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Very thought-provoking essay on conspiracies and the derangement of American politics:
Republicans will never lose another election for the foreseeable future. To be more specific, they will never admit defeat. Largely inspired by the President, election denial has become a tentpole of Republican party politics [...]
Conspiratorial thinking is perhaps the most corrosive force that the Republican Party has unleashed on [US] politics -- an addictive cognitive drug that eventually consumes all rational thought. Much like a drug addiction, the more you feed a conspiracy theory the more powerful it gets. Each new data point in the conspiracy reinforces the rest and makes it harder to dislodge. Eventually it grows so large and multifaceted that any new data point can fit somewhere, including falsification of the conspiracy itself.
The digital age has ushered in a sort of golden age for conspiracy theories. Social media provided global platforms for crank theorists whose low-effort high-engagement thinking perfectly aligned with content algorithms. Cross-contamination and political incentives has led to a kind of convergent evolution for what used to be idiosyncratic conspiracists, a “great crank alignment” if you will. Making matters worse, while conspiracies grow more elaborate at political extremes, their style of thinking creeps inwards and takes up a growing share of political discourse. The damage of conspiracism is twofold: time and effort is wasted on combating the conspiracy theory itself and at the same time conspiracy theorists wreak havoc attempting to solve their nonexistent problems. Right now Republicans have a clear advantage when it comes to indulging in conspiracism for political engagement. Yet while I am not one for unilateral disarmament on the Democratic side—especially considering the fact that the Trump administration really is engaging in genuine criminal conspiracies -- liberals need to exercise extreme caution before attempting to fight fire with fire.
The Trump-era GOP has brought believers in QAnon, Pizzagate, weather machines, space lasers, chem trails, "9/11 was an inside job," and much more to the highest levels of political office in the country. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has stated in official press releases that “Americans have legitimate questions about contrails and geoengineering, and they deserve straight answers.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the Secretary of Health after being personally implicated in worsening a Samoan measles outbreak that killed 83 people by helping to spread anti-vaccine conspiracies.
Tags: us-politics usa conspiracies bizarre glonzo qanon republicans trump essays