How prescient the opening post of this thread turned out to be.
From the time that the candidates were being selected for the last US election onwards, political debate has shifted its emphasis from different interpretations of, and reactions to, a broad consensus on the objective facts and figures, to a situation in which the sides are saying, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, "These are my facts, and if you don't like them, I have others."
There is an important difference between "conspiracy theory" and "the theory that there is a conspiracy." It is self evident that conspiracies sometimes happen, and that sometimes "conspiracy" is a valid theory to explain a given set of circumstances or events. However, the "conspiracy theorist" is predisposed to look for and believe in conspiracies in preference to considering the facts and evidence dispassionately.
It is natural human behaviour for politicians and parties to attempt to conceal or distort unfavourable facts; for big business to try to subvert the regulatory process; and for an "establishment" to tend to preserve itself in the face of challenges. This is only the same instinct as an iron age tribe building a hill fort to keep its people and livestock safe from other tribes. This is not the same as saying that there is an overarching conspiracy and that the world is being run from behind the scenes by a mysterious cabal of faceless men in grey suits — whether from Harvard, Eton, the Masons or the Illuminati.
However, when we reach a situation in which politicians can flatly deny established facts in the face of evidence, and cry "conspiracy" without presenting evidence to support it, democracy suffers. I fear the west — led by the USA — is moving into a period in which alleging "conspiracy" or "fake news" is seen as a legitimate basis for dismissing any evidence that is deemed unfavourable.
If this continues, the whole basis for rational political debate and carefully considered voting goes straight out of the window, and with it, democracy. We have fought wars in the last few decades to promote western-style democracy. However, we don't display it to best advantage.
