By Jason Charles on 11/2/2017 (6 years 169 days ago) Media
The vast majority of people on the internet use it to keep up on sports stats, news, bills, bank accounts, and friends via their preferred social media platform, etc. For them the internet is a functional part of their life, these average users have no idea that the internet itself has become a battle ground of competing information and worldviews. The truth is, the war that is raging on the internet as we speak is shaping our society in ways most people can't even comprehend.
There exists two very different narratives on the internet. On one-hand we have the corporate media and the official narratives and ideas as pushed by establishment institutions, news organizations, and official political bodies of the state. On the other hand we have a counter intelligence revolution that has collectively archived troves of written articles, research and video analysis that twists reality on its head, painting everything we know about history, our origins, and our government into a vast a conspiracy.
The Genie is Out
This recent and obviously biased article entitled "New Study Links Conspiracy Theorists With A Mental Disorder" shows the prevalence of conspiracy minded individuals in the United States.
"It’s a golden era for conspiracy theories. The Internet has made it possible to get “facts” about nearly everything, from the moon landing being fake to the Earth being flat. But some recent research indicates that hard-core conspiracy theorists might be genetically predisposed to believe thanks to an unusual and little-understood mental disorder.
A recent survey from the University of Chicago indicated that 50% of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory – whether it be the U.S. government’s involvement in 9/11 or the existence of aliens." (Geek.com)
A whooping 1 in 2 people believe in conspiracies! This fact alone demonstrates how effective the internet personalities, talk radio hosts, documentary filmmakers, guerrilla journalists and researchers have been in dispersing their perspectives and research findings among the general population. These internet super-users, have been able to utilize consumer grade hardware, software, and internet platforms like news syndication websites and social media tools to compete against massive media outlets spewing official narratives.
This realization has establishment politicians especially on edge. We have seen Clinton, Obama, and just this last week even Bush Jr. telling us to be wary of conspiracy theories. Former President G. W. Bush stated in last week's speech,
"Our politics seems to be more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication..." (RealClearPolitics)
and then Senator John McCain echoed this sentiment by saying,
“We have to fight against propaganda and crackpot conspiracy theories,” Mr McCain said. “We have to fight isolationism, protectionism, and nativism.” ( Independent)
The defensiveness of those in power only proves that the official narrative is crumbling, and as a result the establishment is scrambling to regain control of the trust of the people. Sadly the face of John McCain and George Bush hardly evoke trust, and if you know why then you too must be of the conspiratorial camp.
The Problem with Conspiracy Culture
In this article it is not my intention to debate the legitimacy of the body of work out there dealing with every conceivable conspiracy topic. There is a lot of speculation and holes in peoples research, as well as some very intriguing information that is backed up by sourced documents and information that without question point to a larger conspiracy. What I want to do is talk about what happens to our brains, and even our humanity as we begin to accept conspiracy theories of any degree.
When someone researches 9/11 and concludes our government was responsible how does that affect their lives, the people close to them and their perspective? When someone believes the Earth is Flat, or a guild of satanic child rapists run the planet, etc. These are dramatic worldview shifts, and as they become more aware and confident in their information they begin to feel a moral imperative to share that information to the masses. They feel it is a noble endeavor to expose these things in an effort to bring justice and truth back into a world they feel has purposely clouded the truth.
A Little Knowledge Puffeth Up
Having both researched every conceivable conspiracy out there myself and also watched countless others research and come to terms with certain bits of information I have noticed two things begin to occur. People first become extremely paranoid and fearful, and then they also become extremely puffed up and arrogant in their knowledge to the point of being confrontational and divisive in their dealings with other people.
The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 when introducing the topic of idols made a very interesting observation about the effects of amassing knowledge can have on certain people. He stated,
"..Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." 1 Corinthians 8:1
I have always found this verse about knowledge to be very interesting and speaking to a larger truth, especially pertaining to how some people act when they feel like they have come in contact with conspiratorial knowledge or esoteric knowledge of some sort.
When someone comes in contact with information on the internet pertaining to a larger conspiracy and they have a predilection and bent of character that desires truth they will begin to voraciously research. They research everything, falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. As they come into contact with the information, their priorities change, their demeanor changes, the way they relate to their spouse and friends often change. They feel this pressing moral obligation to dump everything they know on people not realizing that not everyone in their circle of influence has this same capacity and desire for truth as they do.
What ends up happening is while trying to force others to be receptive to their new found conspiracy lexicon of knowledge they only end up infuriating people with their persistence. Their paranoia and fear begins to bleed over into their lives causing them to make irrational decisions based on their new conspiratorial worldviews. They also begin seeing average people who are not aware of the larger conspiracy as the enemies themselves, thinking it is their ignorance of the conspiracy universe that allows for the conspirators to operate freely and without opposition. Thus they the "sheeple" are enemies in the minds of the conspirators.
So as they accumulate knowledge they lash out at friends and family members for their ignorance, they become puffed up and arrogant thinking they are the smartest in the room. Their pride and egotism begins to set in and their ability to work together, to be tolerant of other peoples perspectives, opinions and information vanishes. Conspiracy theorists and even liberty activists become incapable of working together because of these factors. This egotistical, high-mindedness has infected the liberty and freedom movement in America bringing it to no-effect.
The Death of the Liberty Movement
With this in mind one can almost assume that the dispersion of conspiracies on the internet is also itself a conspiracy. The love of conspiracies and chasing down the latest tidbits of information that reinforce the cognitive bias of a conspiracy theorist becomes the sole focus. Many people caught up in this camp will give mouth service to liberty and freedom, the Constitution and other liberty principles, but the fact is they are far to infatuated with conspiracies and attacking others to ever become true proponents of liberty, freedom and ultimately justice in the world.
Liberty principles, the tolerance of ideas, unity, working together takes a back seat to making themselves look knowledgeable, building their followers on social media, and promulgating the latest and greatest tidbit of conspiratorial speculation in hopes of generating an even larger audience.
It truly has become epidemic, and as more and more people get caught up in the conspiratorial fear-factory our opportunity to come together and expose wicked people and demand justice through the Constitutional system given to us by our brave founding fathers slips away. We only have a small window of opportunity to change the direction of our country. The focus has been placed on the conspiracy and conspirator, but really the focus needs to be on the principles of Liberty themselves.
Instead of dealing in the nebulous world of conspiracies, we should be talking about our collective natural rights such as self-defense and privacy, the proper role of government, the principles of morality and ethics, just war doctrine, the Constitution, etc. These things alone are what will right our broken system. Focusing on the conspiracy rather than the principles that undergird justice will only guarantee that we lose our country to the conspirators themselves. They simply love the high-minded, egotist, infighting that conspiracy theories bring. These people need to realize that the ability for a filmmaker or a researcher to cherry-pick and present one-sided information has always been there, but the average conspiracy theorist just takes this information as gospel, thinking if one conspiracy is true then nothing can believed. Sadly there is no such thing as discernment with internet conspiracy warriors anymore.
Conclusion
For those of us who have been actively fighting this informational war for decades like myself as a filmmaker, webmaster and activist it is exciting to watch the informational revolution unfold. Watching Hollywood fall into scandal, a populist like Trump ascend to the presidency, the fall of mainstream media, the break-up of the E.U., etc. I can't help but think in a small way I helped contribute to the unfolding revolution. I am proud of our movement, the establishment is having to react to the research internet personalities and alternative news outfits have presented.
Truly exciting times to witness the collapse of institutionalized evil as results of the efforts of ordinary people posting to the internet in mass. The crowd sourcing research efforts of millions are having a huge impact on our society and the mainstream media simply can't keep up with it all despite the billions of dollars and resources at their disposal. Internet culture has made a lasting impression.
The question is this, is this access to knowledge effecting society for better or worse? What happens when the masses lose confidence in the systems of power that hold a nation together? When it all falls apart, what then? I personally have no confidence in any conspiracy theorist or liberty activist to step up and hold this failing society together, nor can I count on government. So much of the conspiracy lexicon brings things like the Bible, God, natural law, our system of government, our founding fathers themselves into disrepute, when in reality it is these things themselves that brought us out of the dark ages and into the light of the Age of Reason. I am afraid most conspiracy theorists and liberty activist have lost sight of reason in favor of infinite speculation, a new dark age is upon simple because nothing can be trusted in the mind of a conspiracy fanatic.
The only thing we can do is recreate a love and passion for the principles that founded this country, liberty is a big tent where everyone can find common ground, and the principles of liberty are far more exciting to articulate than spouting the latest conspiracy theories. Having everyone believing the moon landing was faked, or aliens are coming back on planet x have no bearing on whether or not society can function properly and execute justice. The real work is bringing America back into the knowledge of its Constitutional heritage, only by having a strong, unifying government that dispenses justice will we ever see an end to the corruption all around us.
So in conclusion, before you tell me the latest tidbit about any given conspiracy, and being divisive in your knowledge and understanding, tell me what are you doing to reinvigorate the principles of liberty? If the internet warriors don't get this, I am afraid the war for individual freedom, justice, and a truly Constitution government will be lost forever. In short stop being so divisive and puffed up in your knowledge, focus on teaching and instructing people in Biblical wisdom, and the natural law principles that unify us. Maybe then once people get a new found taste for these things we will begin to see a bit of justice and good come back into the world. It may take a generation to do, but it starts with us, refocusing on what is important rather than what is tantalizing and speculative. If anyone can bring justice it is these internet conspiracy warriors, but not if they don't keep their egotistic vanity in check, and halt the divisivness among themselves, their own families and other fellow warriros.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure*, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17
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