When I was about five or six years old, I was convinced there were monsters living in my wardrobe.
There was, of course, no basis to my claims, aside from the shadows that moved around my room at night sometimes. As any of my family members can attest, I was a child with a wildly overactive imagination, which often meant I dreamt up scenarios that could not legitimately exist, mainly as there were not, and could not, ever be possible. My belief that there were forces out to get me, grab one of my uncovered feet in the dead of night, and drag me off into an abyss was just one of them.
Years later, when a mature version of myself, now safe in the knowledge that there weren’t any evil forces living amongst my clothes, encountered a module at university entitled ‘Conspiracy Fictions in Contemporary America’, I began to ponder over what I realised was probably my first encounter with conspiracy theory. Or, at least, a proto-conspiracy.
You see, the belief I had that monsters decided to inhabit my room, is not all that dissimilar (at its most simple level) to many conspiracy theories we now encounter. At their very core, conspiracy theories are accounts which are less probable than others. Boiled down simply, other explanations, accepted in the mainstream and often backed up by scientific or expert evidence, just seem…right.
Now, my childhood monsters can be explained away by a rational mind who would inform my adolescent self that shadows and outside noises were the cause of my belief. But, of course, that would be no fun. And I think that is what conspiracy theory ultimately comes down to. That thrill of excitement of potentially having cracked the code, the adrenaline rush one no doubt receives when being presented with information that is top secret. And finally, of course, what humans thrive off most – an ego boost, which derives from the belief of superior intelligence that the masses just simply couldn’t understand.
Admittedly, before my study of conspiracy at the age of 20, I’d been able to mostly ignore conspiracy theory, or at least discount it as comprised of strange men in tin-foil hats. In fact, it wasn’t like I hadn’t heard of conspiracy before. The infamous ‘Illuminati’ and ‘Bush did 9/11’ phrases have now been strangely adopted into meme culture, and serve as a source of humour rather than intrigue. Then there was the humorous theory I read, which asserted that Australia didn’t exist, as the world was flat, and airline companies were all in on the conspiracy to dupe fliers. And, covering the most ground, there was the long list of murder conspiracies of a myriad of notable figures – JFK, MLK, Princess Diana, 2Pac. To me, it all seemed plausible – just. Some appeared more probable than others. However, like most, I would much rather believe what is proven than what is not.
But then there was QAnon. And my interest was piqued. Not at the plausibility (because, to be honest, this is probably the least plausible conspiracy I’ve ever encountered), but at how what I had previously dismissed as a group of wacky, kooky weirdos from the back and beyond of the world, seemed to gain so much traction, and, dare I say it, legitimacy…
QWho?
Delving into the QAnon theory, something I had thankfully never encountered before studying it, is like falling down an endlessly horrific rabbit hole. My first thought was that the question as to whether jet fuel can really melt steel beams seemed tame in comparison.
The disturbing conspiracy, which first began to trickle into consciousness in late 2017, is a far-right ideology which details a supposed plot by the so-called ‘deep state’ against Trump and his supporters.
The titular ‘Q’, is an anonymous figure who operates from reddit (the social media website now considered a conspiracy theory hotspot). Q alleges to have access to highly classified American Intel, hence the name – Q being a symbol for the top-secret Q Clearance of the US Government.
Putting out ‘crumbs’ or posts, ‘Q’ has posted a number of baseless, false theories concerning the American government, the media and a range of celebrities. But for those hungry for a ‘truth’ to confirm and legitimise their political beliefs, this is the perfect meal.
Ironically enough, this all started from what could be considered as a crumb of information. During a photo opportunity with senior military staff, Trump remarked to journalists that this was the ‘calm before the storm’. When pressed for clarification on his comment, the president replied with a cryptic, ‘You’ll see.’ Whilst Trump’s phraseology can be dismissed as innocuous, yet another attempt from the arguably inept leader to demonstrate his power, his supporters on the far-right clung to the six words like monkey bars.
A mere month later, the conspiracy was full blown; Clinton, Antifa and North Korea theories abound. Years down the line from its original conception in October 2017, the theory does not seem to be letting up. The supposed ‘Great Awakening’ has a solid fan base comprised of the usual conspiracy shepherds and their eager sheep.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Pizzagate was probably the start: the theory that a Washington DC pizzeria named Comet Ping Pong was somehow the home of a large Satanic child-sex trafficking ring run by the Democratic Party was widely debunked after running rife in the 2016 Presidential Election cycle. To me, this was a conspiracy theory of magnitudes only rarely seen before. But QAnon seemed to me to be far more dangerous, another, deeper, rabbit hole, peddled by people who falsely claim to possess legitimacy.
With every ‘drop’ or ‘crumb’, the supposedly omniscient overlord seems to zero in on a new victim – Clinton, Obama, Michael Avenatti, the Rothschild family – each one an American bogeyman, ready to, much like my own childhood monsters, grab you when you’re least expecting it.
The most recent ‘Q Drop’ I came across was dated July 10th, 2019. Accompanied by a disturbingly graphic image, (omitted below) it covers abortion, the non-profit organisation Planned Parenthood, and, predictably, the Democratic Party.
‘Reality is hard to swallow!’ it begins in earnest, ‘FAKE NEWS keeps you asleep (sheep), and fixed in a pre_designed false reality (narrative)’
As seen above, Q crumbs appear to be defined by incoherency. Comprised of a series of statements which follow a similar narrative template – a sort of CTRL + V, CTRL + C, if you will – it would be easy to chuckle and shake your head at the proponents dubbing others as ‘sheep’, if the theory itself wasn’t so absolutely terrifying.
Conspiracy Goes Mainstream
Conspiracy is entertainment. For those who participate in its theories, it seems to be a stimulating pastime – like crocheting, or playing table tennis.
It is more than probable that some of the main proponents of conspiracies like QAnon are living amongst us. You might bump into them at the supermarket, they might be sitting next to you on the bus, or pulling up next to you in their car at the traffic lights.
Theories like QAnon and their popularity show that my original belief about the men in tinfoil couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, names you and I will probably both know are prominent conspiracy theorists. Roseanne Barr (disgraced for her racist comments on Valerie Jarrett) was the first celebrity to buy into QAnon. B.o.B (famous for the 2010 hit Airplanes) is a so-called Flat Earther. Numerous celebrities are anti-vaxxers – people who believe vaccines are created by medical companies to kill or ‘cause autism’. Maybe conspiracy has been mainstream all along.
Yet, conspiracy is also a business. And a rather lucrative one, if the New York Times report on Alex Jones’ $20 million fortune is anything to go by.
For QAnon, this has materialised in a rather disturbing, Amazon best-selling list, book ‘QAnon: An Invitation to The Great Awakening’ which cracked the Top 75 Books sold in a week in reports by NBC News. The book even climbed higher, somewhat ironically, than ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Fahrenheit 451’ in the ‘Books on Censorship’ chart.
Amongst false claims of the US government creating AIDS, polio and Lyme disease, and a belief that prominent figures in the Democratic party are murdering and eating children, the group of authors, under the name ‘Where We Go One We Go All’, assert that the Pixar film Monsters Inc. is a veiled government plan to collect the blood of children as an elixir for “youthful looks”.
Much can be derived from the popularity of a book like ‘An Invitation to The Great Awakening’. But of course, this is all dependent on perspective. Most simply put, the publication of a book like this demonstrates that with enough money, publishing anything, no matter how illegitimate, is possible.
Furthermore, ‘An Invitation to The Great Awakening’ proves that whilst conspiracy has often taken its place on the fringes of society, it is now potentially edging towards the centre, sweeping many up in its hysteria. Although theories like QAnon seem to be a combination of insanity and insatiable political desire, the publication of a book only attempts to add legitimacy to outlandish claims. For those uneducated on the implausibility of conspiracy, or merely unwilling to accept it, this book, and its prevalence, is a dangerous notion.
Where do we go from here?
There is no way to stop conspiracy theory. In fact, it has been around for as long as civilisation itself. Conspiracy theories were circulated in 68 AD after the death of Roman emperor, Nero.
QAnon, however, seems like a different beast. With its pledge to destroy the American political system if verified, it seems the theory, and the anonymous people behind it, will stop at nothing to ensure their beliefs seep out and touch every part of US society. In fact, after one of the theory’s main proponents, Michael Lebron, was granted a photo opportunity with Trump, it appears the theory was only confirmed and legitimised – blue ticked – by the current administration. If you worried about conspiracy theory going mainstream before, you better be sure of it, now.
Whilst education seems to be an immediate solution, it is the aforementioned thrill of conspiracy which means it will never go away. No one can deny the intrigue of a conspiracy theory, particularly one which seems so carefully pieced together like QAnon. After all, conspiracy would not have endured for so long if there was no interest.
But much like the carrot dangled on the proverbial stick, conspiracy is never likely to have any tangible result. Driving it back out into societal fringes is turning on the light, checking in the wardrobe for the non-existent monsters and then, finally, going back to sleep.
