Lunatic Fringe
For those of you who expected something relating to Red Rider, here, but that isn’t what this post is about (sorry to Rigoli you… feel free to insert your own Tom Cochrane jokes here). No, this deals with the inordinate amount of time I spent talking to someone, whom I’ll refer to as Mr. B, about conspiracy theories during my recent time in California. As a fan of The X-Files, I enjoy the entertainment of a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person. However, if everything Mr. B claims to be true actually is, virtually every move the government makes is part of a much grander, far more sinister (and I don’t mean left-handed in this case), agenda. Let me see if I can recall and paraphrase a few of his musings…
Mainstream Media: Artful Misdirecting Corporate Lap Dogs
“Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one.” – A. J. Liebling
- or perhaps more well known –
“When you control the mail, you control… information.” – Newman
Mr. B’s take: We shouldn’t be arming ourselves with information from any of the mainstream media (AKA Corporate Media) as we are merely getting what they want us to know. Check out the top 20 media corporations at Who Owns The News?
Using alternative media sources, like Alex Jones’ Prison Planet or Alex Jones’ Info Wars, are your best (dare he say, only) chance at getting to the truth.
My take: There is a finite amount of programming hours and/or page space each day and the sad reality is that advertising dollars are the life-blood flowing through the media’s veins (corporate or alternative). Viewership, listenership, or readership is key – hence phrases like “If it bleeds, it leads” or “Sex sells”. It should go without saying then that responsible journalism, not sensationalism, should be the goal of every news outlet.
Is it possible that these alternative media sources have no agenda whatsoever? I highly doubt it.
Look! Up In The Sky! It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s a Chemtrail!
Mr. B’s take: Have you ever watched a plane traverse the sky and noticed the white trail it leaves behind? Those are contrails or vapor trails right? Condensation from the aircraft engine’s exhaust? Wrong! Those are chemtrails! So are these chemtrails a hoax or part of a geo-engineering plot to combat global warming? Or is it being used as a method to control the population by slowly poisoning society (if you have the time and desire, check out the video they include entitled “Geoengineering and Eugenics”)?
My take: I don’t have enough information to form an opinion one way or another here. In fact, I’m left with more questions than answers. How large of a study has been done on the amounts of chemicals allegedly deposited in the sky? Are there other possible variables that have or could lead to the ill-effects they note? Why would the US Government openly participate in a program that might be construed as poisoning its own population? If this has been going on (at least as far as the general public knows) since 1996, and the goal was to release particles to combat global warming by reflecting harmful rays back into space, then why has the average temperature increased?
H1N1: Live Virus Or Innocuous Letters And Numbers?
Mr. B’s take: Don’t allow your children or yourself to undergo the H1N1 vaccination. The annual flu shot – or pandemic virus du jour shot – you may receive from your employer or health care provider typically carries dead or inactivated organisms or purified products derived from the virus you’re being inoculated against. GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, however, are spreading a live virus. Will these methods cause a pandemic rather than prevent it? Is the US Government once again attempting another form of eugenics? Is this simply a means to an end to setup FEMA camps and eventually corral the American people under Marshall Law?
My take: Again, I have a difficult time believing that the government would participate in another such “hiding in plain sight” tactic. Perhaps that merely brands me as naive and one who will fall prey first. Who knows? Fear can work on both sides of this “pandemic” scare. Infowars says these vaccinations contain thimerosal and/or squalene (see the Infowars link above) and the CDC claims it doesn’t (unless there are two versions – one for pregnant women and one for everyone else).
There are many other observations Mr. B and I discussed ad nauseum and, if one were to believe them all true, then this world is a frightening, frightening place. Here’s my biggest problem with conspiracy theorists: trust. What makes you feel you can trust anyone? Can you trust your government? Family? Significant other? Friends? Neighbors? Co-workers? Pets? Yourself? I’m not saying that any of these groups or individuals aren’t capable of breaking your trust, but don’t you have to trust someone or something? What’s the point of living if you’re only doing so by constantly looking over your shoulder in fear? That’s not living. Apply some critical thinking and follow the wisdom of Andy Dufresne: Get busy living or get busy dying.