People who wonder whether the earth is complete – a fact that is understood by the ancient Greeks and taught to American children in primary school – may have been political pariahs ten years ago. Now they run into local republican parties Georgia And Minnesota and looking for a public office in Alabama.
A prominent extreme right -wing activist who said, despite years of Research and intelligence to establish otherwisethat the terrorist attacks were on September 11, 2001 an inside By the US Government Remembered the 9/11 birthday Last year next to President Trump.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, promised that of the agency support last month for a fight with so -called chemtrailsA invalid theory that the White condensation lines Streaming behind aircraft are toxic or can even be used for nasty purposes.
Conspiracy theories that were exiled to random and often anonymous online forums are now defended or publicly discussed by increasingly powerful people. Mr. Trump in particular embraced, raised and even appointed as his cabinet people promote these theories – Give the ideas a convincing authority and a dangerous proximity to policy.
“The real problem with the ideas and communication of conspiracy theories is when they are approached by people with the power to act towards them,” said Joseph E. Uscinski, a professor at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories. “If someone thinks somewhere that the earth is flat, is the answer” what? “But when people in power have believes, it becomes a serious problem. “
He added: “You can harm a lot, many people about a fantasy.”
Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement that the regular media “President Trump tried and not as extreme for his entire political career” and that his agenda was “common sense”.
Disperreals about election fraud and vaccines have spread in the national discourse for the past five years. A Pro-Trump movement known as Qanon, who bizarre claims that there is a global sexual operation supported by the so-called Deep State, was found so popular in the United States at a certain moment as some important religions.
But until recently the conspiracy theories that now graduated in the mainstream were much marginal. And the people who express them are becoming more influential.
Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire who is called ‘Non-chosen co-presidentHave repeatedly proposed this year, without any evidence and against the guarantees of current and former finance minister, that the Fort Knox Gold reserves Possibly stolen.
Anna Paulina Luna, a second term Republican representative from Florida who approved Mr. Trump, said she believes that Two shooters were involved in the murder on 1963 by President John F. Kennedy – a conclusion that Questions from the past in the murder and the release of 64,000 related documents Not proven in March. Mrs. Luna is now going one Task Force Founded to investigate the “Declassification of federal secrets” and has promised to investigate topics that have dealt with long-term conspiracy theorists, including so-called non-experienced anomalous phenomenen, the COVID-19 Pandemie, files related to 9/11 and Jeffrey Epstein Client list (a recent list Dump Related to the circumstances unveiled little).
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene – A Republican in Georgia known for votes Conspiracy theories over September 11” Shooting and forest fires started by Jews who use Space Lasers – is in her third term. In the midst of two devastating hurricanes this fall, she posted that “They can control it again“Nod to A false story Sugguing that the government can manifest storms.
Four years ago, Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, the minority leader at the time, convicted the kind ‘Loony lies and conspiracy theories“That Mrs. Greene embraced as a” cancer for the Republican Party and our country. “She’s now wholesale A senate or a bid from a governor. When contacted by a reporter, a spokesperson for the congressman said that his only comment was that the reporter was ‘insane’.
Bizarre theories are made possible and rewarded by the online ecosystem, said Cynthia S. Wang, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she runs the Dispute Resolution Research Center. Social media platforms, she said, sort people in Echo rooms, facilitate the production of convincingly slender messages and use engagement statistics to encourage content causing a reaction.
Add a chaotic news cycle, filled with wars, natural disasters, economic unrest and other frightening characteristics, and conspiracy theories become even more attractive because they seem to explain inexplicable things, experts said.
“Many people in authority know that this rhetoric is powerful – it is a way to burn uncertainty and then say:” Hey, if you listen to me, I can help you with your uncertainty and make sure that you and your group will be in order, “said Dr. Cheek. “That is really reassuring.”
Politicians understand that conspiracy theories is currently “what our collective psychological itching” is scratching, said John Llewellyn, a associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University who studies urban legends and rhetoric. Repeating such stories and promising to deal with it makes a kind of rhetorical skill possible, such as performing a card trick with the right hand to incorrectly lead what happens to the left, he said.
The fulfillment of policy actions on non -existent dangers of chemtrails, for example, enables civil servants to ‘provide symbolic satisfaction that does not require tax increases with challenges on health care or otherwise one of the real and emerging problems in our society,’ said Mr. Llewellyn.
The wild stories cause real-world problems.
The correlation between support for political violence and the tendency to classify events and circumstances as results of conspiracies in size from 2012 to 2022, according to An essay Published in December by various researchers, including Dr. Uscinski from the University of Miami. The researchers theoretized that the Golf could have been caused by a steady increase in polarization, a decrease in confidence in institutions or the conspiracy and violent language of Mr. Trump.
The Institute for Strategic DialogueA non -party -related think tank, last year, identified an eruption of violent incidents related to perpetrators influenced by conspiracy theories about chemtrails, 9/11, elections, the pandemic and more. One was a man who – fed by anger against the government, immigrants, the gay community and the Black Lives Matter movement, according to public prosecutors – Killed and then beheaded his fatherA former federal employee.
“For radicalized individuals, whose world images are distorted by these theories and who are already ready to commit violence, political developments and other events can serve as catalysts for action,” researchers wrote.
According to watchdog groups, a feedback loop of conspiracy theories has been formed at every level of the US government. The efforts to break the chain are weakened: wrong information and disinformation researchers have confronted years of years political pressureIncluding a decision by the National Science Foundation last month until Termination of subsidies Related to research in the field.
What other subjects are avoided to the spotlight? Angelo Carusone, the president of Media is importantA left -wing interest group that monitors a wrong information, said he was “pretty bullish demons As the next big one. “
Mr. Trump referred to “demonic forces“On the campaign track and called Democrats a”very demonic party. “Days before both Donald Trump Jr. and Mr. Musk on Mar-A-Lago are interviewed on election day, Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News-Gastheer, posted posted A YouTube video claiming that he was attacked at night ‘by a demon or by something unseen’. Dan Bongino, a right-wing expert and podcaster who is now the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in his show that “Demon Energy is real. “
“It is no longer an abstraction it is about straight demons,” said Mr. Carusone. “The Code Moorhas are already our reality.”
- Advertisement -
