targets

Evidence

That said, for the moment the partisan penumbra of the new conspiracism is indisputably conservative and Republican. While the Left is drawn to classic conspiracism, when it comes to the new conspiracism, it is a mistake to imagine symmetry between the Left and the Right. Left conspiracism is not about the delegitimation of democratic institutions. Though it may seem entrenched, the conspiracist alliance with radical conservatism is contingent, and ultimately the new conspiracism will devour its Republican fellow travelers. For conspiracism is a force that is antithetical to any governing philosophy and to any party. It is the acid that dissolves the institutions and processes—the parties, partisanship, and, as we see in chapter 5, the apparatus of knowledge-based policy—that make democracy work. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 227

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that left conspiracism is not delegitimating invites scrutiny: does this hold for QAnon-adjacent or liberal vaccine/9-11 narratives?
• XREF: connects to: Political conspiracism acts independently once entrenched, not as an epiphenomenon — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 369; Political action requires shared common sense that conspiracism destroys — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 292; New conspiracism uniquely harms democracy through both delegitimation and disorientation — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 32 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Conspiracism exerts independent political force once it takes hold. #corroborates (0.90)
• Political conspiracism acts independently once entrenched, not as an epiphenomenon #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 369
• Political action requires shared common sense that conspiracism destroys #expands (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 292
• New conspiracism uniquely harms democracy through both delegitimation and disorientation #corroborates (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 32
• Framing parties as conspiracies constitutes an attack on democracy itself #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 191