The Conspiracy 1977-1993 and Today

One of the major topics of discussion during the development of ADIO Institute of Straight Chiropractic, later named Pennsylvania College of Straight Chiropractic was the “Conspiracy.” It was the opinion of some that there was a concerted effort by everyone from the ACA, ICA, CCE, NBCE, most chiropractic colleges, the PCS down to the county chiropractic organizations and the local chiropractors to destroy the school. Proving the “conspiracy” and determining the people involved in it became a very time-consuming, energy draining, expensive activity. While there is no doubt that there were numerous groups, organizations and individuals who desired to hurt the straight chiropractic movement in general and ADIO in particular, demonstrating a conspiracy is very difficult and proving it legally, next to impossible. The consultant to the President of ADIO became almost obsessed with proving there was one gigantic conspiracy and that every anti-straight organization was part of it. I believe that idea was incorrect and that we gave more credit to the mixer element than they deserved. I don’t think by and large the anti-straight segment of the chiropractic profession is organized enough to be one gigantic conspiracy. If they had been, they could have easily destroyed this fledgling chiropractic institution from the beginning. Instead there were many small conspiracies. There surely was a conspiracy among the local mixers. There was an effort within the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Society (PCS), probaby involving a few of their members. There was a conspiracy within the CCE and the ACA, within the NBCE, etc. but to think that they all got together against the straight chiropractic movement or ADIO is probably not factual.
The important lesson from this historical situation is that we cannot make the mistake today in thinking that there is a wide conspiracy to blot out straight, traditional, BJ chiropractic or whatever we are calling it these days. I really do not believe that is the intention of the above organizations. They just want to make the profession “better,” and that makes them even more dangerous than if they were conspiring in a secret location and planning our demise. All you need to do with conspirators is shine the light of open information on them and they will scatter like so many cockroaches. That is not going to work in this situation. You see the “conspirators,” unlike the situation with ADIO, are no longer trying to eliminate us. They are just trying to get us to conform to their outside-in thinking. They can be satisfied with that accomplishment. In doing that we will reach the level of the other outside-in professions, like medicine. We will act like them, we will adopt their standards. We will limit those going into the profession, keeping our numbers down and our demand high as they do. We will adopt their codes of conduct and put the profession ahead of the public, principal (money) ahead of the principle. We will become a fraternity rather than a movement. In doing that they may infringe upon our rights from time to time and we will stand up and complain in righteous indignation. They will step back and then find another avenue, another route toward the land of outside-in. I think they realized with the recent events in Washington that they had turned the heat up too quickly and the ADIO frogs were clamoring to get out of the pot. So they’ll turn it down a few degees and then once again, but more slowly this time, turn it up to the boiling point while we satisfy ourselves that the water is comfortable now. “We’re getting use to this temperature.”
I applaud the recent actions in Washington and congratulate those who gave their time and energy. But we must not mistake the other side’s meek acceptance of a governmental agencies slap on the wrist/demands as an indication that things are going to be different. We must keep in mind that we are working with an outside-in group of chiropractors who want to force the entire profession to practice an outside-in philosophy. They are using an outside-in government who wants to control the health care system of every profession and have them adopt an outside-in approach to health care. It may not be a conspiracy but in the end, all, the government, the profession and the so-called elite thinkers of the world are on the outside-in side of the fence and we are on the other side and that is just as bad as a conspiracy.