I don’t know about anybody else, but I am so sick and tired of the current global subculture of Fake News and Conspiracy Theories.
You cannot read, see, or hear a single bit of news nowadays without a raised eyebrow, while feeling forced to double-check and triple-check the sources for veracity. Not just to make sure you’re getting the straight scoop, but also to avoid looking foolish if you should happen to pass on false information to others.
Maybe it’s due to an overdose of James Bond and Jason Bourne movies, as well as The Blacklist series on Netflix. I’m just kidding, really. Or…………. am I? (cue suspense soundtrack)
To be fair, fake news have existed since the beginning of time. But with social media and globalization, it seems the explosion is on. It seems everyone is addicted to being the first to crack sensational news. It’s like having a lot of “mini-National Enquirers” posting on Facebook, Instagram, and others. To those unfamiliar with the National Enquirer, it’s that “supermarket tabloid” that for decades informed us about 3-headed aliens abducting and impregnating unsuspecting Earthlings.
It seems to me the Fake News institution took a giant leap forward since Donald Trump took office. The very first lie involved the size of the Inaugural Ceremony crowd in Washington (to be sure an insignificant point in the bigger picture), where the press compared pictures from both Trump’s and Obama’s inaugurations… from the same vantage points. Trump’s Press Secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, immediately called that a lie, and claimed Trump’s crowd was bigger. Since then, every bit of negative news on Trump is promptly labeled Fake News. It’s not just one-sided, though. The mainstream press has done plenty to earn its reputation as of late.
Also, every impactful event in society nowadays doesn’t just happen. No… there is a Conspiracy Theory attached to it. You just cannot have an assassination, natural disaster, terrorist act, or scientific development without the obligatory Conspiracy Theories. As with Fake News, Conspiracy Theories are as old as dirt. But they seem to have surged as of late. A perfect example is the current Coronavirus crisis. Depending on who you talk to, the Coronavirus:
- Is a biological weapon deployed by the Chinese.
- Was deployed by the U.S. military.
- Was deployed by Martians as an attempt to weaken and invade Earth. (Just kidding on this one, although I fully expect to hear it in the near future).
A lot of Conspiracy Theories are rooted in mistrust of the government, at least in the U.S. One I’ve heard regarding the Coronavirus is that the government is seeking to shut people in their homes so they can pursue their master plan of mass surveillance and total population control.
Fake news and conspiracy theories usually are in and of themselves relatively harmless pastimes for bored minds with an overactive imagination and too much time on their hands. Except that they can always count on an audience of eager minds like sponges, ready to gobble up these fake news and conspiracy theories and give them undeserved credibility.