What was it that got them into it? Were you able to maintain a relationship with them or did you have to cut them out of your life? How on Earth do they do the mental gymnastics to believe something that is so farcically untrue?

  • hauntingspectre [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    r/qanoncasualties, the most depressing place on the internet.

    The most common denominator there of folks who have been sucked into Qanon is an existing predilection for conspiracies.

  • Pleasure_Hacktivist [doe/deer,hy/hym]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Most of the people I know have some awareness of how child abuse and trafficking works. I haven't seen anyone I know who is serious about supporting survivors go Q.

  • WetAssPossum [they/them,ey/em]
    ·
    4 years ago

    My mother and the entire branch of my great aunt's family (this includes a former congressman). They've always been far right dominionists, this is just a new expression of that.

    I'm currently in the process of cutting my mother out of my life, but that's not fully related to qanon, it's more that I refuse to tolerate her sending me constant text messages about how I'm going to hell and I need to repent and go to a conversion therapy camp in Indiana where I'd get tazed and beaten.

    Their beliefs never made sense, it was always unhinged. Every single democrat president has been decried as the antichrist and the rapture has always been just around the corner.

  • BillyMays [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I know one person. Family friend. They are into doaism. Meditate daily. I remember them introducing me to some weird synergy cite a few years back. Now they’re an overt racist. And think trump is going to save the world like Superman. They’re a real estate agent and I’m always tempted to share their bigoted twitter with clients.

    • sexywheat [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      It’s shocking how much overlap there is between new age types and reactionary conspiracy theory:

      www.newagora.ca

      • BillyMays [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I was into psychedelics and even still think they’re pretty good, but I’ve seen how little they do to raise class consciousness. As much as one thinks they’re changing their life, it’s more a reminder that everything is connected. Being alive, that’s the deepest truth we all already know.

        But it’s interesting that people think psychedelics are a cure all for living in this shit society. When in fact it can also be used to further exploitation.

        However, I want to start taking prescribed K because it’s the one thing that has truly helped my depression.

          • BillyMays [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            I don’t usually take a bunch of time to make my points, but I do tend to zone out. Which can be irritating at times.

        • LargeAdultSon [she/her]
          ·
          4 years ago

          There's new age and there's new age. I enjoy yoga, and the studio near me is on the bougie side, so I know a bunch of women who are way into an aesthetic that's mostly flower child with a dash of paganism and orientalism, but they're all hard libs who think drugs (except maybe weed) are scary.

          • BillyMays [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            These intersectionalities are interesting. I think this has a lot to do with monotheism falling off recently and people flocking to the closest spirituality that makes them feel good.

            • LargeAdultSon [she/her]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Agreed. It's not even just spirituality - people are filling the void with all sorts of shit. Just look at how diet plans develop these cult-like followings, and how normalised it's become to stan media products to the point of basing your whole identity around how much of a fan you are.

              Guess that's what happens when you force rugged individualism onto a species that craves collective identity.

    • emizeko [they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      They’re a real estate agent

      well, there's your problem

    • emizeko [they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      tell him if he gives you a break on rent you'll be able to go to DC to help Trump

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    One of my best friends has an immediate family member that went full chud, Q-adjacent. We're all waiting with baited breath to see when he finally molts into a Q person and drains his brainpan with a capri sun straw.

      • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Damn, I typed that the first time and then I looked at it and second guessed myself.

        • emizeko [they/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          4 years ago

          in case it helps it's like the word "abate", become less intense

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            That absolutely helps, sometimes remembering the etymology is the only way I can keep things straight

            Weirdly enough I'm better at spell checking myself when I write it out by hand, almost like my hand can kinda feel like I'm making the wrong lines and swoops. Muscle memory maybe.

  • morningstar [they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Yeah, one of my friends has fallen for it. I kinda feel like it's my fault he got into it; he's a really credulous/uncritical sort of guy and I started talking to him about UFOs which spurred him to start watching all these ancient aliens YouTube vids and shit and the algorithm got him (aliens>govt coverups>NWO/illuminati>pizzagate>qanon). He never really talks about it and he really is a good guy so we've stayed friends; I've been trying to figure out the best way to do some sort of intervention on him.

    I believe/entertain a lot of extremely out-there notions myself, but qanon stuff is just so dumb and obviously fucking made-up fascist propaganda that I still can't fully wrap my head around it's gotten such a foothold, even in people prone to paranoid/magical thinking. So frustrating watching people get brainwashed

    • read_freire [they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      ancient aliens

      Someone else on here pointed this out, but every time I read those two words I mentally replace them with 'i can't believe it's not white people building world wonders'

      • morningstar [they/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Right? As a self-identified crank I personally buy a decent amount of paranormal shit, and I wouldn't be surprised if aliens have been hanging around fucking with us since the dawn of humanity (with a healthy dose of skepticism and knowing I'm playing fast and loose with belief/knowledge claims) but like the ancient wonders were never things that struck me as requiring any paranormal explanation unless you're a racist. (Plus the evidence/arguments are mostly dumb) I was all happy he wasn't calling me crazy for talking about ufos but then he's like yo ancient aliens? And I'm like noooo not that kind of crank nonsense

    • AliceBToklas [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      introduce them to chapo by telling them to listen to the recent episode about HW Bush being a CIA agent and then TrueAnon maybe?

  • rozako [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    No, but I had an almost opposite experience. Been living with my aunt and uncle since campus was shutdown. My uncle randomly brought up Qanon one day (making fun of it, not supporting it thankfully) and it kind of jumpscared me lol. I guess I didn't realize people who aren't VERY into politics knew it so well.

  • Rojo27 [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    I don't know if they are explicitly on the Q train, but a couple of my former co-workers have posted several Q "approved" conspiracies (5G is causing Covid, Covid is a lie, Dem elites are harvesting adrenochrome, etc.).

    In so far as my relationship with them I'm really just FB friends with them although I've spoken with one a couple times since he left the job. Just small talk, but I'm NGL, it makes me sad to see him posting this shit. Saw him get into an argument with one of his friends that made me realize just how far down the rabbit hole he had gone.