“...most conspiracy theories serve a short term purpose...”
There has never been a more successful propaganda initiative than the term “conspiracy theory.”
People always have, always will, in an area where information is limited, develop hypothesis as to cause and effect. That will occur everywhere — law enforcement — trying to ascertain motive to narrow down suspects, court trials, scientific inquiry, the list is endless.
And, for sure, we have always had quackery.
However, now, the starting point for the deep state, to shut down postulation and speculation, is to characterize any and everything as a “conspiracy theory.” Even the mighty and fearless Steve Bannon is terrified of being labeled a conspiracy theorist.
I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh often. He would always deny being a conspiracy theorist, and like Steve Bannon, try to expose conspiracies for three hours a day.
We can thank Cass Sunstein (husband of arch criminal Samantha Power) for developing and implementing the idea that you can divert attention from a scandal by calling it a conspiracy theory, putting it in the category of obviously weird things like a flat earth or aliens.