Your thoughts on conspiracies - real and imagined

Yesterday's piece on the Joe-Rogan-to-Candace-Owens pipeline stirred a LOT of comments

Yesterday, I wrote about a conversation I’d had with “Steve,” a thirty-something guy who works at a local business and knows me through my appearances on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

These days, Steve has mostly given up on Rogan. Now he prefers Candace Owens. He thinks Candace asks good questions, particularly about Zionist/Israeli conspiracies.

He believes Israel was likely behind both Kirk’s killing and the shooting of Donald Trump in 2024 — and that we invaded Iran and didn’t fully release the Epstein files because Trump has been told his life is at risk if he doesn’t do what Israel wants.

(The full article is paywalled, but you can subscribe here to read it.)

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Lots of people have reasonable concerns about the Iran war, as well as Israel’s military campaigns and land seizures in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank.

That’s not what Steve was talking about.

He was alleging, in a just-asking-questions way, that Israel targeted the president of the United States to control American foreign policy — an act of conspiracy and war.

It should go without saying (and yet must be said) that this theory is entirely fictional.

Israel did not try to assassinate Donald Trump or Charlie Kirk. No one has offered evidence it did. We have overwhelming evidence Tyler Robinson shot Kirk, and he will be tried for Kirk’s murder in Utah at a date to be determined. The trial will be public (unless a judge agrees to the defense request to bar cameras from the courtroom).

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump in Pennsylvania, was killed during his assassination attempt. His body was immediately recovered. Crooks’s motive remains murky, but neither he nor Robinson had any connection to Israel.

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(Thomas Matthew Crooks, Sept. 20, 2003 — July 13, 2024)

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As I wrote yesterday, I have never had anything but pleasant conversations with Steve. I think he’s a nice guy.

I don’t think antisemitism is motivating Steve’s views about Israel.

But I think those views may be pushing him towards antisemitism.

As a practical matter, Steve views “Israeli” or “Zionist” as a synonym for “many Jews.” I know this because he mentioned “Jews” as well yesterday, more than once. Sometimes the podcasters making allegations like Steve’s distinguish, or claim to distinguish, between Israel and Jews. (Other times they do not.) But given that Israel is a Jewish state, many of their listeners or readers are going to hear “Jew” for “Israel,” as they know.

Again, to be clear: harshly criticizing Israel and Israeli foreign policy is not antisemitic. Many Jews criticize Israel harshly.

But claiming that Israel and unnamed rich, powerful people are using violence or conspiracy to control the United States and the world is an antisemitic trope. That’s what people like Candace Owens do, every single day.

And it’s hard to escape the feeling that they are gaining ground fast.

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You had strong opinions about yesterday’s story. It has generated over 200 comments already. Because it’s paywalled, they aren’t visible to non-paid subscribers. But I wanted to pull out some of the most interesting for everyone to read (including some that I don’t necessarily agree with, that is the Unreported Truths way).

And this article, like most UT articles, isn’t paywalled, so the conversation can continue for everyone today. I hope it will.

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(And if you find my work valuable, I hope you’ll subscribe!)

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Dave D.:

Thank you Alex for your spot-on analysis here. I am seeing the same thing and it Is disheartening to see how my many patriotic friends are gently being persuaded into conspiratorial and antisemitic viewpoints just as you have described.

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Oakes:

Putting the antisemitic aspects aside here for a moment, I think this story reflects the macro story that you’ve been chasing for as long as I’ve been reading you: the media, as an institution, has failed us.

When the media was even semi-reliable (as in, they made good faith efforts to be honest and fair even though they sometimes made mistakes or missed things that should have been obvious) we all had a shared foundation, shared set of facts from which to base our decisions. The drift of media away from truth seeking and towards some combination of entertainment, advocacy, and greedy marketing we not only don’t agree on conclusions we don’t agree on basic facts or inputs!

It would not be so bad it if were not for the fact that every other institution has failed as well — academia, political leadership, religion— all places that the population at large might have previously looked for leadership is tainted, self-serving, ineffective, or some combination of all three.

A lack of moral and cultural leadership leaves a huge gap in our collective experience. Nature abhors a vacuum. It feels like a very dangerous time for America.

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Jane:

News flash…the government lied (and continues to lie to us) about Covid. I think it woke a lot of people of up! Trust is lost and it’s not coming back! And…there have been countless “conspiracy theories” that have been proven true! In fact, our government coined the term “conspiracy theory”! Whole bunch of things just don’t make sense these days!

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Debra C.:

As someone who’s on various social media platforms, it is so easy to get erroneous information out there to the under-40 crowd. TikTok and Instagram are very engaging, and when you have influencers stating their beliefs as facts, it’s hard for these younger folks to discern what is true and what is not—and I’m talking about all issues. It’s very disconcerting the types of conversations I am having with people who believe all sorts of unproven theories.

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Lisa R.:

Whoever said we were past the "truth" era is correct. My own bright son is always relating some conspiracy. I tease him hard and then remind him to critically think. "Common is common" I say - the most common thing something could be, is usually what it is. Conspiracy theories in general, are for a lazy mind.

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Brian E:

Alex,

I look at this a little differently. I don’t believe that a persons likelihood to believe in conspiracies is the root of the issue. I put it on our government and both parties.

Government lied to us about covid and the covid vaccine. They silenced anyone who came out against their version. They manipulate government statistics for their benefit. They almost never prosecute those politicians and government employees who have broken the law. They also over-prosecute those they don’t like.

How can anyone have trust? It hasn’t been earned. The solution is transparency, honesty, and prosecutions for law breakers on both sides of the aisle. If government doesn’t restore trust, we will end up in that dangerous place you have described.