I’ve long struggled to understand why some people cling so tightly to conspiracy theories around things like 9/11 or the COVID vaccine, but I recently heard something that helps with that understanding.
In listening to the “Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” podcast (which I recently wrote about), the host shared a bit about why people think this way and used JFK as an example:
“The idea that one guy can order a rifle and fire off a couple of lucky shots and change the entire trajectory of the world is terrifying. Because how are you going to guard against that in the future? In a strange way, it’s comforting to think that there was this vast conspiracy between the CIA, the Cubans, the mafia and whoever else to kill JFK because that at least lets you know that somebody is in control, even if it’s someone evil or horrible, as opposed to the idea that things are just random.”
This also helps me better understand much of the weird politicizing around sex trafficking. It’s an awful thing, no doubt, but the numbers you hear about are way overblown and many of the stories you hear about it just simply aren’t true. People want to believe it’s this huge worldwide QAnon style group that’s trafficking millions of kids underneath pizza joints, when it’s really just a whole bunch of very bad people doing very bad things.
Without a villian to go after, it becomes much harder to feel safe. People can be evil, and things can be random, but also remember that the world is a better place than most news outlets will lead you to believe.
