ABSTRACT
The conspiracy theory of society is just a version of the theism, of a belief in gods whose whims and wills rule everything. The conspiracy theory of society is very widespread, and has very little truth in it. Only when conspiracy theoreticians come into power does it become something like a theory which accounts for things which actually happen. The conspiracy theorist will believe that institutions can be understood completely as the result of conscious design; and as collectives, he usually ascribes to them a kind of group-personality, treating them as conspiring agents, just as if they were individual men. As opposed to the view, the social theorist should recognize that the persistence of institutions and collectives creates a problem to be solved in terms of an analysis of individual social actions and their unintended social consequences, as well as their intended ones. In all social situations we have individuals who do things; who want things; who have certain aims.
