• Rookwood@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    109
    ·
    19 days ago

    I mean it’s classic Orwellianism to make up wild claims so that they seem normal when you do it. It’s also called hypernormalization. Say crazy outlandish thing that doesn’t exist. Then when it happens no one is surprised. The Big Lie. Etc.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      43
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      19 days ago

      I still remember conspiracy theory that we are ruled by pedophiles…

      In early 2000s…

      In 2020s this is a well know, properly documented fact.

      Casting couch jokes… Were not jokes either…

      Mass government surveillance without warrants… Also a know fact … Now

      All of these were “conspiracies”

      Lab leak theory was suppressed aggressively, now it is considered viable but we just don’t know

      Regime propganda appratus can’t even keep its narrative straight anymore but sadest part is that with polarization, they don’t have to. Normies will larp their team no matter what, like docile dogs

      It is disgusting seeing what should adult people behave in such a way. Caring more about politics than people around them

      So we really got the rulers we deserve as a body of people.

      • bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        19 days ago

        Nobody outside the NYC Metro North/PATH area who was alive at the time ever talks about this, but the wealthy men nightclub pedophilia (in terms of like 14yos) was an open secret. From 1984-1996-ish there was a whole “Klub Kids” scene where like, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Donald Trump would all be snorting lines of coke off a 15yo at Studio 54 in 1984 (Netflix did a documentary about a murder by an influencer of that scene several years ago). I literally knew kids who were part of that scene at the time (all the ones I knew became heroin addict homeless goth young adults by the late 90’s and I presume are dead by now). Donald Trump was regionally known as the most famous enjoyer of the Klub Kids scene at the time.

        • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          19 days ago

          First time hearing of this. But how is this never really brought publicly. Same reason diddy only getting flushed now?

          Regime don’t want to open another can of worms?

          • bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            19 days ago

            No idea! It was public local knowledge at the time, and I especially wondered with that Klub Kids Netflix documentary about the murder, NO mention even in a defamation friendly way, like an interview “Oh, I used to hear Donald Trump was in that scene” or anything. Also the media is here, basically, and Margaret Brennan is FROM Fairfield, albeit younger, but you’d think she’d be aware at least…

        • Zos_Kia@lemmynsfw.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          18 days ago

          Also on the Californian side you had the sugar shack where all classic rock superstars went to do the exact same thing.

          We often forget that the hippie scene was predominantly white, male, and came from privileged backgrounds. That’s the only demographic that was liberated by the freedom movement. Same with the NY arty scene.

          • bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            18 days ago

            Totally never heard of that… I wonder how many of these awful “everyone in the region knows it’s happening” regional scenes like this existed (or still exist). If only there was some sort of well funded federal law enforcement agency that could act when regional authorities are complicit…

              • bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                17 days ago

                Yeah, in a world where most things seem to be getting worse, you could intuit “well, everything is a balance and this is the one thing getting better” or “this is probably yet another thing that’s actually getting worse too, but we have other problems now.”

        • felixwhynot@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          15 days ago

          I think you’re talking about the film “Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig” and the associated Club Kids scene. Folks may also recall the film “Party Monster” about the same guy.

          I’m somewhat familiar with the Club Kid scene and while they were often young and often used drugs, I’m not convinced of the sex trafficking scheme that your post seems to imply. Do you have any references, if that is your claim?

          • bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            15 days ago

            No press sources, just kids in that scene from back then. In a small cohort of goth kids in the region in the mid 90’s, I knew several. They’d disappear down allegedly to NYC for that shit, I have no firsthand experience, I’ve always had a Bart Simpson belly and wasn’t a mid-90’s sexy twink so I was an observer from afar of the scene. It’s also kind of unfair to describe it as “trafficking” to some extent, not to defend 40yo bankers banging 14yos, it was “cool” like… Have you ever read the OG Gossip Girl books the show was based on? I have not but it seems to be the manhattanite experience of that scene

      • weker01@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        15 days ago

        What always gets me in a conspiracy thinking spiral is remembering that the people (that were always portrayed as total nutters) talking about the us gov investigating mind control and drugging people were right (mk ultra, etc).

        I maintain that “conspiracy theory” should not be a thought stopper. One should not disregard something just because it seems like a classic “conspiracy theory”. Most people I discuss stuff like that with just stop thinking after forming the thought “conspiracy theory”.

        On the other side we see what happens if people “do their own research”…

    • Teppichbrand@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      edit-2
      18 days ago

      Not sure if you got hypernormalisation right.
      It’s when state, population and even opposition play along by their known roles in a common, simplified fake-reality, ignoring a looming collapse, pretending everything is fine because noone can imagine a life outside the predominant system.
      Haha, how crazy would that be, right?

  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    18 days ago

    I’ve always said the difference between a true conspiracy theorist and a fucking loon is proof.

    There’s tons of stuff we know happened and have almost overwhelming proof of but the powers that be for some reason will not prosecute, that’s a conspiracy and they might even be part of it.

    If you believe that a myriad aliens are pretending to be human and secretly controlling the world and the only immediate proof is that we are becoming more inclusive, you’re a fucking loon.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      18 days ago

      I disagree. Once there’s proof you aren’t a conspiracy theorist, you’re just someone who believes in evidence based reality. I’d argue that it’s evidence and a believable narrative.

      At one point you were a complete loon for believing the us government was attempting to do mind control using lsd. Then after the evidence was leaked you were a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Now after it’s been admitted to by the us government you’re a loon if you insist it didn’t happen.

      • s_s@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        “Conspiracy” assumes the government is functioning in a fundamentally honest manner.

        In the 70s, the public was frankly shocked to learn about the Watergate Scandal, because they assumed America operated in a fundamentally honest manner.

        After Watergate, the “conspiracy theorist” developed. Because if Watergate is true, what else is going on?

        Around that time, AM radio was looking for new programming after the public’s music listening transitioned to FM and we got a steady diet of extremist religious programming and Conspiracy-laden talk radio. Shortly after the Fairness Doctrine ended and things really took.off. One of the biggest TV series of the 90s was the X-files.

        Anyways, if you have a conspiratorial government (e.g.China), you’re not a “conspiracy theorist” to believe in conspiracy. There are very obvious conspiracies at work.

        The corruption epidemic the US is now facing (post Citizens United) means we no longer assume we have a fundamentally honest government.

        “Conspiracy theorist” is dead. Our government is fundamentally conspiring.

  • omarfw@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    18 days ago

    Conspiracy theorists aren’t actually truth seekers. They’re not out to discover the truth. They want to proclaim the truth and feel like special people who have hidden knowledge so they can feel superior. It’s all about their ego, their sense of security, and nothing else.

    All of this stuff is out in the open for all to see so the theorist nut jobs don’t get to feel special by trying to expose it.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        18 days ago

        If they were any good at it they’d be employed as journalists and win Pullitzer Prizes for their work. Nixon having his goons break into a hotel to steal information from his opposition is a hell of a “conspiracy theory”. But we don’t consider it that because Woodward and Bernstein put in the work to find the evidence.

        Your typical internet conspiracy theorists are just plain lazy and very susceptible to selection bias. They make up things to fill in the gaps of their theories and refuse to change the made up bits even when they find evidence to the contrary. The general contrarianism of the internet pushes people to think the opposite of establish facts.

        In the end it’s just a mess of made up shit that conforms to the emotions of the person that made it up. These conspiracy theories are promoted among those with similar feelings. They push way more lies than anyone else.

        • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          18 days ago

          Your typical internet conspiracy theorists

          I don’t think this exists as a group.

          They make up things to fill in the gaps of their theories

          Yes. The big difference between conspiracy theories and (good) journalism. Sometimes these gaps are highlighted as speculation, but often they are not. The more evidence a conspiracy theory has backing it, the closer it gets to journalism.

          refuse to change the made up bits even when they find evidence to the contrary.

          People like this are super easy to argue against because you can provide the supporting evidence and they shut up.

          The general contrarianism of the internet pushes people to think the opposite of establish facts.

          I don’t think it is contrarianism. In previous decades traditional media had a monopoly on one to many communication. Now anyone can broadcast any information, true and false, to a worldwide audience.

          In the end it’s just a mess of made up shit that conforms to the emotions of the person that made it up.

          Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

          These conspiracy theories are promoted among those with similar feelings. They push way more lies than anyone else.

          Easy to do. For example, you are now expressing a feeling, not stating a fact.

      • Wes4Humanity@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        The good ones are lie finders… The shitty, usually conservative, ones like the post is talking about love to spew their own garbage “truths”… Definitely not truth seekers, just “truth” spewers

        Edit: like=lie

            • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              18 days ago

              I’ve never met one, but I have seen them on TV (documentary). They seem very keen to follow random posts on 4chan, but they question absolutely nothing.

              People that I’ve discussed conspiracy theories with usually don’t believe anything, even other conspiracies.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    18 days ago

    It’s almost as if the Right was playing the game of “Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty”

    Ya know, like Gobbels told Hitler to do.

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    19 days ago

    Real conspiracies don’t even bother hiding. They have the power to do whatever they want, so they just tell us this is what’s happening now.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      18 days ago

      On the internet, the first to make an accusation wins. If if the accusation is false, they still win. So even when they actually do the things they falsely accuse others of doing, they’ve already won the argument on the internet.

      “You’re just accusing us of doing what you did” is stronger than “You’re now doing what you accused us of in the past” when the rhetoric is more important than the facts.

  • Paradachshund@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    19 days ago

    They’re tribalists, not idealists. In other words, it’s on their side now so they don’t mind. I see a lot of people always attacking the double standard aspect, but its not the point. They don’t mind double standards, they just want their tribe to win.

    • Mango@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      18 days ago

      Literally every group seems to be that way. Can we stop being groups now and protect “the individual” in general?

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    18 days ago

    “Conspiracy theories” aren’t about conspirators, they’re about feeling smarter than everyone else.

    Noticing when powerful morons commit crimes in plain sight doesn’t make your brain do the happy juice.

  • jmsy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    18 days ago

    the more concerning conspiracy for the right is that a black person might be president, again

    • Johanno@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      18 days ago

      Even worse! It’s going to be a women. A black woman.

      The right will fill with anger if that happens.

  • AlexisFR@jlai.lu
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    18 days ago

    But that’s boring stuff, you can’t make yourself superior to others if you believe in this stuff…

  • jabathekek@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    19 days ago

    It’s not about the thought process or logic. Many of these people have been taught to only use their emotions for decision making.