Crank Magnetism is a phrase coined by the blogger Orac (who is actually oncologist David Gorski), who observed that believers in a given wacko theory tend to believe in others. Alex Kaplan at Media Matters for America find that the Anti-vax and QAnon forms of collective insanity are merging. Prominent anti-vaxxers go on QAnon podcasts, and speak at their rallies, and vice versa, and they are increasingly endorsing each other's theories.
In case you haven't been paying attention -- and why would you? -- QAnon theories have been evolving, but the core ideas are still there. The Public Religion Research Institute asked poll respondents three questions: “The government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation”; “There is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders”; and “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” They coded people who agreed with all three statements as believers. "Doubters" mostly disagreed, and "Rejecters" totally disagreed. Check this out:
By June of last year, 42% of vaccine refusers agreed that “The government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation,” and believed in the coming "storm." Nearly all of the rest weren't sure about that. While it is unclear what these two sets of beliefs have to do with each other, it is even less clear what they have to do with conservative ideology. But there you are. According to the same poll, 23% of Republicans are QAnon believers.
We are so screwed.
1 comment:
I explained this all, earlier. They are radically alienated from all traditional social authority because that authority (generally) has completely failed them for two generations. You may not consider yourself "authority" but to the majority you are such. This is true for everyone from the FRB to state health authorities; you ingest the same data and emanate the same ecosystem of plans, all pointing to one another as references. Sure, it may not be fair or right or wholly rational, but the CDC is seen as part of the same authority complex as the FRB, or the banks, or the employers who looted their retirement funds.
This may be the worst possible time to declare their revolt, but it's always like that. It happens at the worst time because it's the most strident.
Think of it as a heuristic. The leadership class has demonstrated it's complete unfitness to lead; now they (quite reasonably) won't trust anything from that sector.
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