Lyndon LaRouche Jr.

Timothy R. Smith “Lyndon LaRouche Jr., conspiracy theorist and presidential candidate, dies at 96” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/lyndon-larouche-jr-conspiracy-theorist-and-presidential-candidate-dies-at-96/2019/02/13/22170d42-2f21-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html
James Doubek “Conspiracy Theorist And Frequent Presidential Candidate Lyndon LaRouche Dies At 96” https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/694626800/conspiracy-theorist-and-frequent-presidential-candidate-lyndon-larouche-dies-at-


最近、米国の陰謀理論家で極右思想家/活動家のリンドン・ラルーシュ・ジュニア*1が他界したという。享年96歳。
どのような陰謀理論を生産していたのか。『ワシントン・ポスト』の記事から引用してみる;


Mr. LaRouche drew headlines for his more outrageous claims — that England’s Queen Elizabeth II was a drug trafficker and that the International Monetary Fund created and spread the AIDS virus. He also said the CIA, the KGB and British intelligence officials were plotting to assassinate him, according to a 1985 Washington Post profile that included interviews with followers.
また、NPRの記事から;

LaRouche was connected to an array of odd conspiracy theories, including that the queen of England was involved in international drug trade, and that Henry Kissinger was part of a group of "Soviet agents of influence."

In a 1988 story, NPR's Phyllis Crockett reported LaRouche has claimed "only one and half million Jews died in the Holocaust" and that "jazz is a racist musical form invented by whites to enslave blacks."

Wikipediaから;

University of Notre Dame political philosophers Catherine Zuckert and Michael Zuckert write about LaRouche that "[I]t must be nearly unique in American politics that a presidential candidate ... makes the interpretation of Plato a major issue in his campaign."*2

According to George Johnson, LaRouche saw history as a battle between Platonists, who believe in absolute truth, and Aristotelians, who rely on empirical data. Johnson characterizes LaRouche's views as follows: the Platonists include figures such as Beethoven, Mozart, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, and Leibniz. LaRouche believed that many of the world's ills result from the dominance of Aristotelianism as embraced by the empirical philosophers (such as Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume), leading to a culture that favors the empirical over the metaphysical, embraces moral relativism, and seeks to keep the general population uninformed. Industry, technology, and classical music should be used to enlighten the world, LaRouche argued, whereas the Aristotelians use psychotherapy, drugs, rock music, jazz, environmentalism, and quantum theory to bring about a new dark age in which the world will be ruled by the oligarchs. Left and right are false distinctions for LaRouche; what matters is the Platonic versus Aristotelian outlook, a position that has led him to form relationships with groups as disparate as farmers, nuclear engineers, Black Muslims, Teamsters, and pro-life advocates.

さて、ラルーシュは元々は新左翼トロツキスト)だった。しかし1970年代に(信者ぐるみで)極右に転向してしまったという。トロツキスト出身ということだと、ブッシュ政権時代に盛りを迎えた所謂ネオコン*3と共通するが、ネオコン共和党なのに対して、ラルーシュは民主党への加入戦術を採っている*4
さて、日本における陰謀理論な人たち、故Oh, Henryとか喜八とか副島隆彦とかリチャード・コシミズとか植草一秀とか藤田幸久といった人たちを思い出したのだけど、スケール感が全然違うのだ。これらの人たちを足し合わせて、さらに余りがあるという感じだろうか。
なお、ラルーシュは独逸の美学者フリードリッヒ・シラーに傾倒しており、彼のフロント組織のひとつは「シラー研究所(Schiller Institute)」と名づけられている*5