Conspiracy
I have always had some pretty imaginative takes on the world. But like most people, I used to count on News to give me facts about what is happening. Yet more and more, I realize that facts are scarce or distorted, but opinion and fictionalized events are huge.
It is difficult to know what is real and what is not. Recently I have had the opportunity to speak with some people who are steeped in conspiracy, particularly about the environment. They are convinced that government and private industry are seeding our atmosphere with metal particulates which increases warming. (shaking of head) Others do not believe that pollution is a problem. They would rather expand clean coal industries and abandon the expensive alternative energy movement that is filled with liberal hype and lies. (sigh; No science in that one.)
The number and details of the conspiracies that are out there are impressive, but I like to keep my fiction and nonfiction separate. It helps me stay sane. While I find it entertaining observing how easily people fall for a lie, it is also pretty scary.
Not only do these conspiracies muddy the waters on every important issue of our time, they also distort our views of each other across educational, economic, racial, and religious boundaries, tearing our society apart.
People are being spoon-fed a bunch of lies as truth and told that truth, which admittedly can be strange, are lies. No wonder people are having difficulty with truth and fiction.
The danger is that when enough people believe the lies, they can be directed to turn against someone. A great sign that something is a conspiracy is when someone seemingly wraps up fact after fact against individuals or an institution with no action taken. If the facts support charges in America, then charges are at least discussed and often levied, otherwise, do not believe the hype.
The media does its best to report facts, but they are often deceived, they are also under an obligation to sell the news. In many cases the news is not interesting enough without some added drama and excitement. Cross out all the drama and you can usually find the facts.
In any case, the fictionalizing of news is something we all need to be aware of because we can be easily set against one another based on a lie. Don’t fall for ”news” that denigrates a group, no matter who they are. As I say in my books, different is NOT wrong.