The Great Derangement ~ Matt Taibbi (great book)

Janet D

New Member
Published 2008 so hardly "new", but the intro alone is worth a read. I've read the reviews, some Taibbi fans don't consider it one of his better works, but for a recovering CT like me? Priceless. Really interesting perspective on conspiracy theories in these times, specifically "9/11 Truth", and written sorta "gonzo journalism" style.

Link ~ http://booksellersunion.org/congo/b...on-at-the-Twilight-of-the-American-Empire.rtf

I was a good kid and bought the book so back to my reading. Would love to discuss this book with anyone that's read it.

JD
 
"But they weren’t tuning out in order to protest their powerlessness more effectively; they were tuning in to competing versions of purely escapist lunacy. On both the left and the right, huge chunks of the population were effecting nearly identical retreats into conspiratorial weirdness and Internet-fueled mysticism."

It's good work. Plus I dare any current conspiracy theorist to read the introduction.
 
oops! Link went bad. That's OK, because when people write books people should buy 'em. Strongly recommend this one for anyone looking at the mindset of the conspiracy theory movement in the US.
 
Links seems still good.

I though this was particularly relavant:

But then a funny thing happened: while on the road for my magazine in the subsequent months, traveling all across America, I began to notice what I quickly realized was a phenomenon directly related to the mess in Washington. There was a consequence, a flip side to the oligarchical rigged game of Washington politics: apparently recognizing that they’d been abandoned by their putative champions in Washington, the public was now, rightly it seemed, tuning out of the political mainstream.
But they weren’t tuning out in order to protest their powerlessness more effectively; they were tuning in to competing versions of purely escapist lunacy. On both the left and the right, huge chunks of the population were effecting nearly identical retreats into conspiratorial weirdness and Internet-fueled mysticism.

It's a problem of the decentralization of the media - it's very easy for people to become self-sufficient in terms of information and "news" that reinforces already held beliefs. They develop filters to ignore contradictory evidence, and seek out sources of information that confirm what they believe. Hence they get stuck.

The slow death of the mass media will eventually leave public education as the only hope for maintaining rationality in the world.
 
Oh! Thanks Mick. It's working for me again too. I have to have tech support (my roommate) fix up this recent version of windows on my computer.

The stat. in the book (in 2006 36% of the people in the US believed that either the US Gov let 9/11 happen or was behind it in some way) was daunting. It's a combination of so many factors (such as the fact the USG ignored threats and got caught with it's pants down on 9/11), and yup; the internet is a dangerous place for some of us. I THINK that in time many of us (people like me) will start to question our "news sources". I've found many "alt. news" sites to be just terrible for real news, but that took some time.

And of course I'm making the mistake I always do, thinking this particular book is some sort of revelation. Ha ha...oh well. Good reading for any struggling ex-CT, that's all I really know for sure.
 
Of course, as you emerged from the world of CTs, there was a whole new generation hurtling headlong into it. That's what worries me. I know lots of young people who get into this largely because their friends do. Most will simply grow out of it, but there's the increasing risk of getting stuck, what with the ease of isolating yourself within the internet.
 
As a former "truther" I can attest that I only went to web sites that mirrored my beliefs. All main stream news was considered corrupted by the PTB whose only funtion was to pull the wool over the general publics view. Looking back at how I cocooned myself from hearing any information that contradicted my conspiracy beliefs I now see how how shamefully deranged my views were. My change came when I started to doubt the Chemtrail belief thanks to your brillant Contrail Science site. When one chink of the armor of conspiracy was debunked most of the other beliefs quickly followed using the simple logic and polite reasoning that was shown on your site. For that I am eternally grateful to you Mick, for pulling me out of the dark rabbit hole of the segregated conspiracy culture.
It's heartening that there are some great writers like Taibbi and Jonathan Kay (Among the Truthers) who are now focusing on this hidden threat to our general culture from a movement of derangement and fear.
 
Of course, as you emerged from the world of CTs, there was a whole new generation hurtling headlong into it. That's what worries me. I know lots of young people who get into this largely because their friends do. Most will simply grow out of it, but there's the increasing risk of getting stuck, what with the ease of isolating yourself within the internet.

I hear you, Mick. We don't have much legitimate media in this country, and let's face it; there's so much genuine corruption in government these days. I just have to believe though that people are basically good. I don't believe in "evil" but recognize that greed is a very powerful motivator. I don't think there's nearly enough debunking going on, especially from those of us who got wise in the end. It's embarrassing, and we usually stay silent. Except for people like Steve and me, anyway, but it costs some of us a lot. But there are lots of "us" out here, and my hope is to encourage others to think for themselves. It's...ummm...heh...it's a mess, quite frankly. I just got deleted by two people on Facebook because my views went against some CT theory.
 
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