Thread by @rothschildmd

The first drops in what would become QAnon were posted 4 years ago today. But the social and psychological forces that made Q a worldwide movement stretch back decades and centuries. I spent three years chronicling it all for THE STORM IS UPON US.

static.mhpbooks.com/the-storm-is-u…

I've written extensively about the movement for @dailydot, and the site has an entire set of stories to "commemorate" this important event in American paranoia.

dailydot.com/qanon-4-years-…

My story is on how the movement transformed with the end of the Q drops, the ultimate failure of "The Storm," and the increasing absorption of mainstream conservatism by a blob of insane conspiracy theories.

dailydot.com/debug/qanon-fo…

I started writing about QAnon in early 2018, when just a few stories had even touched it, and it wasn't taken all that seriously. Now, nearly every major news outlet has a great reporter who covers Q-related disinfo stories. I'm just glad not be screaming into the void anymore.

The forces that made Q work so well and ensnare so many people aren't hard to understand. They're the basic human need to belong, to feel special, and to hurt the people you think are hurting you. We all have this. We are all vulnerable in some way.

Q was the next rung on a long ladder of paranoia, hate, grievance, conspiracy, and fear. The rungs below it are Pizzagate, NESARA, the right wing infotainment machine, the Satanic Panic, innumerable cults and charismatic movements, the Protocols, and on and on.

The rungs above QAnon are the stolen election industry, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, "Let's Go Brandon," school board battles, and things that don't even exist yet.

The ladder is eternal. But we can get off it if we want to, and if we have people who can help us.

My hope and what helps me sleep at night is the idea that THE STORM IS UPON US, or anything I've written, or any interview I've given might help get even a few people off that ladder. That's what keeps me going.