Category: Conspiracy Theory

Conspiracy Theory, Propaganda, Psychology, Social Media

Rabbit Holes, Relatives and Friends

The covid era has been a difficult time during which many relationships with family and friends have been wrenched apart over polarised differences of views about what it has all meant and who, or what, is responsible. This polarisation of society has been ramped up by politicians, “experts” and the media. While this polarisation was actively sought by the authorities as a way of maintaining control, it was important for opposing ideas to not become mainstream and those who rejected the official narrative were therefore targeted and cast as conspiracy theorists, covid deniers and anti-vaxxers.

Techniques employed governments, social media platforms, and mainstream media outlets against dissidents and dissident ideas included:

  1. Censorship: Governments and social media platforms implemented policies and practices aimed at removing content that was deemed to be false or misleading. While these efforts were largely intended to combat misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19, they also had the effect of limiting the spread of dissenting views and alternative perspectives.
  2. Dismissal: Some mainstream media outlets and public figures dismissed or downplayed dissenting views about COVID-19, characterizing them as conspiratorial or anti-science. This framing may have contributed to a stigmatisation of dissenting viewpoints and a reluctance among some individuals to express or engage with alternative perspectives.
  3. Harassment: Individuals who expressed dissenting views about COVID-19, including scientists, healthcare professionals, and members of the public, faced harassment and attacks online and in person. This harassment had a chilling effect on the expression of alternative perspectives and created a hostile environment for dissenters.
  4. Polarisation: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a highly polarising issue, with individuals and communities divided along political, ideological, and cultural lines. This polarisation may have made it more difficult for dissenting views to be heard and engaged with, as individuals were more likely to dismiss or ignore perspectives that were seen as belonging to an opposing camp.

Throughout the covid period, mainstream media articles appeared on a fairly regular basis that were aimed at mostly younger people concerning the seemingly offbeat opinions and beliefs of often older parents, uncles or whacko friends. While these articles purported to offer sympathy and advice to distraught relatives of people caught up in conspiracy and misinformation rabbit holes, close examination reveals them to be propaganda vehicles designed to discredit nonconforming views and provide advice to mainstream friends and relatives on how to deal with and (hopefully) de-programme them.

Continue reading “Rabbit Holes, Relatives and Friends” →
CIA, Conspiracy Theory, Islam, Neoconservatism, Neoliberalism, Politics, Religion, US Empire, War

Review: The Lost Hegemon – Whom the Gods Would Destroy by F. William Engdahl

I have stated before my view that Islam and Muslims are not the problem but rather that religion is used as a tool by those in power as a way of manipulating ordinary people to act in their interests. My article Thoughts on the Nature of the God Construct expands on this idea in terms of how the image and nature of the god that the elites present to us for our worship reveals something of their agendas and efforts to shape society for their own benefit.

Lost hegemon

F. William Engdahl’s book, The Lost Hegemon: Whom the Gods Would Destroy goes much further in examining how radical Islam has been deliberately shaped and promoted as a tool by Western elites as a way of establishing and maintaining control over the Middle East and then as a weapon against the USSR. Since the end of the Cold War, this tool has been resurrected and used to break up Yugoslavia, destabilise Chechnya and then deployed against a succession of Arab and African states with the ultimate aim of conquering and harnessing the rising powers of Russia and China.

Continue reading “Review: The Lost Hegemon – Whom the Gods Would Destroy by F. William Engdahl” →

CIA, Conspiracy Theory, Economics, Neoconservatism, Neoliberalism, Politics, Propaganda, Refugees, US Empire, War

Nations Under Attack (Part 1): In the Empire’s Gunsights

This is the first in what I plan to be a series of articles examining the current world situation which appears to be increasingly headed to another major economic crisis and the possibility of a major world conflict. Either of these events will undoubtedly devastate the lives and livelihoods of billions of ordinary people across the planet. This comes at a critical time in history, when in the face of a climate crisis and ever more voracious exploitation it seems that corporate profits and governmental paralysis are dooming many species to extinction—and perhaps the humanity itself. Part 2 briefly describes the elements of the US War Machine and then covers the main components of the toolkit deployed against targeted nations. Part 3 deals with narrative as a tool of war.

War is a Con

War has never about defending human rights or spreading democracy; every war is at heart a conflict manufactured by elites of one or other country and enacted against the ordinary people of both the aggressor nation and its victim of the moment. As author, activist, journalist, and radio host David Swanson points out in War is a Lie, all wars are, and have always been, based on lies. This is so even for the wars we commonly think of as having been necessary defences of democracy or for some humanitarian purpose, such as George HW Bush’s first Iraq war (see The First Iraq War Was Also Sold to the Public Based on a Pack of Lies by Joshua Holland). The eternal truth is that no matter how they are sold to the public and history, all wars are fundamentally acts of one set of elites against other elites to acquire coveted resources and power. 

Continue reading “Nations Under Attack (Part 1): In the Empire’s Gunsights” →
Activists, CIA, Conspiracy Theory, Neoliberalism, Politics, Propaganda, Refugees, Surveillance, US Empire

A Conspiracy Theory, Part II

Part I of this article sets out the background to the discourses surrounding the terms “Conspiracy Theorist” and “Truther” as rhetorical devices to negatively position narratives that expose and oppose official narratives about egregious governmental conspiracies and activities. The article then looked at the works of Zbigniew Brzezinski as a flawed but active roadmap for a US based global hegemony as a conspiracy to dominate and reshape the world.  Continue reading “A Conspiracy Theory, Part II” →

Activists, CIA, Conspiracy Theory, Neoliberalism, Politics, Propaganda, US Empire

A Conspiracy Theory, Part I

The thinking for this post originated in a Twitter exchange where I posted a link to an article at Global Research as a response to a New Zealand academic’s tweet about Trump describing Haiti as a “shit hole.” My point was to draw attention to the way the Clinton’s are reported to have extensively abused that country since the earthquake well in advance of Trump’s current attack on the island nation.

When this academic, whose Twitter profile describes him as a Director, Centre for Strategic Studies at an Australasian university, chose to respond to the link in terms of the Conspiracy Theorist / Truther discourse based merely on the source url (globalresearch.ca), it struck me as an intellectually lazy response from an academic and said so. He then responded with a moon landing conspiracy video.    Continue reading “A Conspiracy Theory, Part I” →