elite conspires? I mean, I don't see how anyone with even the slightest bit of sense could reflexively dismiss so-called "conspiracy theories" out of hand. Why don't people understand that such reflexive denial is conditioned as a way to eliminate deductive reasoning amongst the public?

It's precisely the same sort of dynamic that the Soviet elite fostered - just that they accused any dissenters or critical thinkers of being mentally ill.

Is it obvious that this sort of conditioned denial of the innate tendency of human beings (especially powerful human beings) to conspire nothing more than a desire for blissful ignorance?