How Easy It Is To Create A Rabbit Hole...

 

Hi!

I'm sure I'm far from the only one in this.

I'm struggling.

There are people I know well and love dearly who have fallen into such a deep rabbit hole of conspiracy nonsense that I'm genuinely worried for them.

At first, it was kind of at least, humourous. I kind of thought, or maybe it was just wishful thinking, that this one person in particular, was just kind of doing it to be the "anti" person. You know, kind of just being contrary, as that's how they are wired. 

I've avoided certain topics of conversation for that reason. I didn't want to get sucked into the ridiculous debate of fact versus fiction. It's so frustrating because in conspiracy land, facts are, at best, moving targets, and at their worst, they are nothing but vapour.

Anything that doesn't fit into the ever-changing narrative is perceived as part of the conspiracy. So actual facts, historic, contemporary, plain as the nose on your face kind of facts simply don't exist for them. 

Part of this particular one is that the ultra-rich people are trying to off the rest of us to start over. When pressed to explain, the answers get very thin, grounded in nothing. I couldn't get a straight answer as to the reasons why, or how it makes any sense. 

To believe this stuff with so much conviction, you have to fully commit to some incredible serendipity, magical coincidences, and a lot of complete, worldwide cooperation. I mean, I'm not sure how rich you have to be to be in this exclusive group. I don't know what the qualifications are. Is being rich enough? Do you need other skills? 

If you off all the people that toil to make you money, you'll eventually run out of money. Part of the theory is that AI will take over all the labour on the planet. It will eliminate the need for mere humans. I know AI is getting pretty sophisticated and all, but we are a long way from humans not needing to do any of the work necessary to have our planet function. 

From what I've observed, ultra-rich people don't tend to agree on much of anything, in fact they spend most of their time competing in imaginary toy accumulation competitions. It's hard to picture them coming to a consensus on where to even conduct these let's control the world meetings, let alone what the agenda would look like. 

Hell, if this level of cooperation was achievable, most, if not all of the world's problems would be solved!  

Is there evil in the world? Of course, there is, we see factual proof of it every day in school shootings, hate crimes, suppression of cultures, violent attacks, how we treat the most vulnerable of us... the list is endless, sadly.

But.....

Is there good in the world? Absolutely!!! We see factual proof of that too, in our everyday lives! The sad thing is, that kindness, compassion, and generosity rarely make the headlines, they are usually the feel-good anecdote at the end of a news program, usually about once a week. 

So how do you help someone who has devoted themselves to living fully down a rabbit hole?

Solutions to this seem to differ depending on the type of conspiracy, and depth of the hole itself, how the person involved is wired, and if they are willing, even in the most minute way, to climb out. 

To believe all of this nonsense, some fundamental things have to be going on under the surface. Looking for a way to make sense, to have some sense of control over things you don't fully understand, you latch on to things that provide simplified answers. 

If there isn't an actual boogeyman, make one up and blame him for all the chaos. Then make your "facts" fit the story. Then, put it all out there in such a way that vulnerable people who maybe have issues with impulse control, are a bit contrary, maybe had dipped their toes in other conspiracies like flat earthers, moon landing disbelievers, and 9/11 tall talers, will slip into the depths. 

I've been sent links to videos and articles, and have earnestly checked them out. When you spend a bit of time doing so, it generally doesn't take very long at all to find out the history of some of these 'experts.' Sometimes it can be as simple as taking a screenshot, zooming in, and researching the certificates so proudly displayed in the background. On one of them, that's literally all it took. 

With others, it can take more digging and more time. I've even found myself rooting for some tidbit of factual truth. But, inevitably,100% of the time, the trail leads to fiction. 

As a writer I can almost respect the dedication to the story, or stories, depending. But fiction is fiction. Just because you can make people believe it, doesn't make it true. You have to follow it all to its end to find out. 

Some of these conspiracies have been around for a long time, like the one my loved one believes so desperately. It actually started in 1966, and facts have been contorted to fit the narrative through multiple generations. None of what they claim has come to fruition, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Twisting current events to fit this nonsense like the tragedy that is going on in Israel right now is apparently a thing. The fact that conflict in that region is centuries old, you know, a fact, doesn't seem to factor in... go figure. 

I give you "The War of The Worlds" The 1938 Orson Welles narrated adaptation of the H.G. Welles novel. Innocently read for purposes no other than pure entertainment, resulted in causing panic in the eastern United States because those people mistakenly thought it was an actual news broadcast. 

And that, my friends, is how easy it is to create a rabbit hole.

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May you find your way back to what's real, what's true.

May you see the world as the imperfect beautiful place it is.

May you discover the joy that can be had when you let go of the dark.

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