Why I'm Not a Conspiracy Theorist

In the mid-90s my brother-in-law gave me a box of books containing his 'conspiracy collection.' I read through most of them. They were about aliens, UFOs, government cover-ups and international conspiracies.
From my perspective, most of these theories don't work because their assumption that world leaders are involved is flawed. Namely, that in order for these theories to work, the people carrying them out have to be intelligent. Extremely intelligent.
My observation is that in the upper echelons of government throughout the world, this is not the case. Rather the opposite seem to be true, the leaders of this world are incredibly stupid and are not capable of running their own countries or companies capably. To affix to these inbred, elitist morons the ability to conceive and implement detailed complex plans appears to be far-fetched.
It is for this reason, the obvious stupidity of our leaders, that conspiracy theories inevitably turn to aliens as the source of this complex, intelligent, patient planning. There is an obvious explanation for the Pyramids, Baalbek, Stonehenge and other ancient structures that defy modern description.
Mark Twain said something to the effect that he didn't believe in evolution because from what he observed, humanity was getting worse. This is probably the key. Humanity has devolved over the centuries, not evolved.
As a species, we've never been very bright. Over the centuries we have gotten more arrogant but less intelligent. People point to technological progress and say "we have better TVs, that is proof we have progressed."
Really?
What do we watch on our better TVs? If American Idol and Desperate Housewives are proof of an advanced culture then we are indeed desperate.
Here's proof how stupid we are. Our water supply is rapidly being contaminated. Our air supply is rapidly being contaminated. Our food supply is (repeat as often as necessary).
I used to work for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. My boss, the Commissioner of Agriculture Cleve Benedict, made apple growers stop using pesticides, made bug killers stop poring poisons into the groundwater, updated meat and dairy standards, and closed restaurants that sold soft ice cream with high bacteria levels. Benedict angered so many leaders in the agricultural community that he had no chance being re-elected commissioner and ran for governor instead. He lost.
I bring this up because Benedict is an anomaly. He is from the upper echelons. His mother was a Proctor (as in Proctor and Gamble) and he attended an Ivy League school (Princeton). He cared about the environment and was rewarded with early retirement.
One thing conspiracy theorists are spot on about is that governments continually lie and engage in cover ups.
But I would suggest government leaders do so to avoid being held responsible for mucking things up.
One more bit of evidence. During the government's disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, we had a president tell the leader of FEMA that he was doing 'a heck of a job.' This only makes sense in light of the fact that our leaders are so incompetent they really have no clue as to what a 'good job' is.