Todd’s conspiracy list mixed mutually hostile groups into one grand Illuminati cabal

Evidence

Todd’s superconspiracy was remarkably detailed, so much so that there seemed to be more institutions within the conspiracy than outside it. Todd was less concerned with reconstructing history than with laying out the conspiracy’s structure. In place of discussions of the French and Russian Revolutions, he substituted elaborate diagrams of conspiratorial hierarchies, which he passed out at church meetings. The Illuminati allegedly worked its will largely by wielding fi nancial power, led by the Rothschilds but aided by, among others, the Rockefeller, Kennedy, and Dupont families; the central banks of England, France, and the United States; the world copper market; and many major corporations. The Council of 13, of which Todd claimed to have been a member, executed decisions of the Rothschild tribunal through its control of churches, political institutions, and voluntary associations. Thus, among its lackeys were the World Council of Churches, the Anti-Defamation League, the Council of Foreign Affairs [sic], the United Nations, the FBI, the CIA, the Communist Party, the John Birch Society, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Masons, and the Knights of Columbus. In Todd’s mind, the Illuminati were Satan’s coordinating mechanism, through which diabolical forces insinuated themselves into virtually every aspect of American life. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 308

Categorization

• DEFINE: Demonstrates the hallmark of a ‘superconspiracy’: collapsing mutually antagonistic groups into one hidden coordination mechanism, which Barkun uses as a technical category.
• BMF: The doctrinally impossible alliance of Communists, John Birchers, ADL, and Masons under one occult hand reads like the paranoid synthesis we see in We’s One State logic, where all apparent enemies fuse into a single totalizing order.
• XREF: connects to: Enemies of the French Revolution kept the dissolved Illuminati alive to explain upheaval — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 272; Later Illuminati theorists reframed Weishaupt as a figurehead run by Jewish bankers — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 289; The supposed Illuminati conspiracy later relocated to groups like the Council on Foreign Relations — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 290 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy beliefs can hold contradictory premises together without resolution #exemplifies (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 333
• New World Order fears merged with UFO conspiracy theories during the 1990s #exemplifies (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 481
• Conspiracy ideas act as modular units recombined across belief systems. #exemplifies (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 112
• New World Order conspiracy ideas and UFO beliefs merged into two diametrically opposed syntheses #qualifies (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 420
• Conspiracy hierarchies can be recursively nested with the top conspirators themselves being manipulated #complicates (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 335
• Over-elaborating a conspiracy produces an undefeatable adversary #qualifies (0.72) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1070
• Rival excluded groups weaponized conspiracy accusations against each other. #complicates (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311