For people keeping score at home, the conspiracy theorists were right about the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic beginning at a lab in Wuhan, China. Also, they were right about Joe Biden being a senile old puppet whose administration was run by shadowy behind-the-scenes Democrat party operatives. They were wrong about “financial advisor” and weirdo male socialite Jeffery Epstein being at the center of a worldwide pedophilia ring that had the blackmail goods on every rich and famous person alive. The jury is still out when it comes to Bigfoot, UFOs and the Earth being flat.
Conspiracy theory mania is certainly not a new phenomenon. America’s most famously debated case is of course the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas in 1963. The story goes, or so we are told, that former US Marine and communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting the President as he and his wife were making a public appearance. Oswald himself was then later shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby. The idea that Ruby was motivated only by love for the President and anger at his assassin, rather than as some element of a larger conspiracy focused on silencing Oswald, has never quite passed the smell test for many Americans.
At that time in American history though, trust in public institutions was at levels the modern American could hardly imagine. It is always equal parts quaint and nostalgic and sad to watch documentaries about Vietnam or Watergate and hear over and over “I know this sounds silly to people nowadays, but we just didn’t think our government would lie to us.” Now, the expectation is always that they are lying to us.
The Information age, especially with platforms like YouTube, pushed the distribution of claims of cover-ups and secret plots to levels that would have never been possible before. “Bush did 9-11” became a meme and rallying cry for all sorts of terminally online types, despite a shocking lack of evidence that would lead a reasonable person to even suspect that. (Trust me, I watched all those videos so you don’t have to. They are lying, Bush did not do 9-11.)
Most of this stuff has always been semi-underground. September 11th conspiracies have been widely circulated on social media, but are not discussed on mainstream television news. For a while between Kennedy and Covid, a “conspiracy theorist” was a friend or an uncle that shared weird videos on their Facebook page and seemed a little cooky, but was not taken seriously either for good or for ill. They were strange but harmless.
Then, in 2020, for some reason that remains a mystery, the entire world decided to go insane all at once. There was a time during that spring where if you look back now, Infowars was telling you the truth at a rate at least as impressive as that of CNN. The clear lies about virus origins, masks, vaccines, and the political implications of the lockdowns started to become more widely questioned and as a response establishment media and politicians collaborated to double down. Things people saw with their own eyes were actually “misinformation.” The more the “conspiracy theorists” seemed to be on to something, the more the establishment attacked them, feeding into the narrative that our politicians and news media were all in on the same scam.
So now, five years later, we are living in a world where trust is at an all-time low and the conspiracy theory mindset is mainstream. For many Americans, their favorite podcast or YouTube channel is their main source of information. For some, this is a triumphant moment. Finally, the legacy press and all their bias and lies have been laid low. There is perhaps need for caution now though, as we are reminded by history (or simply rereading “Animal Farm” for the sixth time) that revolutionaries do not always bring a net improvement.
Recently author Douglas Murray called out the king of this new media podcast movement Joe Rogan on his own show. He made the point that when millions of people listen to you, you have a responsibility to do your best to tell them the truth. He specifically referenced Rogan guests who have used the cover of “just asking questions” to mask what would appear to be a very clear penchant for antisemitism. While wondering out loud if there are alien spaceships hidden in Area 51 is mostly harmless fun, contemplating the idea of a secret cabal of evil Jews controlling the world is certainly not.
So what then is the answer? I don’t believe it is reasonable to expect Rogan and his kind to start adhering to traditional journalistic standards. Shows like his had guests talking about the search for the Loch Ness Monster or the secret CIA plot to dose everybody with acid long before anyone came to them for their serious news. They have every right to continue to be what they have always been. The answer must be that more mainstream, traditional sources of media need to gain back trust. Signs of this happening have been scarce but not non-existent. CNN anchor Jake Tapper co-authored a book about the Joe Biden Whitehouse cover-up. While the book is more a declaration that “we were wrong” than “we lied”, it is a start. Self-interest is a powerful motivator, and when leftists in the media from Joy Reid to Stephen Colbert find themselves out of a job, others may decide a more balanced and reasonable approach will help them maintain relevance and employment.
Everyday Americans can do a better job of this also, myself included. The polarization of our society has led to a tribal attitude in most Americans which makes it very easy to suspect the other side of all sorts of insidious motivations. It is all too easy for things that fit the narrative of your opponent being evil to be conveniently accepted. Donald Trump being a Russian spy is an example, Hillary Clinton running a pedophilia cult out of a D.C. pizza place is another.
When being questioned in the Gospel about his purpose Jesus answers that He has come to testify to the truth. Pilate famously retorts with the rhetorical question “What is truth?” Modern Americans have sadly adopted the sarcastic, dismissive attitude of the ancient Roman governor. Truth has become whatever you want it to be. However, a society with no commonly accepted truths becomes one with low trust and cohesion. Widespread and mainstream accusations of wild conspiracies, whether they end up true or not, are not a symptom of a health body politic. Whether or not a religiously pluralistic society like ours can come back to a sense of generally accepted truth, and trust in each other and our institutions, remains to be seen. We need to try.
America's Second Chance 