Willingness to follow

Conspiracy theories are the most significant way to clickbait me. I admit it I am a self-proclaimed junkie for the latest time traveler or political plot. I have my own theories about how long it will take a country to invade America. I think I am really on to something. It all started with a prince and an ex-president, but that is all I can say. And just like that, a chemtrail of ideas fall from the sky, see what I did there? I took my hunch and turned it into not one, but two unrelated theories wound together by words and thoughts. Are conspiracy theories a way humans bond with each other even if detrimental to their own fate? I asked this question to myself as I designed my theory about the takeover of America. Here are some things I found during my journey into the conspiracy world of theories.

First, let’s knock out some psychology. Jess Walker, Michael Barkun, and Murray Rothboard have published and outlined types of conspiracy theories. Rothboard proposes that all views are based on who benefits. He believes a person begins with a hunch and seeks out evidence to support it. When the faith has been challenged, a cascade of logic insulates the person from entertaining different analyses or proof. Barkun names three kinds of conspiracies, and Walker typed five, naming them the enemy outside, inside, above, enemy below, and benevolent conspiracies. A “us against them” mentality like the Nazi used and speaking of Nazi comes another psychologist Klaus Conrad. Conrad was a German neurologist and psychiatrist with important influences on neuropsychology and psychopathology. His work in schizophrenia was groundbreaking based on the Gestalt concept. He also used ketamine, a synthetic compound used as an anesthetic and analgesic drug, and also (illicitly) as a hallucinogen. He studied the detached emotion and subclinical prodromal disturbance; it is deep stuff. Which leads to the question of can some conspiracy theories be based on facts?

Klaus Conrad was not the only scientist experimenting with hallucinogens in 1953, Allen Dulles was the director of the CIA. He opened a project named MK_ULTRA that eventually led to an executive order. Dulles was interested in finding ways to extract information from spies. His program was to study the effects of LSD, hypnosis, electroshock therapy, and brain surgeries. The subjects included a Boston crime boss Whitney Bulger who at the time was incarcerated, and Ted Kaczynski is most famously known as the “Unabomber.” The study was using people that were in vulnerable states like the college-age Kaczynski and the incarcerated Bulger. MK-ULTRA led executive order #12333 from President Ronald Regan that says human experiments cannot be done without consent. A theory that governments use citizens as Guinee pigs is actually pretty fact-based. The conspiracy theories of big companies' control and government overreach are not far-fetched. The Latin meaning of conspiracy is a con (with, together) spirate (to breathe) links a connection as if we can connect by the breath of together with a psychotic dysfunction.

Klaus Conrad found people see connections that trigger a feeling even if it is abnormal in meaning. A specific separation due to privileged knowledge of the theorist is a “us and them” mentality. Because indeed, conspiracy theories do link people by their prejudices, wars, and genocide. Conspiracy theories are hyper-sized in connections and problematic on so many levels. This malevolent intent affects so much in the world. The lack of trust in science, radical ideas, health obstacles, and the economy at times. Today, we notice the lack of confidence in science has paved the road to a pandemic. The lack of clear leadership affected the economy and health while breeding conspiracy theories as people died. Mean 600,000 people died under the Trump administration, but Trump managed to tout every conspiracy theory instead of governing. So let talk about government and the right to catch all “freedom of speech.”

The glorious first amendment of the United States of America, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise, therefore; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

That is it in its entirety. Took the time to break each part down since it was so short. I figured I could manage it with minimal effort. Here is how that turned out. The establishment of religion is the basics of why public schools do not endorse praying on school grounds. The free exercise clause prohibits the government's interference to control the right to pray anywhere. Meaning legally, the public school teacher cannot open the class in prayer or suggest it. Still, the classmates can pray independently and together in class without inference from the police. I will insert here interpretation of the law is always up for debate even when it is not because of that thing about us interpreting our world from our point of view literally makes every opinion different on some scale. Also, keep in mind when the constitution was written, while I agree with the forethought of some laws, the understanding is from that time of those men. And as we learned, conspiracy may begin with “who has most to gain?” But praying is out of schools, at least for this moment, the Supreme Court has upheld and added sports games on campuses. I guess everyone cold chat AMEN and let the courts decide if it is a religious term or not. But I digress back to the breakdown of the first amendment “right.”

Abridging freedom of speech or the press includes being able to display a flag and yet burn another. Burning the American flag is a trigger for some North Americans personally, I think of the flag as all the soldiers who died for my chance at life. So, I wouldn’t set someone on fire, so I do not set the flag o fire. I feel this way about all flags now that I think about it. This part also includes writing, talking, printing, broadcasting, and the internet but does have some freedom limits. For instance, child pornography is not covered as freedom of speech or print, also commercial advertising, fighting words, truth, threats, defamation, and obscenity. These are considered “low laws.” Companies can not lie about their products knowingly; that is a good thing. Fighting words, defamation, obscenity, and true threats are comical in today’s world basically, half a day online covers violations of this part. I will let you do your own research for that humor. I have my limits.

What does not have limits is the right to peaceably assemble. This part allows mass communication and groups. Examples of this are suffragists, labor and civil rights activist, parades, even that Facebook group that blocked you from their tiny little world of nothingness. I didn’t want to be in that group anyway. I started my own group that publicly announces I hate them, and there isn’t shit they can do about it except unblock me. First amendment, baby. But then some Karen goes and petitions the government against Facebook, saying her rights are violated. Karen contacts her local state representative and wants to know about the law he has on Facebook, and he has to tell her, well, that law has become a formality.

Petitioning the government is written to hold officials accountable to the voters. It enables voters to know and ask questions about what the elected officials are doing without fearing punishment. Today while everyone is screaming about their rights, they are not using their rights to enforce the decency of elected officials. The one thing almost everyone agrees on is the American government is a mess. The conspiracy of government control is carried by the faces of people who have been in power far too long. I think it is a conspiracy theory that keeps them in office. The average age of Congress is what sixty? What else will they do now?

The control is not always for the community. Anyone can be a congress- person. We can use our right to petition our representatives about the details of the laws and force them to explain their views. Hold officials accountable, or we can argue over which party has the least amount of intelligence. See, when the government keeps dividing, the states keep dividing, and the people separate well, we are quick pickings for anyone with little balls. I mean, look at Trump -all he had to do was try. He violated so many laws it is hard to keep count, but that man has balls. He gives no fucks and decorates in gold and orange with sheer confidence.

I had a spray tan horror show one time and didn’t leave the house for three days. But not Trump, the fist full of first amendment turn arounds and he is back to the same cult leader as before.

I think the first amendment is somewhat more complex than I described because interpretation is needed. I found a connection of unrelated things jamming them together to tell me a story, and that allows me to feel more in control of the world around me. The world I designed to be evidence of my beliefs. My conspiracy theory is that America needs to watch the UAE, United Arab Emirates. I am by no means suggesting everyone from those regions is dangerous. I think the princes are banding together to control the waterways and, therefore, the oil flow within that region. This theory I designed came from the tiniest information I ran with one night hanging with Mary Jane. I went deep. I took notes. It was fun, then I think of the damage it could do to the people of the UAE, the ones living their lives. Having coffee, hugging their grandkids, doing the dishes, and I think when we forget about the details of things, we forget about the commonality between them and us. It is more challenging to conspire against someone I can see as myself. That is psychology too.

Now for the references see below

Aaron L. Mishara, Klaus Conrad (1905–1961): Delusional Mood, Psychosis, and Beginning Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 9–13, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbp144

Cahn, Lauren. “Twelve crazy conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true.” Australia Reader’s Digest. https://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/12-crazy-conspiracy-theories-actually-turned-out-be-true#.YRfeQQNLIh4.link

Frazier, Brionne. "MK Ultra: Inside the CIA's Mind Control Program." ThoughtCo, Aug. 1, 2021, thoughtco.com/mk-ultra-cia-mind-control-4174691.) CIA testing on Americans with LSD in a project known as MK-ULTRA

I am just going to offer the website which has all the first amendment information.

First Amendment - Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition | The National Constitution Center