A review by heykellyjensen
Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy by Colin Dickey

If you thought conspiracy theories lived in a bubble–really, why wouldn't you?–then this is the book for you. It's a story of how conspiracy theories take hold and why they have been part and parcel of America's history since it was colonized. How do these conspiracy theories form and why do they retain the power that they do on every level? Well, it's baked right in, and none of the new theories which take hold differ much from those which came before. It's time and forgetting that provide the fuel. You'll go from the Molly Macguires to the Illuminati and Freemasons to today's iterations in Q-Anon. The piece I found most fascinating and chilling was how the onset of the Satanic Panic in children's daycares mirrors so much of today's moral panic over "indoctrination" and "grooming" by educators in public schools. Not only do these conspiracy theorists not get creative, but folks who push back have not learned that they need to not give it time or energy but instead, keep pushing for progress. The goal is to stop forward movement, as opposed to making specific changes, and the succeed over and over.