Why I'd Take The Blue Pill

These days it's very hard not to be aware of politics in the US. I hold my hand up, it has always fascinated me, so I actively follow it. But it's getting insanely hard to miss - even if you have no inclination, intention or interest, there it is, reaching out its slimy tentacles and making a mess of everything from the meaning of truth, to decency, to language and ultimately, our sense of security. Politics is no longer boring - it's the ultimate graphic novel filled with cliff hangers, superheroes and villains with superpowers (though, by the grace of God, severely lacking in leotard apparel), hidden agendas and a storyline in which the townspeople are merely background actors to be leveraged, hurt or delivered, but for the most, ignored.

I don't post often of Facebook, by which I mean I am quite selective and not a lot is political content. If I do, it's either because something really hit a nerve, or as a vailed jab at a position I don't agree with, espoused by someone in my bubble.

On this occasion however, I accidentally shared a video on the page of one of the late-night show hosts I follow, making fun of Trump for his latest stunt - couldn't tell you which one it was, but you can essentially take your pick. I realized I had shared the post because I got a message out of the blue from a connection who wanted to know how I could possibly support Biden and the democrats when they have been so detrimental to black people in the US, which soon lead to the actual objection: that Biden is a pedophile, like Clinton and Bill Gates, by association with Jeffrey Epstein.

And then it hit me: Qanon. And if not, well you know, tomato-tomato.

I looked closer to the sources she'd sent me - nothing reputable. I asked her some probing questions about how she backs up her claims and the answer was along the lines "everybody knows". I looked at her trail of logic reasoning - assumption, relation, conclusion and honestly, the mental leaps were Olympics-grade. Rejection of material evidence and baseless assumptions, when it doesn't support her argument. Needless to say, she hadn't convinced me; I hadn't swayed her. I'm not sure about her, but I certainly felt drained and somewhat ashamed of having wasting a good half hour on this. It's a guilty pleasure.

This is where The Matrix comes in. I love the film and I remember having to watch it twice when it first came out, so I could make some heads or tails of it. I was delighted by it - it contained a sense of existential mystery which only reveals itself to the worthy and prepared (and I felt like I totally got it), it was a battle which the ultimate truth eventually won and it was so god damn cool. I'd have totally taken the red pill! I mean, just the fact that you are asked, assumes you would.

Fast-forward to a decade later and I'm thinking: hang on! What is the premise of The Matrix? Even as I watching it for the fist time, all those years ago, I felt for the guy who sells them out because he wants to taste a juicy stake and have sex with a hot woman, as opposed to wearing torn clothes, eating tasteless food and living in a dungeon-like setting. I mean, okay, you take the red pill, you see reality for what it is and clearly it's a lot crappier than the matrix and you fight the bad guys, so everyone can take the red pill and live crappily ever after? Why would anyone want that - for themselves and their fellow humans? Perhaps, it's all about subconscious selfishness, disguised in conscious righteousness - I got conned into taking this pill and frankly, it's not doing a whole lot for me so I'll trick my mind into believing this is the way, the cause so may as well get busy reinforcing beliefs and spreading the gospel.

That, to me, is the crux of conspiracy theories. They take away your ability to believe that in a three dimensional life, a straight line is the shortest way from A to B and give you this constant need to apply quantum laws and thinking to the same equation, in the same conditions. The worse bit is that, like The Matrix, they offer no vision of the world to be inherited after all the truth seeking and exposing, no timelines, no coordinates and no expected benefits (other than, of course, having defeated the bad guys).

In the context of my friend's friend above, who incidentally was on her second strike with me on stuff like this (sending over copious amounts of dubious and unsolicited info on yes, you guessed it, vaccines - of course she's an anti-vaxxer!), I had to consider her position. She is convinced of these occult machinations which are eating up her time and I would venture a guess and say giving her grief, frustration, depression and all sorts of negative vibes and she is aware that "the machine" is working against her and she is powerless to stop it - she knows this because every day she digs up more and more evidence to this. So what could possibly be in it for her, other than, perhaps a sick satisfaction that you're on to them.

Meanwhile, the actual machine, the one that is way more lay in nature, form and objectives - the individuals and organizations in politics and business that are not acting in good faith, or got out of hand because the system has evolved to allow it, with real consequences for real people, is left the its own devices.

Deflect attention, keep them busy, keep them doubting. It's funny until it isn't.

The rise of Qanon in America from a ludicrous theory on 8chan to a mainstream movement, with followers running for elected Government positions is straight out of the dystopian novel handbook. I remember hearing about Qanon less than 2 years ago when I was listening to a podcast - Reply All and the hosts were making fun of it. Then "pizzagate" happened and an actual person was sentenced to 4 years in prison for attacking a pizza place with a gun. And this is only the beginning. Trump and trumpism is stoking the flames, whilst government contracts are awarded, arms deals made, genocides ignored or encouraged and people's health and safety traded and sold to the highest bidder.

This is why I take the blue pill every day and try to fix the matrix, inasmuch as I can, rather than be miserable chasing after the architect with no blue prints to show me.

This episode of Reply All explains the evolution of Qanon and it's super interesting: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/llhe5nm