We live in a world full of paranoia, questions, and the desire to be entertained. It is no surprise that conspiracy theories have overtaken the media. From 9/11 to the moon landing to the illuminati, anything that can be turned into a conspiracy has been. These theories can take any event and create an outlandish story behind it. It is nearly impossible to pinpoint the start of conspiracy theories as they have been going on for centuries. However, they have been growing over time and now have massive media attention.
One of the earlier conspirators was the John Birch Society.
They were incredibly influential
in the ’70s. They were a far-right, anti-communist group that warned that it was lurking around
every corner. This started paranoia among all those who listened to them about
how the communists were after them. They were finding things that were not
relevant to the issue and blamed it on the communists. These people influenced
modern-day conservatives, such as Alex Jones. There are also many links between
the conservative views of this group and Donald Trump. Regardless, this group
was a major influence on conservative conspiracies.
As I said, The John Birch Society influenced a man named Alex Jones. Jones is the perfect example of an irrational, hot-headed conspiracist that feeds into extreme paranoia. He is known for taking his theories to the extreme and ignoring practical logic. For example, after the Sandy Hook Shootings, Jones made claims that it was staged with actors. He stated that this event took place to spread fear of gun violence, to then lead to stricter gun laws. This was obviously not the case, and there was an outrage at the insane allegations that Jones spread. He has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the families of the victims for his false claims.
Another conspiracy I would like to talk about is the anonymous QAnon (also known as the “Q’).
We
can see how conspiracies have paved their way into the media. They spread
untrue and sometimes harmful theories that install fear and anxiety into the public.
They get are able to convince people to believe them by putting in the fear of
a higher power and convincing them they cannot trust anything. While some
little theories may seem silly and like no big deal, they can escalate
drastically. It is important to always do research and only listen to the facts
instead of what the conspirators want you to think. As long as we allow conspirators to feed into our fear and convince us of outlandish theories, conspiracism will be a major part of our media.
-Hannah Crumley, section #11
"From 9/11 to the moon landing to the illuminate..." Illuminati, you mean? Interesting linkable story about them here: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170809-the-accidental-invention-of-the-illuminati-conspiracy
ReplyDelete"some sore to prejudice undertones" - ?
Delete"input fear and anxiety" - impute?
"...only listen to the facts" - easier said than done for many, evidently. They would benefit from a course in critical reasoning. Or from a "baloney detector kit"- https://www.skeptic.com/junior_skeptic/issue62/downloads/Junior-Skeptic-062-Baloney-Detection-color.pdf