Conspiracy theorists all have a story. Often, these people suffered some kind of wound in life (addiction, abuse, rejection) and the intoxicating rabbit hole of conspiracy theories gave them a sense of meaning and purpose in life. In some of the worst case scenarios these conspiracy theorists were somehow able to make sense of utter nonsense and were committed acts that they themselves would have one time deemed unthinkable. The takeover of the US Capital on Wednesday 1/6/2021, was a day when highly emotional conspiracy theorist (among other unsavory types) attempted a coup on reason, fairness, and due process in the United States.

Before we get to addressing crowd control and lack of police presence, we need to ask how we could have stopped this. The first place to look is to the past by reading how various conspiracy theories have been spread and could have been prevented.

Realizing the danger of such theories, now must be a time for educators and parents to have discussions with kids regarding what news sources are rooted in traditional, good journalism and which ones are not. Buying into a site like “Infowars” is as dangerous as joining a gang of skinheads in the 1980’s.

I resolve to spend less time making fun of these people and hating on them. I commit  to  spending that time learning from them so that our youth do not go down the same path.

In his book AMERICAN MADNESS; The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness, author Tea Krulos tells the story of a conspiracy theorist and arsonist, Richard McClaslin, AKA “The Phantom Patriot” who’s fractured thinking made him the ideal consumer of even the most arcane of conspiracy theories. Krulos’ book also may be the first of its’ kind to dive into the history of modern conspiracy theory.

We talked about the book at my kitchen table and it was rad! Listen and pass it on.

-Jeff Winkowski