Professorial proponents insist that far from being conspiracy theorists, they are brave truth tellers. Sadly, many academics can no longer even identify conspiracy theories. These conspiracy theories are the direct descendants of far-left (communist/Soviet) and far-right (fascist/Nazi) conspiracy theories that should have been discredited long ago for the absurdity of their claims and their murderous legacies. Northwestern University, my beloved alma mater and a jewel of American academia, has enabled some of its professors to openly promote conspiracy theories. The erosion of the Golden Rule on Northwestern campuses has been facilitated by the university’s response How good theories and good practices get turned bad Why Judaism and Zionism drive their opponents crazy PART V How a reasonable theory can be abused and how a bad theory can be exaltedġ2. Why the Golden Rule is fundamental to scholarship and societyġ1. How encounters with reality can inoculate against Conspiracy Theories PART IIIĪn intellectual tradition of far-left and far-right anti-Zionist Conspiracy TheoriesĪ political tradition of far-left and far-right anti-Zionist Conspiracy Theories PART IV Why their claims to objectivity are rhetorical tall tales (or bolbe, as my father would say)ħ. Why Butz and Thrasher’s demonization of Zionists is crazy (or what my father would call meshuganah)Ħ.

Why Butz and Thrasher’s Conspiracy Theories are worthless (or as my father would say, gornisht) Published in the United States of AmericaĪnti-Zionist conspiracy theories in the 1970s: evil ideas have consequencesĬonspiracy theories: what they are and why they are badīutz and Thrasher: Conspiracy Theorists PART II No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher. The book provides a roadmap for reform based on universal moral and intellectual standards and offers a way out of the culture wars that are ripping America apart. His keen analysis reveals why Jews serve as the canary in the coal mine.Ĭonspiracy U delivers an urgent wake-up call for everyone who cares about the future of civil society and is concerned that universities today are failing at teaching students how to strive for truth but rather guiding students to blindly trust theories driven by ideology. He explains why Zionism, the movement for Jewish national self-determination, has become the focal point for both far-right and far-left conspiracy theories. Shay tackles the thorny question of how otherwise brilliant minds willingly come to embrace and espouse such patent falsehoods. In Conspiracy U, Shay presents a case study of his alma mater, Northwestern University, in order to challenge the proliferation of anti-Zionist conspiracy theories championed on college campuses by both the far right and far left.

Conspiracy U by Scott A. Shay