How QAnon is Thriving in an Environment of Fear & Mistrust.
The current situation is the perfect breeding ground for conspiracy theories. In search of truth internet users stumble upon a narrative that claims to make sense of it all, but leaves them behind with more questions than answers.
I had been a victim of conspiracy theories at a young age. My father died when I was 16-years-old. He passed three days before 9/11.
After his death, everyone wanted to talk with me about the loss of my dad and I wasn’t able to deal with all the attention. As the world was in shock about this horrific terror attack, people in my personal environment finally had something else to talk about.
In the following years, I did a lot of online “research” and decided to study political science. I went down the rabbit hole of almost every conspiracy theory available on the internet. All night long I would watch Infowars content, read libertarian blogs and connect with other truth-seekers in sketchy internet forums.
The passing of my dad left a huge hole in my life that I tried to fill with this type of content. I was missing his ability to explain the world to me and tried to replace him with these online characters that helped to distract me from the pain I felt at that time. At that point in my life conspiracy theories were somehow soothing my troubled mind. They gave me the answers to questions nobody ever asked and blamed everyone else but me.
Following these alternative news for years slowly created a growing paranoia. When something did not work out for me in university, I was blaming the secret forces that were supposedly at play against me. It comforted me to “know” that it was all someone else’s fault. At some point, I lost the ability to take responsibility for my actions, spiraled into drug abuse and isolating myself from the people around me. I almost killed myself, as I was scared of living enslaved by the systematic manipulation of secret forces.
After two years of therapy, I decided to start a new life as a yoga teacher. It seemed healthy to stay away from politics and truth-seeking for some time. During my teacher training, I met many fascinating individuals. They encouraged me to stay away from any form of political activism and focus on myself instead.
This worked out for many years and I found peace within myself. The more I was able to enjoy my new job, relationship and life in general, the less attractive these dark conspiracy theories became in my perception. I had better things to do.
Ten years later a global pandemic hit us and everything in my life seemed to fall apart once more.
My yoga classes got canceled, travel plans fell apart and my financial situation worsened from one day to the other. I was watching the news almost 24/7, just like twenty years ago when my father died.
Very early I noticed the rise of scepticism among my fellow yoga teachers and some of my friends. People that suggested staying away from politics to me in the past started discovering their desire to make sense of it all.
I remember sitting on my balcony in Costa Rica hearing the voice of Alex Jones again. It was not a hallucination, it was my neighbor listening to Infowars. On Facebook, I saw my yoga teachers sharing videos of Dr. Shiva questioning the dangers of Covid-19. One of my best friends decided to share his “wokeness” with everyone and blatantly ignored the safety protocols established by the Costa Rican government.
Hearing my friend’s statements reminded me of my darkest days. I felt his desperate need to cover up personal problems. He denied the dangers of the Coronavirus and demanded the reopening of the economy.
All of a sudden these yoga teachers, massage therapists and sound healers were in support of the Trump administration neglecting the seriousness of Covid-19.
More and more of them started sharing QAnon content on social media and I started getting worried about that dynamic. These unpolitical people fell for something that reminded me of the conspiracies that ruined my life a decade earlier. Not only that, but the content was also presented by the same people that I followed many years ago.
The narrative was also more or less the same. QAnon accuses the so-called liberal elite of child trafficking, manipulation of the media and controlling the economy. They weaved in the Covid-19 situation and claimed that this was all just a liberal hoax to enslave the world’s population forever.
I wasn’t buying into this narrative and tried to warn my friends and followers about the dynamics at play. After sharing a video on Instagram rejecting the theory of Covid-19 being a hoax, I received angry messages and lost about 1.000 followers.
Multiple friends blocked me on social media as they didn’t like my criticism of their newfound wisdom. It was blowing my mind how easy these folks bought into the BS of Alex Jones and his companions. First, I was angry at them, but then I realized what was actually happening to my friends.
They fell for the same trick I feel for a decade ago.
When our life is falling apart, we are looking for simple answers everyone can agree on. Blaming someone else for our misery is a human impulse that has existed throughout history. During the black plague hundreds of years ago, people accused Jews of spreading the disease. Today, folks are blaming the so-called elite for the outbreak of Covid-19 and support a President that denies the actual danger of the pandemic.
After my father died, I blamed the Illuminati for orchestrating 9/11 in order to take away civil rights. Nowadays, people accuse governments of fabricating this crisis to change societies forever. Everyone wants to go back to the “old normal” as we are scared of the “new normal”.
QAnon utilized the fear and mistrust people are feeling these days. The narrative of elites abusing children in satanic rituals, controlling the media and steering the economy is not new, but it found it’s way into the mainstream during this ongoing pandemic. Everyone is looking for someone to blame.
The conspiracy industry saw it’s chance to reach more people than ever before with their content. Soon after the lockdown started, multiple high-end movie productions were published on the internet. “Plandemic” and “Out of Shadows” were the two most successful examples of that phenomenon.
These movies all follow the same manipulative pattern that is particularly dangerous to people carrying personal trauma caused by sexual abuse.
Child trafficking being a horrible crime is something everyone can agree on. It is also not very controversial to say that rich people get away with a lot of things that average people would get in trouble for. Combining these two things is the bottom line of almost every conspiracy theory. First, the viewer gets triggered by images of child abuse and then the accused villains are presented as the source of all evil in the world. At that point, viewers are willing to accept almost anyone as their savior.
QAnon is no different on that but adds a fascinating but troubling twist in its narrative. While normal conspiracy theories target those in power, QAnon protects the ones in power and fights against people challenging the current government.
Donald Trump is presented as the savior of humanity in this. According to QAnon the President is leading the battle against a global ring of child traffickers, that is run by liberals and the “Deep State”.
Every criticism directed at the President is perceived as an attempt of the media to undermine his efforts in saving children from ritualistic abuse. Covid-19 itself is seen as a cover-up for “the storm” that is supposed to be in the making. “Where we go 1 we go all” (#WWG1WGA) is used as a hashtag among QAnon supporters enabling them to connect the self-drawn dots.
If something does not fit the narrative followers are asked to “Trust the plan”, which is something I heard before in questionable yoga classes. Unqualified teachers would tell students to ignore physical pain and “trust the process” instead. QAnon and Trump asking their followers to oversee inconsistencies of the narrative and “trust the plan” is basically the same logic.
Taking a look at QAnon supporters gives us a chance to understand the phenomenon.
The #metoo movement has proven that sexual abuse is far more common in society than most of us ever thought. There is no doubt that victims had a feeling about this long time before Harvey Weinstein got arrested.
Most people were shocked to learn that almost every second woman experienced abuse in one or the other form throughout her life. Let’s also not forget about the men suffering from trauma caused by sexual misconduct at a very young age. It is a huge problem in society, there is no doubt about that.
Every person carrying trauma from abuse tends to get triggered by any situation similar to their horrible experience. That is exactly the point were QAnon manipulates viewers into watching its content.
QAnon speaks to every individual that ever suffered from sexual abuse. The theory connects with the existing trauma and channels the unresolved pain into blind support of taking down the dark forces behind the alleged systematic abuse.
According to QAnon, Donald Trump is the strong man that is about to take down an international network responsible for all these crimes against humanity. All of a sudden, every problem people are facing can somehow be backtracked to the elites controlling their lives.
After 9/11 I was desperate to find a distraction from personal problems caused by the death of my father. Instead of dealing with my thoughts, feelings and emotions, I dived into the world of conspiracy theories. It was more convenient to blame others than taking action.
During the current pandemic, all of us are facing challenges in life. We can either try to figure out a new way of dealing with life or point fingers at so-called elites being responsible for our misery.
Throughout history times of crisis were the breading ground for conspiracy theories. When the going gets tough, people are looking for a scapegoat. The more people mistrust politicians, the likelier they are to believe charismatic leaders to guide them into a brighter future.
Authoritarian leaders always pretend to protect their people. As long as we are in control of our lives, we are not willing to accept others telling us what to do. Once things are out of control, most people are looking for someone to protect them.
In my case, Alex Jones manipulated me after 9/11 and gave the answers I wanted to hear at that time. Today, QAnon brainwashes people into supporting Donald Trump as the savior of civilization.
Neither Donald Trump nor Alex Jones, actually care about the people supporting them. These men are willing to use our pain to hook us into a narrative that secures their position of power.
Every conspiracy theory tries to capitalize on people that are lost in life by offering simple answers that can’t be falsified by arguments and facts.
They want us to “trust the plan” and divide society into good and bad. Everyone disagreeing with their wisdom is an enemy that needs to be ignored or silenced.
That’s how cults work.
In times of crisis, we are vulnerable to buy into these narratives. It doesn’t make us a bad person, but it is a reminder that our perception of reality is heavily influenced by feelings and emotions.
We should not let these impulses ruin personal relationships and keep in mind that these people need serious help – just like I did 12 years ago.