Conspiracy

I hadn't peeked in on a Russell Brand video for a while but I couldn't help it when I saw it was an interview with quack conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The introduction was full of profuse praise for this man who was convicted of spreading malice regarding the Sandy Hook school shootings and I had to stop the video.

Brand comes off like a deranged shaman who has had one too many acid trips but like other conspiracy nuts he has a sizeable audience who hangs on his every word. Charlatans are everywhere of course and have been around since the dawn of civilization. They sell snake oil in various formats to hungry consumers who want magic cures for what ails them. Today it's about confirming their worst fears about who is behind their personal woes.

YouTube and social media is full of them and, one of my favorites, Jordan Peterson spends his time as curmudgeon warning about the ills of Postmodernism on programs tailor made for right wing fatalists.

Brand has much less flair than Peterson (who wears better suits) and won't necessarily be invited to the same discussion forums, but in the end it's all the same: finger pointing at what ails us with no concrete or helpful solutions to extremely complex problems to be found.