For me I think it has to be Russiagate. It’s just become a catch all for centrist libs to refuse to believe anything bad about their team, make up crazy conspiracies about anyone to their left or right, dismiss every contradiction of capitalism as “Russian interference”. It’s maddening. At least the RWNJ conspiracies like Q and the Alex Jones shit are usually pretty funny because of how ridiculous they are, russiagate doesn’t even have that going for it.
What are some other contenders?
The conspiracy theories. Q and Russia specifically.
I think conspiratorial thinking in general is getting way too common, and it's not limited to just the right.
The TrueAnon sub, for instance, is basically a Qanon sub now, just everything is laundered through left terminology. It didn't start like that, but honestly some real carelessness by the hosts has created cracks in the foundation for the brainworms to start sneaking in.
The main problem with conspiratorial thinking is that ultimately it encourages passivity. While that can be good when it happens to the right people (thank God Qanon is still more of a movie than a movement), it's bad when it happens on the left and folks start to believe nothing they do matters, because "The Powers That Be" won't let it.
The right is lost to it, and has been for a while, but the left can hopefully still be saved. That means we all have to do a lot more critical thinking. This means that if there's a story you immediately believe as perfectly fitting in to a narrative, you need to pause and think about it. Does it fit too perfectly? Is there a reason why you immediately trust it? Can you confirm it in any way?
Or put it another way: everyone dunked on the supposed Belarusian AMA in breadtube. But would you honestly have been so skeptical if it said something you agreed with? If you're at all honest with yourself, you can admit you wouldn't be and would have likely embraced it as brave truth telling.
I've honestly seen a bunch of that on this website. Anything that challenges someone's narrative or is a leftist doing something weird/bad is immediately called out as an "op" just like the AMA you mentioned.
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If your takeaway from me saying "hey, be careful with conspiracies and apply critical thinking" is "but what about MY favorite conspiracy", either I have done a poor job explaining myself or you have done a poor job reading.
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Again. "Hey, be careful with conspiracies and apply critical thinking".
I have not addressed Epstein, because that was not my point, nor will I now because quite frankly it's funny watching you wind yourself up.
DO YOU NOW, OR HAVE YOU EVER, BELIEVED THAT EPSTEIN KILLED HIMSELF?!
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Imagine the hearings we'll get if they keep electing the Qultists.
Stop falling prey to the notion that conspiracy theories are always outlandish and flat out wrong. That negative stigma is the only reason you want to call a conspiracy theory by some other different name. You subscribe to a THEORY that there was a CONSPIRACY among whoever to kill Epstein and then falsely report his death as a suicide. That is, in the most literal sense possible, a conspiracy theory, and that won't change just because you don't like the stigma surrounding the phrase.
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They go back even further (Birchers, Anti-Masonic League, etc.), but right now they're becoming a part of the mainstream, which is the scary part.
The 90s were when I first started following conspiracy theories, as the black helicopter/X-files/NWO types began to get some notice. And while I never listened to Bill Cooper when he was alive, I've been listening to his archived shows online.
They're honestly incredibly soothing. He was good at radio (so much better than Alex Jones), and his topics are almost nostalgic and quaint now.
I do agree that there is definitely an element of allowing Americans to square the circle - "we are told from birth that we are the greatest, but we are doing badly now. Whose fault could it be? Let's find the sinners whose evil has caused the Divine Mandate to be withdrawn!"
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Cooper's early politics (I'm about 30 episodes in) are all over the place. He was very heterodox, especially compared to today. He loved militias, but also didn't hate black people, especially for the time and milieu. He gave critical support to the LA riots, etc. I've got "Behold a Pale Horse" on my to read pile right now, in fact.
Early Alex Jones was more of a charming crank compared to the screaming booze demon he's become. He took the anti-government ferment that had been bubbling up in the 90s, but driven underground a bit by OKC, and combined that with Coast to Coast AM. And yeah, I remember him updating the "Social Security Numbers are the Mark of the Beast" conspiracy to include any sort of RFID. Interestingly, I never watched Endgame. Don't recall why, now, but I know I intentionally avoided it for some reason. Maybe a bit of burnout by then, honestly.
Watching conspiracies brought into service of the actual people in charge is weird, and I don't like it one bit. For starters, they're obviously headed straight towards anti-Semitism, complete with pogroms, except this time the pogroms will include people with weird hair colors, "leftists", etc., as well as Jews. Now, the Patriot Act is necessary to spy on the left, and was never bad. Alex doesn't even really acknowledge his past as an anti government guy before Trump, in fact.
Qanon is not really annoying per se, it's either hilarious or terrifying or both
Right now it's hilarious. The problem is, I think it's likely to become terrifying very soon.
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I've been getting more creeped out by Q people lately. They sound pretty cultish now. Some of them really think they're saving children. This guy I talked to last week DMed me and was going off about how thanks to his Q family his finally understands love and community, and even though he's alienating people in his life he's never been more sure about his direction... Like straight up cult shit.
r/qanoncasualties is the most depressing place on the internet. People losing spouses, friends, siblings, parents, to this insanity. And there have been maybe two success stories of people leaving the Qult ever posted there.
Absolutely correct. Their audience has grown explosively due to quarantine, and people have nothing but time and a need for content that explains things to them.
Leftist ideals are less appealing, because we ask people to do things. Get involved, join an org, protest, organize, etc. Qanon right now asks them to "watch the show". But what happens when the show doesn't air? "When Prophecy Fails" suggests they won't drop away, instead they'll further radicalize.
Qanon has also been getting a lot more mainstream attention lately. Like the average liberal who watches the news probably knows what it is (anecdotally my relatives are all liberals, and all know what it was when I mentioned seeing a Q flag to them). I think the mainstream attention is causing public figures on the right to distance themselves from Q a little more, which should have a cooling effect on the movement as a whole. Eric Trump is a real person, and when he tweets about Q or whatever, it gives new Q recruits a sort of authority or factual confirmation. Without that, I would imagine that they get scared off by the chemtrails and aliens before they can be fully converted.
i long for the days of 2003-2004 ish when infowars and alex jones were just a huge joke
Back around that time I argued a lot with online nerds (like the hacker ones) that the 90s and early 2000 boards were not utopia, that the content in them with the conspiracy theories and racism wouldn't unit people and mostly express their hegemonial (gramsci) viewpoints. Now after being told I was wrong for questioning people's conspiracies and the community handling of them I guess those were good testing balloons to see if Q-like psyops would work on a large enough share of permanently online people or newbies in the eternal september.
Wait what does gramsci have to do with early message boards
Honestly, following the Q Anon shit has been my greatest form of entertainment.