Study shows 60% of Britons believe in conspiracy theories - Polidicks

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/23/study-shows-60-of-britons-believe-in-conspiracy-theories?fbclid=IwAR0nxsqSuxgS7MYCc2JNjFcTG5xKIdtAOKK26Niga10fgMsBsWJD1tKEsr8 (I feel like this is more appropriate for Polidicks because it's focusing on conspiracy theories in relation to politics. Feel free to move if a mod disagrees.) Leavers more likely to doubt immigration figures and think there is a plot to make Muslims the majority in UK Sixty per cent of British people believe at least one conspiracy theory about how the country is run or the veracity of information they have been given, a major new study has found, part of a pattern of deep distrust of authority that has become widespread across Europe and the US. In the UK, people who supported Brexit were considerably more likely to give credence to conspiracy theories than those who opposed it, with 71% of leave voters believing at least one theory compared with 49% of remain voters. Almost half (47%) of leave voters believed the government had deliberately concealed the truth about how many immigrants live in the UK, versus 14% of remain voters. A striking 31% of leave voters believed that Muslim immigration was part of a wider plot to make Muslims the majority in Britain, a conspiracy theory that originated in French far-right circles that was known as the “great replacement”. The comparable figure for remain voters was 6%. Really embarrassing and depressing for humanity. I don't think I support any, but I'm keen to hear the full list of what was asked to find out.

What would this plot achieve, though?

Don't ask questions! Leave voters don't like them, such as "but how is Britain in a stronger negotiation position than the EU?" and "why can you only speak in clichés?"

Their argument is usually that we're at war with muslims and this is their strategy if conquering our lands.

This is what happens when the government doesn't actually answer anything about immigration or why there is an ever increasing population count among other things.

what? are you proposing the government release statements on increasing minority populations? if not, then they're to blame for the population turning to baseless conspiracies? you've said some nutty shit, but i really don't know where you're going with this bit

Uh, no, its reference to there being issues with shortages in schools, hospitals, congestion on roads etc due to the ever increasing population.

I mean, even I believe a particular conspiracy theory https://youtu.be/rxOKEsBx4NU?t=23m31s

ok but "there should be a population cap on countries" is an entirely different argument than "the government's failure to release information about increasing migrant populations is why people turn to conspiracies". explain that please

I wasn't focusing on the migrant population, but entire population. But I guess the migrant part comes along when people attempt to rationalise the changes to their communities and find an outlier, thus completing the full circle of a conspiracy.

This is a load of horse shit since these people would just claim the government is lying anyway.

The government lied once, so people will believe it lies again.

The poll posted in the OP shows that at least 47% of Brexit voters disagree with the numbers the government provides anyway so I'm not sure what Boilrig's point is.

Said the guy who has a history of being anti-migrant.

Immigration isn't a conspiracy. People go from one place to another, it's a very simple concept

This is why papers like the Daily Mail and Express fucking thrive, there are a truck ton of extremely thick people who will believe any head line in MASSIVE ALL CAPS MUSLIM MAN FUCKING SHITS OUT AN ENTIRE PORTFOLIO OF TERRORIST ATTACKS ON TUBE STATION CAFE TABLE WILL YOU KILL A SOCIALIST FOR THIS SICK CHILD?!?!??! KILL THESE BREED OF DOGS THEY ARE A MENACE TO SOCIETY LOOK AT THESE TITS. HOLY SHIT THEY'RE GREAT TITS. ALSO FUCK BENEFIT CLAIMANTS. SEXISM IS BAD HOWEVER CHECK OUT THE GREAT KAHONGAS ON THIS PHYSICIST, PHWOAR

True, if only they didn't go to some places more than others.

Is this Age of Empires 2? Look, there is a limit to population, sure, but the world population is not expected to extend any further than 9.5bn by 2050 and 10bn by 2100, as birth-rates are decreasing the world over due to increased access to healthcare and more prosperous societies, making around two children per household average likely. More access to vaccinations is also making a difference. All governments lie. Are you saying we should assume the government is wrong even if the evidence supports the opposite to our minds? Erm, the population growth for the UK is published and it's around 280,000 per year due to migration (please use Google before posting stupid stuff), including migrants and birth rate. You can figure out the birth rate by subtracting yearly death rate too, if you wanted the full number. You're correct to say that there's pressure on local services, but leaving the EU and doing the typical Tory shite of cutting public services is only going to increase the pressure. Birth rate in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2000 to 2017. This statistic shows the birth rate in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2017, with the birth rate defined as the amount of live births per 1,000 people. The Birth rate peaked in 2010 at 13 births per 1000 people, and fell to a rate of 11.6 in 2017. https://www.statista.com/statistics/281416/birth-rate-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ Migration is a complex issue and to fully understand it we need to consider all information. Our best assessment shows around 280,000 more people coming to the UK than leaving in 2017, so net migration has continued to add to the UK population. Migration Statistics Quarterly Report

you're bashing your head against a stone wall when it comes to boilrig. Laugh and move on, because we're talking about the same guy who refused to put himself in the shoes of a refugee and believes brexit will make him rich.

Perhaps, but this forum is for debate and the statistics could be worthwhile for other people to view too. I don't feel that there are enough sensible right-wing voices here, and ignoring the ones who aren't sensible is just going to push others away.

People would be informed if they took 5 minutes to do a little research. There's a little government department called the Office for National Statistics, which is run by civil servants rather than members of parliament to prevent it from being politically influenced. The job of this department is, as the name would suggest, to collect and analyse statistical data based on a bunch of different areas of society. One of these areas is population. Let's see if they have anything readily available for us to look at... Overview of the UK population Why, yes they do! It's even up to date as well. But will it answer as the question we're asking... https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/1217/3058852c-a943-4681-9f41-5e5d614d1830/boilrig.PNG By gosh, it does! I don't disagree that the government could do a better job of getting this information out there, but to say that they don't do anything at all is just simply not true.

It makes me sad when somebody posts the same thing as me later and gets a diamond and I don't. I guess I am just not structuring my posts well, but I've always struggled with communication. Not asking for a diamond though, don't worry, as I give mine away mostly anyway!

People like to believe in stupid shit to feel smart and above the rest.

I'm baffled they're allowed to show up in any news feed. They STILL capitalize random WORDS in headlines for supposed "EFFECT" https://i.imgur.com/DDVt3Z0.png The weather reports are best they pretty much post two in the space of a day that often contradict each other. I'm surprised they don't capitalize random words in the article itself.

ARCTIC HOLOCAUST incoming as half an inch of KILLER SNOW predicted.

Over 25 years later The Simpsons is still depressingly accurate. https://youtu.be/on8O9fmR_8k

Which is why the US has such an issue with climate change deniers, right? You know. The same US government that even under a very anti-climate change president is still releasing reports on how much of a problem climate change is all the damned time? You're full of shit.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/298928/2f554be5-0f68-480b-a0a5-c67a713422da/a.png Everyone I know and myself are a tad guilty of both of these tbh

I don't believe this study. It sounds like a plot by the media establishment to undermine the intelligence of the working class. /s???

God Dammit. Its never the fun conspiracy theorists anymore.