Something I find very unpleasant about conspiracy theorists is their manipulative deception. They use the same tricks as the establishment they claim to oppose, but far worse, presumably in their attempt to compensate for their lack of corporate media amplification and state power. Yet strangely (suspiciously?), conspiracy theorists’ and the establishment’s objectives usually converge – in this case, absolving governments from their duty to protect the people from infection. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that covid denialism had been promoted by a corporate PR project, yet among their copious suspicions, conspiracy theorists never find room that one.