What if I told you that the United States government and media are controlled by a secret cabal of devil worshipers dedicated to the mass kidnapping of children?
According to the criteria of
Well, according to a recent survey, the 17% of Americans believe this is the case.
Another 30% believe the 2020 US presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
An additional 36% think that The Covid-19 pandemic was deliberately planned by a global elite.
If these figures are anything to go by, a worrying number of Americans believe that reality is not what it seems or even espouse conspiracy theories known collectively as QAnon, which has become something of a quasi-religious cult since its emergence. in 2017.
The general doctrine of QAnon is that the “deep state,” a supposed secret network of global elites with their own political agenda, runs world affairs.
Although this may seem ridiculous, there is an element of this doctrine that philosophers long took very seriously: that, as far as we know, our understanding of the world around us is deeply distorted.
He was the famous French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes who in the 17th century articulated this idea, often referred to as radical doubt or skepticism, in his “Metaphysical Meditations.”
Realizing that many of his previous beliefs were wrong, Descartes posited that an all-powerful “evil genius” might be systematically deceiving him about his most basic convictions, much like QAnon followers’ belief about how the supposed deep state It deceives us today.
Starting from this, Descartes set out to demolish any belief that was not “completely true and indubitable.”and then “start again from the ‘foundations’.”
The “Messiah” Trump
Just as Descartes sought certainties about the world, QAnon followers (known as QAnons) hope the day of judgment that their anonymous leader would have prophesied, a figure they call “Q” or “the storm”.
As radicalization researchers Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko have noted, This is the supposed day Trump will arrest those who support the deep state and will send them to Guantanamo Bay or execute them.
People will then be able to celebrate the “great awakening” and be freed from their delusion.
In the weeks leading up to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, they remained eerily silent, but there were some high-profile QAnons involved in the riot.
The storm was due to occur on January 20, 2021, the day of the US presidential inauguration. However, instead of dismantling the deep state, Trump left the White House.
Disappointed, The QAnons either reaffirmed their convictions or distanced themselves from the movement.
That was until November 2022, when Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
After two years, the messianic figure of QAnon had returned, and has since galvanized QAnons to once again wage battle against the deep state.
On February 11, he posted a call to arms on his Truth Social platform: “2024 is our Final Battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State… we will overthrow the Fake News Media, we will drain the pond and free the our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all.
Descartes found certainties in his ability to think: “I think, therefore I am” is his most famous quote.
The idea is that, even if he doubted his own bodily experience, he could not doubt his existence as a thinking subject. In short, doubting whether you are actually thinking is, in itself, a way of thinking.
This certainty, baptized as the “Cogito”, would give Descartes the basic instruments to escape the hypothetical deception of that “evil genius.”
A different “Cogito” seems to prevail in the general mantra of QAnon. “Where one goes, we all go.”
This is a call for solidarity among QAnons to “trust the plan”Q’s prophecy that Trump will prevail over the deep state.
But doesn’t that imply that there is at least something in the world worth trusting?
If there wasn’t, it would be difficult to even conceive of a plan to trust in the first place, and it would also be difficult to understand how QAnons could trust each other.
Thus, the very existence of QAnon must presuppose a degree of trust, which is a fundamental certainty for QAnons.
A social and existential refuge
Many QAnons “trust the plan” because they say they feel fearful, anxious, and isolated in the world.
Part of the credit that conspiracy theories and Trump have gained between them may be because they have taken advantage of this vulnerable emotional aspect.
Like any good conspiracy theory, QAnon claims to offer its devotees social and existential refuge. versus the deep state.
Like any good savior, Trump promises to destroy that deep state. This could explain why his 2024 presidential campaign has coincided with renewed support for QAnon.
Ultimately, QAnon is built on a trust that is rooted in fear and anxiety.
If one overcomes them, one has a better chance of escaping their domain. As is generally the case with any type of fear, courage is the typical antidote.
QAnons have a support network waiting for them, as many of those who sought online therapy to recover after the disappointment of Trump’s departure from the White House in 2021 found.
They just need the courage to look outside their circle.
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