There Is No Cabal is a catchphrase used on Usenet. Its common abbreviation, TINC, is used humorously to suggest that people should lighten up and not see a conspiracy around every corner, or alternatively as an ironic statement, indicating one knows "the cabal" will inevitably deny there is a cabal. Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, distributed bulletin board system (BBS). ... A conspiracy theory attempts to explain the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events) as a secret, and often deceptive, plot by a covert alliance of powerful or influential people or organizations. ... A cabal is a number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a church, state, or other community by intrigue. ...

As Usenet has few technologically or legally enforced hierarchies, just about the only ones that formed were social hierarchies. People exerted power through force of will (often via intimidating flames), garnering authority and respect by contributing to the community (by being a maintainer of a FAQ, for example), or through sheer persistence, spending more time and writing more posts than anyone else (see Kibo, etc.). A hierarchy (in Greek: , it is derived from -hieros, sacred, and -arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system (except for the top element) is subordinate to a single other element. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Intimidation is the act of making others do what one wants through fear. ... Flaming is the act of posting messages that are deliberately hostile and insulting, usually in the social context of a discussion board (usually on the Internet). ... FAQ is an abbreviation for Frequently Asked Question(s). The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. ... Kibo is the nickname, username and e-mail address (kibo@world. ...

Thus groups of people with authority and power gained and maintained it by what in a traditional society would be considered extralegal means; they were, in some sense, cabals. In another sense they were not cabals, since their power did not extend beyond much more than social authority.

See also

• Backbone cabal
• Internet phenomenon
• Lumber Cartel

The backbone cabal was a group (or cabal) of large-site administrators who pushed through the Great Renaming and reined in the chaos of Usenet during most of the 1980s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Lumber Cartel was a supposed conspiracy that backed anti-spammers. ...

External links

• Entry for "TINC" at the Jargon File
• There Is No Cabal in Ursine's Jargon Wiki
• Early example of TINC
• alt.conspiracy.usenet-cabal FAQ on the Cabal and TINC
• Cabal meeting minutes
• In Debian (women?)