Black helicopters will arrive and bring the US under the control of the United Nations. Water condensation trails contain biological and chemical agents sprayed on the population to lower fertility, give them cancer and make them compliant. International elites control governments, industry and media. These include Jewish people, and NGOs such as The World Economic Forum. Some believe that the United Nations plans to create a world government. Some even believe that the current Voice to Parliament being voted on in the referendum is funded by the United Nations. The World Health Organisation, I’m not sure, but apparently, is scheming to take over world health policy.
Children are being sodomised in secret underground tunnels. The war in Ukraine is totally scripted. The moon landing was a hoax. 9/11 wasn’t a terrorist attack it was just a bunch of actors. Over 12 million Americans believe interstellar lizards in people suits rule the US. David Icke has maintained that the Queen (now deceased) is a blood-drinking, shape- shifting alien.
These are just some of the key theses of popular conspiracy theories. I guess if you believe them you don’t call them conspiracies, you call them ‘truth’. I’ve always struggled to understand how seemingly rational people can make such a bold foray into what, to me, seems illogical and bizarre. I sometimes think that many of these beliefs have a kind of contagion that is akin to a mass population mental health episode. Like a florid, shared paranoid delusion. A cult without a compound. I guess in a confusing world, conspiracy theories offer simple, closed solutions to vulnerable, scared people. Or is there more?
It’s good to be suss. You’re stupid if you’re not. Governments and corporations have shown throughout history that when there is money and power involved they can’t always be trusted. Having anti-government spidey-senses is actually a good thing. But there is a tipping point. How do we make the leap from rational, prudent paranoia to wild, technicolour conspiracy?
Conspiracy theories flourish where there is a lack of trust in politicians. And right now, I guess you could say there is a considerable amount of cynicism when it comes to our politicians and the broken system they use to enact their capitalist-flavoured democracy.
Maybe that’s why on the rocky road to oligarchy we are literally losing our minds.
New psychological research published by the American Psychological Association purports that conspiracy theorists are not all likely to be simple-minded, mentally unwell folks – a portrait routinely painted in popular culture. Instead ‘many turn to conspiracy theories to fulfil deprived motivational needs to make sense of distress and impairment.’ They tracked personality traits of conspiracists and found them to be people who had strong trust in their own intuition, combined with a feeling of superiority and antagonism towards others.
The research found that people used conspiracy theories to feel safe in their environment and to feel like the community they identify with is superior to others. Hmm, I’ve heard this before. Fundamentalist religion! The use of irrational and illogical belief systems to make sense of the world has been around since we came out of the caves and looked at the stars and wondered, how did we get here, what does it all mean and is Olaf really a blood-drinking, alien lizard?
To me, conspiracy has always been in plain sight. We accept a capitalist system that enshrines and protects wealth accumulation for few and the despair and struggle of the rest. We create a democracy that ensures those in despair and struggle support the very ideology that shuts them out. There are no lizards, no aliens, no chemicals being sprayed, no actors jumping out of buildings. Just us. And them. It’s called politics. And when corporations are allowed to fund lobbyists and make big donations, the circle of corruption is complete.
But maybe…
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
