All Too Normal

A state of perpetual disbelief: A growing number of people in Western nations have lost faith in democratic governance, science and a free press, turning instead to conspiracy theories, dark plots and secret explanations. https://t.co/7yMEn8NgbJ

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 9, 2022

… The distrust has gone so deep that even groups that seem ideologically aligned are questioning each others’ motives and intentions.

On the day before Independence Day in Boston this year, a group of about 100 masked men carrying fascist flags marched through the city. Members proudly uploaded videos and photos of the march to online forums popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump and QAnon adherents, who believe a group of satanic, cannibalistic child molesters secretly runs the globe.

Instead of praise, the white supremacists were met with incredulity. Some posters said the marchers were clearly FBI agents or members of antifa — shorthand for anti-fascists — looking to defame Trump supporters. It didn’t matter that the men boasted of their involvement and pleaded to be believed. “Another false flag,” wrote one self-described conservative on Telegram.

Similarly, when an extremist website that sells unregulated ghost guns — firearms without serial numbers — asked its followers about their July 4th plans, several people responded by accusing the group of working for the FBI. When someone claiming to be Q, the figure behind QAnon, reappeared online recently, many conservatives who support the movement speculated that the new Q was actually a government plant.

This past week, when a Georgia monument that some conservative Christians criticized as satanic was bombed, many posters on far-right message boards cheered. But many others said they didn’t believe the news.

“I don’t trust it. I’m still thinking ff,” wrote one woman on Twitter, referencing “false flag,” a term commonly used by conspiracy theorists to describe an event they think was staged…

“People can’t fact check the world,” said Dr. Richard Friedman, a New York City psychiatrist and professor at Weill Cornell Medical College who has written about the psychology of trust and belief. “They’re awash in competing streams of information, both good and bad. They’re anxious about the future, and there are a lot of bad actors with the ability to weaponize that fear and anxiety.”

Those bad actors include grifters selling bad investments or sham remedies for COVID-19, Russian disinformation operatives trying to undermine Western democracies, or even homegrown politicians like Trump, whose lies about the 2020 election spurred the Jan. 6 attack…

Study finds there is a correlation between race demographic shifts and the “insurrectionist movement.” https://t.co/IVfWffhcho

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 9, 2022

Science establishes: Water is wet!

… In three separate studies with different methodologies, the belief that the rights of minorities will overtake that of whites, an unfounded conspiracy theory known as the “Great Replacement,” was one primary driver for “insurrectionists,” researchers found.

Statistical analysis showed that for every 1% decline in the non-Hispanic White population, a county was more than six times more likely to send at least one “insurrectionist.”

Another study found those believing that the rights of Hispanic and Black people are overtaking white people increases the odds of being in the “insurrectionist movement” threefold. The third study found that those with the fear that Hispanic and Black people will have more rights than White people increases the chances of being in the movement twofold.

Statistical analysis showed that for every 1% decline in the non-Hispanic White population, a county was more than six times more likely to send at least one “insurrectionist.”

Another study found those believing that the rights of Hispanic and Black people are overtaking white people increases the odds of being in the “insurrectionist movement” threefold. The third study found that those with the fear that Hispanic and Black people will have more rights than White people increases the chances of being in the movement twofold.

“People feel like something is being snatched from them sometimes,” journalist and Race Card Project founder Michele Norris told Dokoupil. “And the irony is, for many of the immigrant families that came there, people were saying the same thing about them when they arrived.” …