Exactly so--your first point is particularly important. Arguably, the Declaration of Independence is the first 'conspiracy theory.'  What I was trying to get at in my post is that I believe we were disregarded and pushed aside for this very day. The term helped to blur everything, to create doubts about credibility. The term itself is monolithic, designed intentionally to prevent us from questioning government actions. And now that critical thinking skills have been relegated only to those of us wearing the proverbial 'tin foil hat', the normies are living and breathing in conspiracy theories that are not grounded in reality whatsoever but they won't listen to us because we are the supposed conspiracists. Neat hat trick!