Back in 1979 or so, there was a riveting anti-littering commercial that featured the visage of a proud Native American with a tear rolling down his cheek as he looked out at the vast amount of trash we Americans were disposing of simply by dumping it out of our car windows. While the campaign was somewhat effective, we still can see a substantial amount of litter along highway exit ramps today.
What was left unsaid in the commercial was the fact that Native Americans had inhabited this land for thousands of years while living in harmony with nature, and in less than four hundred years, the new arrivals from Europe had despoiled the landscape, poisoned the waters, and paved over a paradise. So who really were — or are — the “savages?”
More insidiously, our elected officials have stood by and allowed corporations to spew an untold amount of dangerous toxins into the environment, especially in poor communities, thus engaging in environmental racism, all in the name of the Great God Profit. “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana is one of the more egregious examples of putting profits over the lives of people (particularly those of color), but it’s certainly not the only one. There are literally hundreds of environmental “hot spots” around the country negatively impacting on the health of citizens.
So when conspiracy theorists put forth the claim that the coronavirus pandemic is caused by 5G cell phone towers being built across nations, the theory is making sense to a growing segment of the population due to extreme distrust of government. And even when it’s pointed out that countries such as Iran which has no 5G towers still has a high rate of coronavirus, the conspiracy crowd dismisses the folks who point out this flaw in their hokum as either being “in on the plot”, or simply are uninformed dupes.
Indeed, there is little that can be done to counteract this type of thinking, especially in the Internet Age, where a lie can spread around the globe twice before truth can get out of bed and get fully dressed. It’s symptomatic of the fear and helplessness people feel about things outside of their control.
Nonetheless, some of these conspiracy theories are downright dangerous, such as the one propagated by anti-VAXers. In some instances children of entire religious communities (especially in New York State) are being put at risk because of the sincere beliefs held by their parents that vaccinations are dangerous. In some cases courts have had to step in to protect children from the foibles of their misguided parents.
In the case of the coronavirus, many lives are being endangered due to the fact that people who believe the pandemic is caused by cell phone towers or is merely a hoax, a theory that was initially given credence by individuals at the highest level of our government.
So here’s a new conspiracy theory for you: tRump sent his son-in-law Jared Kushner to China to pay the government there to create a virus that would decimate America, knowing that blacks would die at much higher numbers due to preexisting conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and other serious medical conditions. The documented result has been almost six times as many blacks are dying from the virus than whites. The maniac in the White House obviously is willing to allow some whites — a much smaller amount — to die as long as more blacks succumb, thus shrinking the black voting population and assuring his reelection. The sad thing is many black people go right along and further this diabolical plan, like the 1200 black worshipers that packed a church in Louisiana last Sunday, while still refusing to wear protective masks.
How do you like that for a conspiracy theory?
