Are the conspiracy promoters radicalizing people?

[mrfintoil]

I read that article the other day @Critical Thinker, and this guy clearly follows one specific conspiracy thinker stereotype. A mixture of social misfit, bad self-esteem and grim perception of the future. As I understand from the article, the guy is a white supremacist, but the big question is always which of all of these comes first. As pointed out in the article:

it is also important to remember that while some of those violent actors may struggle with mental health instability, the ideology of these movements can make everyday people spin deeper and deeper into the fear, scapegoating, and conspiracy theories to the point of violence.

It is certainly possible for an individual to learn and accept conspiracy theories as truth, loose hope for the future, and alienate his or herself from society, friends and family. But I believe the process almost always originates with low self-esteem, and the ego kick of "knowing the truth" and become "special" is appeals to these individuals. But most of these believers will feel frustrated when "no one gets it". They'll struggle to convince others. When they fail, they feel rejected and will subsequently isolate themselves.

The isolation becomes a problem, because it limits the individual's exposure to deviating ideas, contributing to further isolation. It becomes like a sect.

The problem then comes from the fact that the perceived problem doesn't actually exist. Delusions don't have solutions. So the individual will feel frustrated when there no solution is in sight. This produces stress, which together with a lost hope might cause a mental breakdown in the end. This brings suicidal thoughts, and irrational anger.

But I think it takes a life-long feeling of worthlessness and failure to push someone to kill completely innocent people, especially children. I think that kind of dark fantasies are created as a way for such individuals to make a name for themselves in the end. In their world conventional suicide would be the the ultimate proof of failure, so this kind of mad killing spree is one last desperate effort to become remembered. And to get revenge on society.

 

[Hama Neggs]

Premise: CT is against corruption.

That premise makes no sense. Conspiracy theories aren't "against" something, per se'.

 

[NoParty]

It is certainly possible for an individual to learn and accept conspiracy theories as truth, loose hope for the future, and alienate his or herself from society, friends and family. But I believe the process almost always originates with low self-esteem, and the ego kick of "knowing the truth" and become "special" is appeals to these individuals. But most of these believers will feel frustrated when "no one gets it". They'll struggle to convince others. When they fail, they feel rejected and will subsequently isolate themselves.

The isolation becomes a problem, because it limits the individual's exposure to deviating ideas, contributing to further isolation. It becomes like a sect.

The problem then comes from the fact that the perceived problem doesn't actually exist. Delusions don't have solutions. So the individual will feel frustrated when there no solution is in sight. This produces stress, which together with a lost hope might cause a mental breakdown in the end. This brings suicidal thoughts, and irrational anger.

But I think it takes a life-long feeling of worthlessness and failure to push someone to kill completely innocent people, especially children. I think that kind of dark fantasies are created as a way for such individuals to make a name for themselves in the end. In their world conventional suicide would be the the ultimate proof of failure, so this kind of mad killing spree is one last desperate effort to become remembered. And to get revenge on society.

I think that a lot of this is, sadly, on target.

I do question, however, the part about "...it takes a life-long feeling of worthlessness and failure to push someone to kill completely innocent people..." because I think that a person can go from a decent, fairly normal life,
to a period of a couple of really rough years, where nothing seems to go their way, and things appear hopeless to them...
and in that case, the fact that their life was so much better not that long ago, makes their relatively recent decline
even starker and more dramatic...

 

[derwoodii]

http://yournewswire.com/david-camer...racy-theorists-are-just-as-dangerous-as-isis/

In his speech to the U.N General Assembly, David Cameron said that "non-violent extremism" is just as dangerous as terrorism and must be eradicated using all means at the government's disposal.

He referenced 9/11 and 7/7 Truthers as examples of the type of extremism that must be dealt in a similar fashion to ISIS

Is Cameron officially announcing a the plan to use a full assault on dissenting views?




skip to 4.48 for the claimed statement gee the lip-sync way out it must been dubbed will say CT,er

 

[derwoodii]

more silliness from same source so i wouldn't waste to much time on this link and vid claiming it alternative media you may find it more way way out there media

Conspiracy theorists are often grouped alongside 'domestic terrorists',
according to governments and media organisations.This video below looks at government paid 'trolls', who's purpose is to disrupt and discredit alternative media research and attack conspiracy theories.

thou this is example as OP claims more taken by CT may be heading to

http://yournewswire.com/gunshots-fired-at-nsa-headquarters/

U.S. Park Police are investigating a report of shots fired near the National Security Agency's headquarters Tuesday evening.A spokesperson for the police said the NSA is investigating damage to one of its buildings that appeared to be from gunshots. Shots Fired at D.C. Ticket Writer While on the Job

 

[Critical Thinker]

Recently the antimedia, was once again brought to my attention and I decided to have a closer look. When I looked at their Facebook page I was aghast that this website has over a million likes, considering the overtly anti-government theme throughout and the marked lack of journalistic integrity (truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity). Today these were the headlines on their home page.

The owner and main writer for the website, Nick Bernabe, is also the social media director of March Against Monsanto, which he notably fails to mention on his anti-media website when he wrote his hit pieces against Monsanto. Whether the posts are about GMOs, Fluoride, 9/11, Geoengineering, FEMA, etc... the site seems to take pains not to sound like a full blown Conspiracy promotion website, it uses the 'just asking questions' approach, without quite crossing the line into shouting "It's a Conspiracy, be afraid!". An example of this from their 'about' page.

Let's gain some perspective. Mainstream media is 90% owned by six very large corporations. These very corporations possess power over a number of businesses in a plethora of industries. Suspiciously enough, these industries range from the production of food, energy, and drugs and extend to prisons, police, and military contracting.

Although they try to lay claim to the mantle of journalism, the website appears to be about connecting the dots by cherry picking other news outlets stories and filling in the blanks to fit their agenda... not bothering to issue a retraction/correction after their target, Kevin Folta, had responded to their accusations.

I find it concerning that there are over a million people get information from a website that poses as News media, which is intent of creating doubt and fear.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center, almost half of terrorist incidents in the US from 2009 - 2015 were carried out by persons motivated by anti-government sentiment.

 

[NotQualified]

You still think ISIS is a boogeyman and not a CIA proxy army used to Balkanize the world and start World War 3. What's it like to live in a fairy tale?

CTers can't stop being wordy even for the sake of comedy.

My whole family has always been anti-gov. but my brother certainly said bolder things after reading about CTs online. One of my favorites: "People in positions of power are always pedophiles because power attracts sick people."

 

[benben]

I come from a city where this happened last year

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Moncton_shootings

First homicide in 4 years in this city ... anyhoo, during the manhunt, I spoke to people who knew him and this wiki describes him very well (especially the anti gov/ conspiracy theory part) He had 2 FB accounts: the first, normal. The other was nothing but 2nd amendment, gun rights and everything coming out of Infowars and PrisonPlanet, along with lots and lots of pics oh himself shooting guns (which I actually saw, not as described by another)

When this broke out, I was with the son of an RCMP officer so we knew what was going on and where, and even got ourselves inside the perimeter ... all to say I was there, in the neighborhood and talking to some of his friends and relatives even (was pretty crazy actually) so I'm not posting on hearsay

Anyways, this thread is exactly about guys like him. My "chemmie" friend that I post about sometimes, has transformed from who he was, in 18 months. At least this one's not a gun nut.

 

[Auldy]

An example of this from their 'about' page.

Let's gain some perspective. Mainstream media is 90% owned by six very large corporations. These very corporations possess power over a number of businesses in a plethora of industries. Suspiciously enough, these industries range from the production of food, energy, and drugs and extend to prisons, police, and military contracting.

But then, anti-media is in the clothing industry (15% of sale right now!)....

 

[Azylus]

I think this will be the right thread for this(first post here).

Last week I saw a YouTube conspiracy theorist, Dahboo7, post a video about a man who was arrested after firing a slingshot at the White House. For those who aren't familiar, Dahboo7 basically posts several videos a day reporting news and trying to tie it in to various conspiracy theories.



What concerned me about this video in particular was at the end, around 4:35, when he talks about how any one person who tries to mess with the White House is going to go to jail. He then says that "your power is in your numbers and you need to learn how use them, quickly". Which in my opinion at least, sounds like he's suggesting people group up to make coordinated attacks on the White House. This seems like it almost passes radicalizing people against the government and crosses into encouraging domestic terrorism. Am I overreacting to this?

 

[Pigeonkak]

CTers can't stop being wordy even for the sake of comedy."

When you think too highly of your opinion, you may express it in abundance expecting it to defend itself (sans facts) inherently.

Also, there seems to be this unspoken awareness of how inadequate the evidence for so many conspiracies is and an active effort to overwhelm counter arguements with ad hominems, distracting images and highly emotive wording.

 

[Critical Thinker]

National Post article with mother turned activist, Christianne Boudreau

The path to extremism: The story of how one young man from Calgary ended up dead in Syria

The mother of of Damian Boudreau relates:

His mother, Christianne Boudreau, noticed the change as well. The year before her son left, he became secretive and argumentative. He peddled 9/11 conspiracy theories and said the media weren't telling the truth about what was happening to Muslims around the world. "He would get pretty worked up about it and conversations could get pretty heated," she said.

 

[Whitebeard]

Am I overreacting to this?

I don't think so, but remember if we and the rest of the world can watch his vids, so can the worlds security forces, and if a large mob did show up at the Whitehouse with sling shots acting like he seams to want them to those same law agencies will know exactly where to go.

In the Uk we had a series of riots back in 2011, and those 'co-coordinating' the unrest via social media were tracked down, prosecuted and often received harsher sentences than the rioters themselves. Incitement is a serious matter.

 

[Mick West]

y0d4's discussion split to:
https://www.metabunk.org/y0d4s-thoughts-on-conspiracy-theory-and-propaganda.t7017/

 

[Critical Thinker]

A story that was just covered in the news showing that the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, was citing a false conspiracy theory found on Sputnik news.

Newsweek article

At a rally in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Trump spoke while holding a document in his hand. He told the assembled crowd that it was an email from Blumenthal, whom he called "sleazy Sidney."

"This just came out a little while ago,'' Trump said. "I have to tell you this." And then he read the words from my article.

"He's now admitting they could have done something about Benghazi,'' Trump said, dropping the document to the floor. "This just came out a little while ago."

The crowd booed and chanted, "Lock her up!"

This is not funny. It is terrifying. The Russians engage in a sloppy disinformation effort and, before the day is out, the Republican nominee for president is standing on a stage reciting the manufactured story as truth. How did this happen? Who in the Trump campaign was feeding him falsehoods straight from the Kremlin? (The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)

Story in NYMag http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...ng-about-russia-repeats-their-propaganda.html

Trump Knows 'Nothing About Russia,' He Just Repeats Their Propaganda
By Margaret Hartmann "But they always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia. I know – I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia."

It's unclear if Trump was suggesting that the emails were fake, or that the hack was an inside job. (U.S. intelligence officials say Russia is behind the hack, and Trump has been briefed on that point.) Regardless, just a day after questioning the legitimacy of the Democratic emails released by WikiLeaks, Trump was reading one of them at a rally in Pennsylvania.

To be fair, few right-wingers could resist this particular email, in which longtime Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal told John Podesta, her campaign chair, that the attack in Benghazi was "almost certainly preventable."

But Trump should have gone with his gut instinct, because it turns out the email was a complete fabrication put forth by Sputnik.

With the recent election and the news that 'U.S. formally accuses Russian hackers of political cyber attacks' and that both RT and Sputnik 'news' agencies (both propaganda tools of the Russian government) are often repeated as sources on many of the anti US government 'alternative news' websites that push conspiracy theories (ie... Infowars & the anti-media)

It appears that the alternative media that deal in pushing anti-government conspiracy theories, are either willing or unwitting tools of the Russian government's efforts to create distrust in the US government.

Washington Post Link

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are investigating what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said.

• The Anti-Media(link): Nick Bernabe's "alternative media" site, flipflopping between Tea Party-style and Indymedia UK-style ideas. Though it tries not to be as obvious as Infowars (emphasis on tries), this self-professed ode to "grass-roots journalism" has quite a lot of hatred for Monsanto and the mainstream media while linking to other similarly "alternative" pages, including a Truther news site

 

[Critical Thinker]

NBC News Link to full story

Bill Clinton 'Rape' Hecklers Interrupt Obama, Hillary After Infowars Offer
by ALASTAIR JAMIESON and FRANK THORP V

Multiple hecklers shouting "Bill Clinton is a rapist" interrupted President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at separate rallies after a pro-Trump radio host offered a cash reward to anyone carrying out such a stunt.

Three separate protesters disrupted Hillary Clinton's election campaign rally with Al Gore in Miami, while three others — including two wearing "Bill Clinton rapist" T-shirts — cut into Obama as he addressed a crowd in North Carolina.

The Clinton campaign linked the incidents to Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and right-wing radio host who founded the Infowars website.

Jones, who has prayed for Donald Trump on his show, on Friday offered $1,000 to supporters pictured on television for at least five seconds wearing a "Bill Clinton rape" t-shirt and $5,000 to anyone who can be heard shouting "Bill Clinton is a rapist" while wearing such a garment.

Jones, who believes the Sandy Hook shootings were a hoax, also says Obama and Hillary Clinton are demons who smell like sulfur.

 

[Greylandra]

So, in a

saw this article the other day. its long and I don't know which parts to quote. Newsweek: basically the effect of conspiracy theories.http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/23/plots-destroy-america-251123.html?piano_d=1

Jason desperation and distrust in the establishment, I believe, is what inspires radicalism. no? So anything (ie CTs) that FEED this desperation and distrust, would be bad.

Bad for whom? The establishment, no doubt, and it's fans. Since we're talking in terms of "bad", don't "bad" actions have laws against them? Is it your suggestion that opinion and thought should fall under law? Conspiracy theorists were simply born here. It is the prerogative ,par excellence, of the individual to hold whatever thoughts and opinions he'd like. You, nor the state, or anyone else for that matter, have such a monopoly on facts to such an extent to claim any orthodoxy of opinion.

 

[Mick West]

You, nor the state, or anyone else for that matter, have such a monopoly on facts to such an extent to claim any orthodoxy of opinion.

Unorthodox opinions are fine, radicalism as a political philosophy is fine. The problem is violent radicalism, and even that wouldn't be entirely bad if it were focussed on overthrowing a brutal oppressive dictatorship. It's almost (but generally not quite) understandable if it's focussed on fixing economic inequity.

No, the problem with conspiracy theories is irrational radicalism into violent extremism. I'm sure you can think of many examples. Timothy McVeigh, Bin Laden, ISIS, Aum Shinrikyo, the JDL, the rebounding forms of the KKK and the extreme right.

Rational distrust of the establishment is fine, in fact it's encouraged. It's the irrational distrust that's a problem. The automatic rejection of science and government in favor of entirely baseless alternative theories, the mindless embracing of anything that contradicts the "official", possibly leading to support for violence against the perceived "norm" for no good reason, that's a problem. And that's one reason why we debunk.

 

[Critical Thinker]

In the current election cycle it has become increasingly obvious how Russia has been actively working to spread distrust and discontent in the United States towards the Democratic process. I previously have shown that many of the conspiracy promotion websites rely on Russian Propaganda outlets like RT and Sputnik for material that regularly employ lies and distortions to promote anger, distrust and discontent. There have been numerous News stories of how the Putin regime has employed 'troll farms' to spread pro-Russia and anti-America propaganda.

NYTimes link

The Agency
From a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg, Russia,
an army of well-paid "trolls" has tried to wreak havoc all
around the Internet — and in real-life American communities.

the same Twitter accounts used to spread the Columbian Chemicals hoax began to post about an outbreak of Ebola in Atlanta. The campaign followed the same pattern of fake news reports and videos, this time under the hashtag #EbolaInAtlanta, which briefly trended in Atlanta. Again, the attention to detail was remarkable, suggesting a tremendous amount of effort. A YouTube video showed a team of hazmat-suited medical workers transporting a victim from the airport. Beyoncé's recent single "7/11" played in the background, an apparent attempt to establish the video's contemporaneity. A truck in the parking lot sported the logo of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

On the same day as the Ebola hoax, a totally different group of accounts began spreading a rumor that an unarmed black woman had been shot to death by police. They all used the hashtag #shockingmurderinatlanta. Here again, the hoax seemed designed to piggyback on real public anxiety; that summer and fall were marked by protests over the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. In this case, a blurry video purports to show the shooting, as an onlooker narrates.

Atlantic Council Story Link

The Kremlin's main propaganda outlets in the US are the television station RT—formerly Russia Today—and the radio and online outlet Sputnik. Both are headed by Kremlin loyalists and closely mirror Russia's foreign policy. While their effect on the presidential race is likely to be minimal, their reporting is useful for the insight it provides into the Kremlin's intentions.

That reporting focuses on specifically attacking US Presidential Democratic Candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the general nature of US democracy . As such, it appears that the Kremlin is less interested in promoting Trump than promoting discontent.

 

[tadaaa]

@ critical thinker


I am not sure if you are aware of a UK (BBC) documentary film maker called Adam Curtis - recently relevant because he has just released a new documentary on BBC iPlayer called "Hypernormalisation"

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...s-donald-trump-documentary-hypernormalisation


but he has historically made some incredibly thought provoking documentaries - the one on Afghanistan and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is called "Bitter Lake" and is fantastic


Anyone interested in him wiki is a good place to start


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curtis


especially the "Century of the Self" and "The Power of nightmares" and off course "Bitter Lake"


anyway he has done short documentary on Putin and the Russian manipulation of the media which segways into how utterly confused the world seems, ultimately to where you have a large section of poor voters of America voting in droves for a narcissistic billionaire, made rich through the simple act of inheritance and a sort of state welfare for the billionaire class


the central shtick is that the "state" media in Russia have a vested interest in sowing confusion about what is and isn't the truth that way the state can exercise true control



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcy8uLjRHPM

 

[Critical Thinker]

NYTimes Story Link

In the years after 9/11, various military colleges and antiterrorism groups burned off many grants and federal dollars on workshops trying to divine the steps of radicalization. Probably the most well known theory is the Georgetown University psychology professor Fathali M. Moghaddam's
metaphor of radicalization as "a narrowing staircase leading to the terrorist act at the top of a building." The ground floor is heavily populated by those who perceive some form of injustice or deprivation. Those who wish to do something about it climb to the first floor. The second floor, not as populated, accommodates those who, having found no solutions to their problems, displace their aggression on some enemy. The third floor harbors those fewer people who join a group facilitating a kind of moral engagement before they ascend to the fourth floor, where "recruitment to terrorist organizations takes place." Then, finally, the fifth floor, where they are trained to "sidestep inhibitory mechanisms" and sent to kill. "As individuals climb the staircase," Moghaddam writes, "they see fewer and fewer choices, until the only possible outcome is the destruction of others, or oneself, or both."

In the radicalization of Poplawski, "research shows that our discourse provides the environment that can enable terrorism," Spaaij said. "He had embraced this conspiracy theory that Obama would take away his right to bear arms." Spaaij cited conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, who promotes the idea that FEMA camps are being built as concentration camps for dissidents and the federal government is hatching plans to seize people's guns, as spreading the kind of degraded public discourse that lays the groundwork for action. Then, when violence occurs, "they can distance themselves and say that you cannot connect that with us because we don't advocate violence."

 

[Critical Thinker]

Found this on the War on the Rocks website in an article analyzing Russia's operations to American Democracy: HOW RUSSIA IS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY

Finally, wide-ranging conspiracy theories promote fear of global calamity while questioning the expertise of anyone who might calm those fears. Russian propaganda operations since 2014 have stoked fears of martial law in the United States, for instance, by promoting chemtrails and Jade Helm conspiracy theories. More recently, Moscow turned to stoking fears of nuclear war between the United States and Russia.

The Confluence of Information and Cyberspace

Russian active measures use a blend of overt and covert channels to distribute political, financial, social, and calamitous messages (see above). During the Soviet era, "white" active measures were overt information outlets directly attributable to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Today, RT and Sputnik push Kremlin-approved English-language news on television and the Internet. These outlets broadcast a mix of true information (the vast majority of content), manipulated or skewed stories, and strategically chosen falsehoods. RT's slogan, "Question More," aptly fits their reporting style — seeding ideas of conspiracy or wrongdoing without actually proving anything.

This "white" content provides ammunition for "gray" measures, which employ less overt outlets controlled by Russia, as well as so-called useful idiots that regurgitate Russian themes and "facts" without necessarily taking direction from Russia or collaborating in a fully informed manner.

During the Cold War, gray measures used semi-covert Communist parties, friendship societies, and non-governmental organizations to engage in party-to-party and people-to-people campaigns. Today, gray measures on social media include conspiracy websites, data dump websites, and seemingly credible news aggregators that amplify disinformation and misinformation.

Conspiracy sites include outlets such as InfoWars and Zero Hedge, along with a host of lesser-known sites that repeat and repackage the same basic content for both right- and left-wing consumers.

Regarding War on the Rocks, from the about page

War on the Rocks is a platform for analysis, commentary, debate and multimedia content on foreign policy and national security issues through a realist lens. It features articles and podcasts produced by an array of writers with deep experience in these matters: top notch scholars who study war, those who have served or worked in war zones, and more than a few who have done it all.

Looking further into their reputation, from Media Bias/Fact Check

 

[derwoodii]

very sad story unfolded early this year in my town and the accused is now claiming the below was the cause and not his own actions... i suspect these ideas could be traced back to his computer history & tipping the usual CT sites and promoters played a hand in his mental down fall.


http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/d...-before-bourke-st-deaths-20170526-gwdnru.html

Alleged Bourke Street killer Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas has told a court the Illuminati were to blame for the fatal attack, claimed he was privy to the secrets of the Freemasons and insisted that the government was controlling his life.

 

[Birkenhead]

in germany there's an awkwardly growing movement called "reichsburger" (citizen of the reich), people who believe in the weird ct/claim that due to lacking or incorrect contracts (plus other paperwork) filed by the allies after the end of world war II, the german reich never really stopped to exist, while today's "bundesrepublik deutschland" is non-existing, or, at least, is an interim solution. based on this proclaimed situation, the "reichsburger" refuse any laws made by the german federal republic. most commonly they will not pay taxes, they use selfmade licence plates, rise own banners in their gardens or even found own microstates within their properties. for years, officials and the public regarded these people as harmless weirdos, but as their numbers grew significally and relations to right-wing extremists and esoteric cults became obvious, the police eventually intervened. several raids were done this year, which revealed that almost all "reichsburger" had stockpiled weapons, firearms and explosives in their homes, one fella even shot at the police, leaving one officer dead.

for me, this is a "good" example how a formerly "funny" movement (think of the conche republic at the florida keys) became a serious thread, with members of the idea quickly radicalzing and becoming terrorists. let's hope the germans don't have their own waco disaster one day.

if you guys are interested in this crazy story (and perhaps some debunking links regarding the original claim) i'd be happy to do some further research.

 

[Hevach]

Very much the same as a particular strain of American sovereign citizen, who say the legitimate US government ceased to exist at some point, either when the capital moved to DC or when the government was incorporated.

The simple answer is, even if that's true, the reich ceased to exist when it's government was dissolved, and the current one is legitimate at the least because of effective occupation, there is no viable competitor to question it.

Just because somebody may have filled out some form wrong doesn't mean the reich springs back to power, because you don't actually need to file anything to start a government, and nobody exists to file with. Except the government itself, which makes the rules for filing that stuff and can rescind the requirement or allow retroactive filing or assume it was filed regardless or even just put a billion year deadline on it

 

[McGurnicle]

in germany there's an awkwardly growing movement called "reichsburger" (citizen of the reich), people who believe in the weird ct/claim that due to lacking or incorrect contracts (plus other paperwork) filed by the allies after the end of world war II, the german reich never really stopped to exist, while today's "bundesrepublik deutschland" is non-existing, or, at least, is an interim solution.

It's weird how people try to negate fictions by reifying more convenient fictions. In my view the only truth is politics.

 

[McGurnicle]

Are the conspiracy promoters radicalizing people against Government?

Yes. I'd say it's a problem, but then again just about everything is problematic. I wouldn't want debunkers to rule the world either. Nothing really gets it, reality is complex.

 

[Critical Thinker]

From The New York Times: "A Hunt for Ways to Combat Online Radicalization"

The article looks at Online Radicalization, how they recruit Online and how Government and Tech companies seek to thwart them. It shows similarities to the mindset of many of those individuals that go down the 'rabbit hole' of belief in conspiracies; who have a strong distrust in the Mainstream Media, are resistant to new information, and the brief window of time in which they might be dissuaded from going full blown Conspiracy Theorist.

Law enforcement officials, technology companies and lawmakers have long tried to limit what they call the "radicalization" of young people over the internet.

The term has often been used to describe a specific kind of radicalization — that of young Muslim men who are inspired to take violent action by the online messages of Islamist groups like the Islamic State. But as it turns out, it isn't just violent jihadists who benefit from the internet's power to radicalize young people from afar.

White supremacists are just as adept at it

Engage directly with potential recruits.

If tech companies are finally taking action to prevent radicalization, is it the right kind of action? Extremism researchers said that blocking certain content may work to temporarily disrupt groups, but may eventually drive them further underground, far from the reach of potential saviors.

A more lasting plan involves directly intervening in the process of radicalization. Consider The Redirect Method, an anti-extremism project created by Jigsaw, a think tank founded by Google. The plan began with intensive field research. After interviews with many former jihadists, white supremacists and other violent extremists, Jigsaw discovered several important personality traits that may abet radicalization.

One factor is a skepticism of mainstream media. Whether on the far right or ISIS, people who are susceptible to extremist ideologies tend to dismiss outlets like The New York Times or the BBC, and they often go in search of alternative theories online.

Another key issue is timing. There's a brief window between initial interest in an extremist ideology and a decision to join the cause — and after recruits make that decision, they are often beyond the reach of outsiders. For instance, Jigsaw found that when jihadists began planning their trips to Syria to join ISIS, they had fallen too far down the rabbit hole and dismissed any new information presented to them.

 

[Mick West]

Another key issue is timing. There's a brief window between initial interest in an extremist ideology and a decision to join the cause — and after recruits make that decision, they are often beyond the reach of outsiders. For instance, Jigsaw found that when jihadists began planning their trips to Syria to join ISIS, they had fallen too far down the rabbit hole and dismissed any new information presented to them.

Prevention is better than a cure, and probably a lot easier. It's also hard to measure directly.

Jigsaw might want to think about people falling down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole as a path towards extremism. Once you've stopped listening to reason in general then it's easy to get sucked into something else. A lot of the 9/11 truthers for example end up with a belief that Israel (or just "the Jews") were responsible for the attacks, which naturally leads to anti-semitism, and towards some kind of white supremacy (or maybe Arab supremacy).

Even flat-earhterism, ridiculous though it is, has a large segment of anti-semitism. Eric Dubay, for example seems to think it's all a Jewish conspiracy and that Hitler was a good guy fighting against the "globe-heads".

 

[Birkenhead]

as a father of two who's working for medical institutions regularly, one topic really drives me mad: esoteric medicine as an (the only!) alternative to conservative medical therapies (especially for children). these people are radical per definition. and their numbers are growing due to the widespread share of awkward ideas (like ryke geerd hamer's 'germanic new medicine') on facebook and the likes. behind this lies a deep distrust in goverment's official healthcare and 'big pharma'.

 

[Critical Thinker]

From Vice.com Chemtrails conspiracy theorists are sending death threats to climate scientists
By Hilary Beaumont Nov 22, 2017

A new report by Harvard researchers published in the journal Nature has found that a whopping 60 percent of online posts about solar geo-engineering are conspiracy theories about chemtrails. And scientists are even receiving death threats from chemtrail believers.

"You're a part of this mass conspiracy killing life on Earth as we know it"

"You're a part of this mass conspiracy killing life on Earth as we know it," one of the report's authors Gernot Wagner told VICE News, quoting some of the hate mail he has received.

Searching the term "chemtrail" yields photo after photo of white streaks in the sky. These streaks are actually contrails — the condensation left by planes as they zoom through the sky. But chemtrail conspiracy theorists believe the planes are spraying chemicals for weather control, or even mind control.

Alex Jones of InfoWars, who does not believe in human-caused global warming, asserts that chemtrails are part of a government program in which chemicals are secretly added to jet fuel.

"I've been talking about this forever," he exclaimed in a recent video about chemtrails, global warming and geo-engineering. "There is an entire atmospheric terraforming geo-engineering manipulation. They don't call it chemtrails. And of course the CIA director admitted they have this huge program."

In another recent video Jones says, "There is manipulation of the weather. It's mainstream news, and the media always picks it up and says I'm crazy. It's on the Weather Channel that there are secret programs. It's just so secret we don't know the details."

Chemtrails are not real. They have been widely debunked, Wagner's paper states, but 2016 survey data shows between 30 and 40 percent of the general U.S. public believes in them.

The Harvard report used an algorithm to analyze a decade of social media posts about solar geo-engineering between 2008 and 2017, mostly on Twitter, to see how many were conspiracy theories and how many were scientific. The majority — 60 percent — were conspiracy theories.

Some of the same people who believe in chemtrails are also tweeting about Alex Jones and InfoWars, Wagner told VICE News. Anonymity online helps spread these ideas, he says.

Wagner says he has received "plenty of emails" accusing him of being a mass murderer. His colleagues have received them, too.

"It is a pretty frustrating situation to be in"

In one of his recent chemtrail videos, Jones said scientists can "kill anybody they want" under "research provisions," which could explain some of the threats Wagner and his colleagues have faced.