Conspiracy Theories and the Yield to Real Power

Alex JonesThis last week, there were two episodes of someone shooting at soldiers involved in the Jade Helm 15 war games that many people have worked into a conspiracy theory that claims it is designed to take over Texas and initiate martial law so that the government can take all the guns away from all the real Americans who have been stockpiling them for the last several decades. You would think that some idiot who is taking this all much too seriously and is starting to use violence would cause people to rethink their conspiracy theories. But I’m sure they won’t. I’m sure instead, they will use the old standby of the “false flag” attack.[1] You know, “It’s just the government using violence as an excuse to call for martial law!”

For the kind of people who read Frankly Curious, this is probably bizarre. After all, Jade Helm 15 is hardly a big subject of discussion in the normal world. But in a particular subculture, it’s huge. That subculture is most associated with Alex Jones and his related media. It seems to also be getting some play on RT, but that outlet generally maintains a certain level of responsibility. On the plus side (I guess), Alex Jones actually seems to believe all the nonsense that he pushes. I know Jones and his followers just think that I’m a stooge, so let me address that for a moment.

I know you are, but what am I?! Really. Because the worst thing about the conspiracy theorists is that they totally miss the very real dangers that the power elite pose to us in their fanciful ideas about black helicopters and martial law. Really, what do these people think is going on? Do they really think that their guns have to be taken away or that the “patriots” have to be sent away to FEMA camps for the power elite to get everything it wants?! I have no idea how they can think that given that those in the power elite already have what they want. Why cage people when they are willing to do it themselves? And the InfoWarriors are caging themselves in a network of nonsense. The power elite don’t have a thing to fear from them!

At Salon Bob Cesca put the whole Jade Helm 15 conspiracy into the context the Alex Jones’ longtime prediction of a civil war between the US military (and police) and the “patriots” with their little gun stockpiles. Check out this little bit that Jones was ranting about a year ago:

[The government] needs the police and the military to wipe out the liberty movement, and we wipe them out… I estimate in the civil war, 300,000 police will die. I estimate that if the military marches out against the gun owners, half a million dead. Two million dead on the side of the patriots. Won’t matter, we’ll have another 10 million where that came from. But it’ll be a real war once they start it.

God, do I ever know where this guy is coming from — and the people who listen to him. These are people who think it would be fun to have a nice little guerrilla war against the forces that are destroying America. In this case, these forces are, well, America itself. But wouldn’t that give these guys a feeling of purpose in the world? In decades past, they would have been members of a union — they would have felt part of something. Now, they are just adrift. You can hardly blame them. But this is a pathetic way to express it. It’s a kind of virtual treason — hoping that your country will turn fascist so that you can fight against it. How about doing a little political organizing?

But no. That’s because the vast majority of the people who listen to Alex Jones are conservatives. So the last thing they want to do is counter the powerful. Instead, they plays these games, just like they played war when they were children. And that’s the problem: they haven’t matured. They probably also fantasize about capturing Bigfoot and becoming Carl Kolchak — two things I was very keen on when I was 10 years old.


[1] I wrote that before learning from Bob Cesca about this InfoWars article, Marines Fired on Near Jade Helm Training Site: Training Exercise Gone Awry? Or as Planned? Because, you know, it couldn’t be some InfoWars loon doing it.

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About Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is a freelance writer and editor online and in print. He is educated as a scientist with a PhD in Atmospheric Physics. He has worked in climate science, remote sensing, throughout the computer industry, and as a college physics instructor. Find out more at About Frank Moraes.

3 thoughts on “Conspiracy Theories and the Yield to Real Power

  1. I watched the movie “Selma” recently, it wasn’t as good as I hoped, so I went back to the excellent PBS series “Eyes On The Prize.”

    After the cops/thugs gassed/beat peaceful marchers, some marchers understandably suggested taking up arms. And wiser heads countered with, “what guns do you have? The bad guys have more.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

    So . . . the gun nuts think they can beat down the US military’s nefarious plot to take over Texas? With, um, assault rifles? Hello, the US military has nuclear missiles, last I heard.

    This shite is so much a macho fantasy. It’s to the point where there isn’t any basis to conservatism except flat-out racism, and the notion that whites are noble and strong while people with different melanin skin content are weak and lazy. Being tough! Pressing a button on a weapon, oh so manly! Grr!

    • I think a big difference is that the civil rights movement was actually trying to accomplish something. These bozos are just playing. It’s like all the conservative Christians who whine about being oppressed. They are also playing a game: pretending to be like the great Christian martyrs. If there what something real that either movement was trying to accomplish, they might act as sensibly. But there is no Christian oppression. There are no black helicopters. “Macho fantasy” is exactly it.

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