Something I’m noticing about the 5G / Coronavirus conspiracy theories is that quite a few of my mates from back home in the Midlands are taking them seriously. These are not stupid people. Our schools were awful and we’re technically “poorly educated”, but they’re not stupid.
The problem I’m seeing is that they don’t trust traditional media, or find it so boring they don’t engage in it. They don’t trust it because it rarely represents them, and when it does it paints a fairytale image of what the working class is, or, it demonises them when that...
...elitist fairytale is scuppered by the reality. So they’re either seeing a pathetic Loach-esque homage to their way of life, or are being called stupid and bigoted. There’s rarely any in between. They turn to alternative media, (when they’re not busy working for low wages)...
...which is sadly often full of shit and takes any guest statement at face value. Independent media is also very much indulging in alarmist attention baiting as traditional media does. I don’t know what the answer is at all, but the reasons for people turning to conspiracy bs...
...are not all because “lol they’re so stupid!” In fact that attitude just reinforces their faith in conspiracy outlets. No one wants to be laughed at. Despite all the showboating to the contrary, the media has a huge snobbery issue. Things like this really expose it.
My point is, don’t immediately write someone off as a bigot or a moron because they’re currently indulging in moronic conspiracy theories. There’s sadly a deep rooted reason for this. Try to engage with them if they’re your friend. I’ve found pointing out that it’s insane to...
...think every country on Earth with 5G—many of them enemies to each other—would keep this “secret”. Obviously one country would break ranks and use it to hurt the others. This has helped a bit.
I know it’s really fucking dumb to believe in 5G conspiracy theories, but not everyone who’s doing so does it from a place of malice or total stupidity. Everyone wants an answer.
