The Adventure of the Conspiracy Theories
Perhaps the most worrying outcome of the pandemic has been the rise in the belief in conspiracy theories. Previously these were views held by a tiny minority of the population and mostly revolved around relatively silly ideas like pop stars secretly dying and being replaced with a lookalike. Now there is a concerning proportion of the population that believes that the government is trying to control people with vaccines and that there is a global ring of celebrities who are trafficking huge numbers of children, as well as various other insane ideas.
How has this happened? Several researchers and journalists have found a clear correlation between the wellness community and conspiracy theories. There seems to be a direct line from mainstream ideas like yoga and meditation through to things like crystal healing and then onto full-on conspiracy theories. These ideas are spread on social media; you watch one video about crystals and an hour later the algorithm is telling you the country is being run by lizards. What's also often forgotten is that this effect also happens in person. Videos and ideas are shared from one person to another, probably starting with fairly minor fringe ideas before gradually developing into bigger conspiracy theories.
That's not to say that everyone that believes in reiki and the like believes in conspiracy theories but evidence suggests it is often a gateway drug. Conspiracies are often convincing because they contain a nugget of truth. Pharmaceutical companies often act in concerning ways and the way they have profited from the pandemic is troubling. Plenty of celebrities have been involved in sexual crimes. There is still a big step though from these bits of reality and the world as seen through the eyes of many.
I think that part of the reason for the increase in these beliefs is about trying to find order from chaos. The last few years have been tough. The pandemic was the big thing that affected all of our lives and that was followed by the cost of living crisis is caused. This was of course exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and various international challenges also come from a range of countries having less publicised conflicts of their own.
I also think that the ongoing effects of the climate crisis are not acknowledged enough. So many of us have been affected by extreme weather events like droughts, floods, fires or storms, the sort of things that used to be once-in-a-lifetime events that now seem to happen constantly. For most of us, these events have been minor inconveniences but lots of minor inconveniences in a row make life more miserable. For some people though these events have totally ruined their lives.
Here in the UK, and indeed around much of the world, governments have failed to manage the pandemic, the economy and the climate in any meaningful ways. When the world is in chaos it's hardly a surprise that many people have tried to find a reason behind it, even if the reason they conclude is totally unhinged. It's human nature to try and find order and patterns but in reality, the world is chaotic. Most major conspiracy theories rely on there being huge amounts of cooperation between various people and a general sense of order but that is simply not how the world works.
So why is this a problem? Well, it becomes extremely difficult for society to tackle major issues like climate change if a large portion of the country doesn't even believe it exists. The prevalence of conspiracy theories generally feeds into a post-truth world. We've already seen how it played a major part in the election of Donald Trump in America and similar lunatics are gaining power across the world. As much as people like Trump can be dangerous, it feels like it's only a matter of time before someone truly terrifying ends up in a position of power, an Adolf Hitler of the 21st century. This may feel like an extreme thing to say but actually, the UK is relatively left-wing compared to many countries. Across Europe, far-right political parties are making huge gains. Recently in Germany, a town elected a far-right politician as Mayor, making him the first far-right political leader in the country since the Nazi party in World War II. It's an undeniable fact that huge swathes of the global population have lost faith in their government and are turning to far-right parties as the answer. Often these far-right parties are closely linked with conspiracy theories.
Generally, conspiracy theories are making the world a worse place. We've recently seen horrendous accusations against Russell Brand being reported. Brand had already positioned himself as a conspiracy theory mouthpiece and is now using this position to defend himself. Whilst the majority of people have been shocked and furious about these revelations, there has been a sizeable majority of people defending Brand. He himself has suggested that the media is actually part of a conspiracy, the establishment putting him down for reporting so-called 'truths' to the world. He seems to forget that during the time of the accusations, Brand was very clearly part of the 'establishment' and you could argue he still very much is, having appeared in a major Hollywood film (Death on the Nile) only last year as well as providing voicework for another (Minions: Rise of Gru). If you are really cynical you might suggest that his whole conspiracy theory career was entirely created as a way of being able to retain some popularity when his crimes were inevitably reported on.
My point is that virtually every major news story now has a worrying conspiracy theory angle to it in one way or another. Simple right and wrongs seem to no longer be so simple. Reality and truth seem to no longer matter.
So what can we do about it? There are no easy answers. Personally, I think it's important to stand up for the truth and do my best to keep abreast of most news stories from reliable sources. With my education hat on, I think there's enormous work to be done in teaching children how to analyze sources- it's a reason the effective teaching of history remains hugely important. Governments need to do more to be open- it's much harder to have a conspiracy theory if you have clarity about what people are actually doing. If you come face to face with a person who believes in this stuff it can be hard not to be deriding or angry at them. If you can, discuss their ideas sensibly and try to calmly explain why you disagree with them- good luck.
This wasn't even what I had planned to publish today but I started dictating to my phone and this just fell out. It's a subject I find deeply fascinating and worrying at the same time. Thanks for reading, do let me know your thoughts and I'll be back with something completely different in a fortnight.
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