Month: October 2015

Generation X – The Age and Adulation of the Conspiracy Theory

jimdroberts

i-want-to-knowGeneration X, the first generation of internet users, a generation lost to the half truths of cyberspace, a generation confused by an infinite number of stories reported from an infinite number of sources, divorced from reality, and ultimately apathetic towards the truth. For some unknown reason the conspiracy theory is highly addictive to generation ‘X’. It eats away at their minds, and leads to the illogical reasoning of a drug addled hippy, reasoning along the lines of:

“Well if I can’t disprove the claim, no matter how outlandish it is, then there is a possibility it could be true.” See onus probandi: the burden of proof rests with those making the claim.

It’s along similar lines of reasoning that since the dawn of man so many have fallen into a trap, and follow gods of which there is no proof, hence the so called “leap of faith” a non-believer must take to  become a believer. It’s called a “leap of faith”, but in reality it might better be described as “a sidestepping of reality”.

Those of us born between 1970 and 1985 are generation X, and on this occasion x doesn’t mark the spot, there is no spot, and even if there was it’s unlikely that the shadowy figures that lurk in the corridors of power would ever let people like you or I know where ‘x’ was, or even if it exists.

Generation ‘X’ is at best skeptical, but more often than not just downright cynical of everything, believing that anything we’ve been told could be a lie, we’re highly suspicious as to whether there’s even a right way round to sit on a toilet. Give your average member of generation “X” five minutes thinking time, and they’ll be able to start spinning a web of conspiracy regarding almost any current news item. It’s no coincidence that during our teens generation ‘X’ were influenced heavily by programmmes like “The X Files” which caught the zeitgeist of the moment, and encouraged us all to be cynical towards governments and any agency wielding authority. To generation ‘X’ everything happens for a reason. A powerful network hides behind our governments, pulling strings, and manipulating societies at their whim. They play with us for their sport, much the same way the Gods of ancient Greece played with the destinies of Athenians.Unwittingly, all the conspiracy theorists of generation ‘X’ have actually done is to substitute a belief in an unprovable, omnipotent deity, with a belief in unprovable, omnipotent societies of man, both seem equally as preposterous, and subject to the same inherent fallacies of onus probandi and the Argument of Ignorance.

Although I am firmly ensconced within the parameters of generation ‘X’ (born in 1976), I find it hard to believe that man is capable of organizing such complete, and pervasive control over one another. I come from a country (the U.K) that can’t run a train on time, it’s therefore requires quite a stretch of my imagination for me to believe that a small group of people are so well organized that they control the entirety of our chaotic society. But, in truth if there are a small group of individuals wrestling for the control of my life, then I give them full permission to take control of my life given that I’ve made such a mess of it.

To categorize or group all generation “X” together is in itself a paradox, as Jeff Gordinier, author of “X Saves the World,” writes that Xers are:

“said to be the defiant demographic, dedicated to shredding whatever raiment the marketing apparatus tries to drape us in; because we’d prefer not to be categorized at all, thank you very much”

morpheus
What if I told you, that what isn’t spelled with a j?

As Gordinier alludes to I resent being tarred with the brush that suggests every generation “X” is a conspiracy theorist. I have tried very hard to stay out of the foul clutches of the neuroses and paranoia required of a conspiracy theorist. To me it seems little more than a pastime of the pseudo-intellectual, people who believe that they are some how clever if they go around disagreeing with everything, because somehow they are aware of “the hidden agenda”. One sure way of confusing a conspiracy theorist is if you propose the theory that there is no agenda, hidden or otherwise, everything is a mess, everything is in chaos, life itself is an absurdity because mankind has to use all his wits just to get himself to work on time each morning. Propose this to a conspiracy theorist and they’ll likely reply,

“that’s what they want you to think, they’ve got you just where they want you”.

And who is the “they” that conspiracy theorists are constantly referring to, Illuminati, Masons, Bohemian Grove, Yale University’s Skull and Bones, the Bilderberg Group, or the mystical cabal of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn? Whoever “they” are, they are still ordinary human beings and in my experience I have found us to be a quite an underwhelming, under achieving species, and I’m less than impressed with our abilities to organize anything but the simplest of things, birthday parties, poker nights etc. To believe that there are a few of our species capable of influencing everything would seem to me to be placing far to much confidence in the abilities of mankind.

Conspiracy has been defined in the United States as:

an agreement of two or more people to commit a crime, or to accomplish a legal end through illegal actions. A conspiracy does not need to have been planned in secret to meet the definition of the crime.

With this definition of conspiracy any it’s impossible for conspiracies not to occur. What is debatable is the levels of conspiracy that generation “X” seem capable of believing.

 

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Of course someone in search of the truth, must be a bit of a dick to put on a blindfold before he starts. Who knows what you might stumble into, or what conclusions you’ll make.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

elephant
This represents the basis for the construction of most conspiracy theories. Someone observes half a fact and from it draws a complete conclusion. Most conspiracy theories fall foul of anecdotal fallacy .

 

 

 

 

That’s not to say that all conspiracy theories are bunk, absolutely not. In fact nearly everything underhand that happens in day to day life has required people to conspire. Conspiracy has long been a platform for entertainment, in his play, Shakespeare tells of the conspiracy led by Cassius and Brutus to assassinate Julius Caesar. The Boston Tea Party was a conspiracy, as were the Gunpowder Plot, and Operation Valkyrie (the failed plot to assassinate Hitler). History has proven conspiracies occur time and again.

Discussing the unprovable might just be the definition of futility,  it has even produced its own branch of philosophy, absurdism. To the philosophers Albert Camus and Søren Kierkegaard discussions on the existence of god, or any subject that cannot be proven was considered absurd as any effort to find inherent meanings in life can only fail.

Whilst I do believe that conspiracy theorists are the equivalent of a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black cat; that isn’t there. I must confess to just not knowing any of the answers. And that is where I differ from the conspiracy theorist and ardent followers of religion, I am happy knowing what I don’t know,  and acknowledging my ignorance. I am happier doing this than constructing assumed facts based on spurious sources, or abnegating all responsibility of discovering the truth with the catch all excuse “it’s god’s will”.

And although I say this, I can’t escape from the fact that I’m a generation “X”, and conspiracy theories are like an embarrassing itch that just has to be scratched, no matter how many people are looking. For we live not in a world of black and white, but one in which we must appreciate the nigh infinite nuances of hues in the spectrum. Humans are made complex creatures by there complex desires, and their willingness to be dishonourable in order to achieve these desires. Questions in the realm of human behaviour rarely present us with binary solutions, absolutes of yes or no, true or false are unrealistic answers to anything but the most simple question, or the most simple person. It is unreasonable to draw absolute conclusions on the complex behaviours of people in our evermore complex societies, and we give credence to any conspiracy theory by reminding ourselves with idioms such as “there’s no smoke without fire”.

Recently I came across a conspiracy theory that has shaken the very core of my identity. A conspiracy theory that is in the public domain, but still has far reaching social implications as well as personal. A conspiracy theory that I intend to research thoroughly, and present as objectively as possible in order that the reader can determine for themselves what they think. And as I start on my journey through the smoke and mirrors of cyberspace, in search of something tangible, I’m reminded of a line spoken by the character Dana Scully:

truthisoutthere

 

Gonzo symbol
Where a dark shadow looms.

Mass Shootings at Schools – As American as Apple Pie?

jimdroberts2 Comments
tony-blair-big
The only way we can solve this problem is by putting more dangerous weapons in the hands of the least responsible people.

And this time it’s, Oregon! Oregon is the latest state to proudly host a mass shooting in anra cartoon school. Well done Oregon. To compensate for your loss you will be rewarded with the public’s sympathy for from anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks, by which time the next host for a mass school shooting will proudly be announced by the mainstream media.

It’s become a habit, a national pastime, as American as apple pie and baseball. It only seems to happen in America, then happen again, and again, and again, and again.

As Einstein once said:

einstein

It does therefore not require a great a leap of the imagination to assume that if Einstein were a live today he would consider this nation to be insane, or at the very least our nation’s policy on handling gun violence. I however, believe we’ve surpassed stupidity and wallow deeply in the morass of stupidity.

As a personal accident insurance underwriter, with the help of actuaries, I used to have to calculate the chances of accidents happening to people depending on their lifestyles, occupations etc. I know there must be a way of calculating the probability of how long a student must remain in the American school system before they are statistically more likely to be shot dead than graduate.

To me, American gun culture reminds me of stressed chimpanzees, kept in captivity, and hurling their fecal matter at one another. Oddly most Americans would probably find the idea of throwing their shit at each other, to be more repulsive than your average mass shooting. If you’re reading this, in the interest of science, gather a bag of your own poo, walk into a school or shopping center and start throwing it around. I’ll bet that you’ll get more news exposure than the Oregon shooting. Mass shootings are old hat, they’re passé, no shit throwing’s the way to go, the mass shootings of the future.

Scientists have accurately simulated American society with the use of just two chimpanzees (only 34 seconds):

Lobbyists, Corruption and a Mistaken Society

nratoday
Because real men use wadding and a ram rod.

American society (in truth all societies, and human beings in general) is/are just a collection of disturbingly twisted, and willfully determined contradictions. One that I find hardest to understand is the power and influence of two of America’s most active lobby groups, the National Rifle Association and pharmaceutical companies. America is the largest consumer of psychiatric medicine per capita, a result of pharmaceutical companies convincing the government that they must prescribe more drugs as they wage their never-ending crusade against mental illness. Meanwhile the politician’s other ear belongs to that of the NRA, and their belief that the only way we can keep everyone safe is through the preservation of the second amendment and give everyone a gun.pharmabusa

As I stated earlier the United States are the world’s biggest producers and consumers of psychiatric pharmaceuticals making it an incredibly lucrative industry, the sector of society that has seen greatest growth in the use of anti-depressants are people aged between 16 and 24.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)11% of all Americans over the age of 12 are on anti depressants, how many of these do you want armed? Mentally ill students, easy access to guns, school shootings, I still don’t get it, what’s the connection?

Eli Lilly the pharmaceutical company most well known for producing Prozac has spent more than $35,000,000 dollars in lobbying during the period 2010 -2014. To put that in perspective that compares to the NRA’s slightly less than $12,000,000 for the same period. But surely that is the question how can these two industries co-exist in lobbying a government. I would imagine Eli Lilly try to convince senators that everyone’s mad and needs medication, meanwhile the NRA state the importance that everyone has at least one firearm. These two opinions cannot co exist, they simply contradict one another, one has to be right and the other wrong, you cannot allow the two such diametrically opposed issues to exist at the same time. A responsible government cannot accept its population having a greater dependency on psychiatric drugs and the listen to a group of people pursuing greater liberty to own firearms. The fact that these two arguments get given consideration has lead to the two agendas coalescing into the situation allowing mentally ill people to be armed.

Information concerning the Oregon gunman, Chris Harper-Mercer, presents him as a deeply troubled, anti-religion, anti-government recluse obsessed with guns. A man who was discharged after just five weeks into the Army’s basic training. Records show that he graduated from a high school that catered for special needs students (and he was still selected for basic training by the U.S Army?) This is the sort of person the second amendment grants the right to bare arms.

It’s hard to comprehend, that at the time of writing this, 48 hours ago:

  • Rebecka Ann Carnes of Myrtle Creek — 18 years old.
  • Treven Taylor Anspach of Sutherlin — 20 years old
  • Sarena Dawn Moore of Myrtle Creek — 44 years old
  • Lawrence Levine of Glide — 67 years old. Mr. Levine was the teacher
  • Jason Dale Johnson of Winston — 33 years old.
  • Lucas Eibel of Roseburg — 18 years old.
  • Kim Saltmarsh Dietz of Roseburg — 59 years old.
  • Quinn Glen Cooper of Roseburg — 18 years old.
  • Lucero Alcaraz of Roseburg — 19 years old.

were living, sentient beings, capable of experiencing all of life’s emotions, capable of making others happy, capable of having a positive influence upon to the society within which they lived in. They were the members of families, families that will suffer forever due to the actions of a mentally ill man, that the second amendment grants the right to arm. It seems simple, two groups with the agendas of the pharmaceutical companies and the NRA, can’t both be allowed to influence a government. Their argument are so conflicting that they can only lead to the death and chaos we continue to see.

The Sympathy Will Run Dry

It’s almost unreasonable to expect people remain sympathetic to a repeating situation that the nation refuses to act on? These tragedies have become so frequent that we are becomming desensitized to them. Sometime in the not too distant future school shootings will be reported after the latest celebrity gossip of the Kardashians.

When someone who is known for self harming do you give sympathy or take away their means of inflicting damage upon themselves? If America were a person it would be demonstrating all the characteristics of someone in denial of self harm. America is like any addict, we are in denial that we have a problem, and by the time that we come round to the fact, our addiction may have slipped passed its tipping point.

One thing is for sure, as long as the NRA continues to lobby government, corrupt the political system, and be partly accountable for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, they will continue to be giving us all the atomic finger.

Atomic Finger
The National Rifle Association continue to bamboozle government, presenting facile and banal arguments that help facilitate mass murder. The NRA, proud defenders of the Second Amendment, and then, perhaps most disturbingly, at the bottom of their website’s first page the state: “The NRA is closer than you think”. https://home.nra.org/

One thing is for sure, as long as the NRA continues to lobby government, corrupt the political system, and be partly accountable for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, they will continue to be giving us all the atomic finger.

 

Gonzo symbol