I’ve been thinking about all of the conspiracy theories, like 5G, Qanon, etc. These kinds of conspiracy theories are not new. With the advent of anything new causing social anxiety, new ones spring up.
They are not wrong that we have been lied to about a lot, but instead of discovering the actual lies, they just latch on to new ones. This works against their own interests, and against the working class to which they belong.
Way back about 10 years ago we were in a co-op where we would order bulk foods together and then meet once a month for the delivery. Members would need to help unload the truck and break down bulk foods, which we did in a church kitchen in town that provided a space. The time that they had people come in to warn us about the new utility boxes getting installed on your home to automatically transmit your usage back to the utility, we kind of stopped going after that. We had other reasons, but that was kind of the final straw.
People understand that we are being lied to by those at the top, but the lack of historical and scientific literacy in this country means that people latch on to the first thing that feeds their biases and fears without doing any kind of critical analysis to determine the credibility. This is a systemic issue, not an individual one, or else these conspiracy theories would not gain so many adherents.
Scientific and historic illiteracy in the US makes these people vulnerable to charlatans and shysters who have various motivations, but ultimately all of this works to the benefit of the ruling class, because it keeps the people from realizing the truth about them and banding together against them.
