The History Think Blog is on YouTube.
For the first History Think video essay, I tried to take a different approach to conspiracy debunking by looking at the death of Stalin. No leader has arguably been more effective at maintaining control than Stalin. He was the uncontested and unquestioned leader of the USSR—the largest country in terms of land size—for decades, but even he could not command the future. He could not stop the infighting and power struggles after his death, nor could he change the fundamental problems with the Soviet economy and mindset.
If you’re interested in how power actually works (and how conspiracy narratives usually ignore human reality), I hope you’ll check it out.
The same principle applies to all leaders. There comes a day when they can no longer do anything to you or for you, and they can only hope that something of them and their ideas survives beyond them. The same would be true for any national or international conspiracies. It doesn’t matter who you imagine is behind the curtain—Communists, the Deep State, the Illuminati, or any of the usual scapegoats people reach for—these alleged forces would still be run by people, and these people will die. To imagine that vast, multigenerational conspiracies exist, let alone to argue that they are the norm, is to willfully ignore what human beings actually are. We are all mortal, and we all have ideas that differ from others. Many of us lust for power, and many more are willing to go along with whoever can seize power.
Secret organizations—whose names are known, but whose “real” agenda and control are not—would not be immune to these facts. If they actually existed in the way conspiracy theorists believe they do, it would be even harder for their leaders today to dictate what must be done for generations to come while also maintaining the true nature of their existence. But this is what conspiracy theorists take for granted. They assume, without question, that “They”—whoever they may be—can simply maintain control and stick to a set plan forever. They think “the CIA” is covering up what “they” did to President Kennedy, without asking: “Who at the CIA today was even born when JFK was president, let alone in a position of power?” If your conspiracy relies on people generations from now to keep your secrets and maintain your plan, it’s not a conspiracy that intelligent people with power would put into action—no matter how much power they have.
The usual dodge: “Conspiracies happen.”
One of the first comments under the video was the predictable refrain: “Conspiracies happen.” Yes, they do. History is full of small, limited conspiracies: rival factions plotting, power plays behind closed doors, and short-term schemes carried out by real people with specific goals.
But conspiracy theorists always pull a bait-and-switch. They point to these ordinary, human-scale conspiracies and pretend it makes multigenerational conspiracy theories reasonable. It doesn’t. It proves the opposite. Real conspiracies are fragile: they leak, they splinter, they create enemies, and eventually they come to light, especially as people die and power changes hands.
If even Stalin couldn’t command the future, the idea that some permanent “They” can run a flawless plan forever is fantasy, not history.
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