“Not long ago, a millennial father of two in the Midwest was convinced that many of our elected leaders like to feast on the flesh of children. He feared that the world was at the mercy of a depraved club of the richest and most powerful among us, one armed with space lasers and clones.
Most shocking to those who knew him weren’t the conspiracy theories themselves. It was that he had come to believe them. Nearing 40 years old, he was a college-educated, upstanding guy with friends, a family and an established career. How, they wondered, had this perfectly sane person gone crazy?
It’s a question more and more Americans are asking about their own loved ones. As disinformation permeates our culture, the road to QAnon-type territory is getting shorter. Healthy skepticism easily gives way to undue suspicion.
The statistics are as stunning as the falsehoods. Millions of people now believe that the government, media and financial worlds are “controlled by Satan-worshiping pedophiles,” according to recent polling. “
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-07-28/conspiracy-theories-trump-assassination-qanon
But before that, take a moment and let that sink in.
Does anyone wonder why everyone calls them MAGA extremists and delusional fanatics?
It took decades of constant repetition of lies and disinformation, and a parallel reality created by Fox News and selfish corrupt right-wing politicians for this to happen and we have no idea how long it will take to undo this damage, if ever.
