The World is a Funny Place

Politicians who formerly told the occasional fib or tall tale, now lie with such regularity that it has become an accepted form of normal behavior. You will note that I said politicians and not Democrats or Republicans. I didn’t use the conservative or liberal labels either. In the age of the “truth isn’t truth” (Rudy Giuliani, Aug. 2018), we are living in a time where mendacity is revered as a new position of logic between the real and unreal and which often encompasses both elements. It is a world that only Rod Serling would understand. 

Rod Serling in the Trump Zone

The tinfoil hat brigade now has a standing army that no longer fears ridicule. They readily walk among us with a newfound sense of acceptance. Crazy loves company and their numbers are staggering. They proudly wear their t-shirts and identifying paraphernalia. They have their own terminology and secret hand signs. Paranoid behavior and the belief in conspiracy theories once thought to be a psychological anomaly, is now more widely accepted. While I personally believe that their numbers haven’t really changed that much, they appear to have grown exponentially. I feel that there is a group of true believers at the core and then there are hangers-on that just crave acceptance or see an opportunity to benefit from the weaknesses of others. 

Tinfoil Hat

Political grifters use such people for their own purposes. Tell a lie, make it so outrageous that it sounds impossible, and you will have a group that will follow you with evangelical fervor. Religious grifters have been doing it for hundreds of years but politicians seem to have just found the utility of steering these people to do their bidding. The Internet and social media have provided an expanded platform that goes far beyond the limits of a tent service or town hall meeting. 

It’s not much of a stretch to convince someone who literally wore a tinfoil hat to prevent mind control to believe that a vaccine might contain nanoparticles that do the same thing. Some in this group who actually got vaccinated are now trying to “un-vaccinate” themselves by cupping to remove the mind-controlling bots. Many scholarly articles theorize that it is a psychological need for acceptance and belonging that drives many to such positions of outlandish behavior. We, as humans, crave attention and social belonging, and some feel that some base need is being fulfilled through such erratic behavior. 

Mind Control

Even when predicted events don’t happen as scheduled, explanations are simple and accepted without challenge. Trump didn’t assume the presidency in August or September and JFK Jr., didn’t show up at Dealey Plaza on November 2nd and didn’t make an appearance later that night at the Rolling Stones concert. While people who might be assumed dead did show up on stage, there was no JFK Jr. appearance. None of this fazes the true believers. All may be easily explained away by a new conspiracy theory. 

Dealey Plaza QAnon Believer with JFK Jr Flag

During the Renaissance, art and literature depicted the insane with a sort of reverence as people who might be engaged with mysterious forces and who possibly were addressing reason and unreason. Later in the 17th century, aka the Classical Age, the insane were institutionalized and confined. Now in the 21st century, we just elect them to some public office and act amazed when they lie, cheat, and steal. Perhaps it is time to take the advice of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in their song where they go “running for the shelter of mother’s little helper.”