RE: How the Conspiracy Mindset actually helps Authority
Conspiracies drive me crazy. There's a natural tendency for us to fill in the gaps, but conspiracy theorists also seem to be hell bent on converting the unbelievers. The more fantasy is injected into a belief, the more fervently the believers try to force others to accept it.
I never was one to think 9/11 was an inside job, but I also didn't take my position based on patriotism. It just didn't add up for me. However, I saw so many people who DID think 9/11 was inside job try to devour anybody who didn't. Reminds me too much of the evangelical atmosphere I grew up in, where your job is to prove to the rest of the world that they're going to hell.
On the flipside, we get called conspiracy theorists for believing privacy is a legitimate issue. As @frdem3dot0 pointed out, this is not about a secret organized group of people who are pressing magic buttons that control everybody's mind. It's that generations of mistakes have compounded into this monstrosity that we have now.
The difference between that and a conspiracy, is you can actually trace and demonstrate the flaws. You don't have to take leaps of faith or logic.