How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything (Mike Rothschild)

[@righteousrico]

" Those who can make you believe in absurdities , can make you commit atrocities. "......Voltaire.

[@kurteisner67]

The irony of you believing something absurd, i.e.this quote being from Voltaire, and a lot of people upvoting it, seems to be completely lost on you. I guess that's the point, is it not?

[@righteousrico]

@@kurteisner67 That what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

[@kurteisner67]

@@righteousrico Erm... Well then. Then I'll dismiss your fake quote, since you provide no evidence for it. *You* claimed this quote is from Voltaire, the burden of proof is on you to prove that! But since I feel generous today, here's the refutation to your fake quote. Look up: OUEVRES COMPLETES DE VOLTAIRE SUR LES MIRACLES, page 451 This is the text passage from Voltaire that originated the fake quote. You'll note that it's somewhat similar, but still, this can't even count as a bad translation. It's entirely wrong. Indeed, it was people like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker misquoting Voltaire that made this quote popular, even though Voltaire never said anything like that. Actually, the so-called "quote" is an English proverb known since the 19th century and not related to Voltaire.

[@kurteisner67]

@@righteousrico Voltaire's *actual* quote reads: _"Certainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde es en droit de vous rendre injuste."_ (Source above) Translated by Norman Lewis Torrey as: "Certainly any one who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices." Both the context and the quote are different, and ironically enough, the English version was anti-French propaganda. P.S. So yes, you misquoting Voltaire with anti-French propaganda and then coming at me for pointing that out is hilariously absurd... someone made you believe absurdities. I'll leave the rest to you.

[@righteousrico]

@@kurteisner67 I shall stand corrected since you have apparently provided proof and evidence that the quote is inaccurate. However, if it is a old English proverb , as defined roughly as a general truth or observation, then I still firmly agree with the quotation regardless of its true source . It really is unimportant who actually came up with the concept.

[@staubach1979rt]

The irony of the author's name being Rothschild is delicious!

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

Are you asserting that there are not billionaire globalists named Rothschild that control vast political and monetary resources?

[@jps0117]

@@rickyrayrosenberg420 Are you asserting that you are being sarcastic?

[@simonrae3048]

@@jps0117 I'm 50/50 on Gary. Sarcastic or f555wit. Can't make up my mind. Back to you Garington

[@richardouvrier3078]

My father went to a Rothschild's house for dinner. There was a Modigliani painting on the wall probably worth many millions. They are out there and they have money and power. They own The Economist magazine.

[@craigmhall]

There's an idea in formal logic that "false implies anything" - I often like to think of this as, if you are convinced of a false premise, you can justify any conclusion. To me, skepticism - and seeking truth - is about choosing what you accept as true very cautiously, and even then, not holding on to any idea too firmly.

[@Ometecuhtli]

I think it was Bertrand Russell who said he wouldn't want to die defending his beliefs because he might've been wrong.

[@Supermanohman]

I personally believe that strongly held convictions are unhealthy because they close our mind.

[@theprinceofcrows8691]

Yes, exactly!!! I have been making this point myself with highly subjective belief systems. It is always from mistaking beliefs, narratives, fiction, opinions, and other non factual subjective things as actual literal objective facts. They cannot distinguish the error in how they see it and are convinced by their false perception and it happens to very smart people too. The thought process needs to be reprogrammed to see the difference before the belief can be corrected. That is why schools need to focus on how to think and reason using logic and not just teach what to think, remember, and repeat. The other thing is they often have a reason to make them need to hold the belief from a psychological perspective. Insecurity, fear of the alternative, low self esteem, acceptance by others, and other reasons they lean toward magical thinking to compensate. This can make tbe thinking seem contradictory to declared goals and other positions or otherwise rational thinking.

[@MasterOfDarkness42069]

"Big events must have big causes." Falling into this trap of belief is one of the most common traits of conspiratorial thinking.

[@Sluzbo80]

Uss liberty

[@Goettel]

Anything will be believed by somebody, no matter how crazy.

[@sulljoh1]

With 8 billion people - you can find a few to do/believe absolutely anything You can probably find enough to make them feel like a "growing threat"

[@ricardoconqueso]

The problem now is that social media makes these people think they have an army of support. Back in the old times, they would die alone with their conspiracies.

[@ArcadianGenesis]

Anything you can imagine, someone somewhere believes it. 😅

[@heavymeddle28]

I believe that 😅

[@meshgraphics]

There's a lot of cognitive dissonance in this discussion. The participants list several good reasons not to trust the government yet somehow come to the conclusion that the rich and powerful are honest people who would not interfere with the tedious, boring paperwork of bureaucracy.

[@ricardoconqueso]

Corrupt, self interested politicians are nothing new, but there is no DEEP STATE or satanic cult eating babies for adrenochrome. The people who influence government, we know about. Corporate lobbyists who make campaign contributions and kick backs.

[@meshgraphics]

@@ricardoconqueso The billionaires r our frens

[@theprinceofcrows8691]

@@ricardoconqueso Exactly, and just because the government has given reasons for people to distrust it and be skeptical, it does not make every conspiracy likely or even possible. Some people attempt to make a leap in logic that because something is a fact it makes the belief they hold by extension a fact when there just isn't supportive evidence for it to be treated as a fact.

[@mugdays]

Weird how people have already thumbed down this 1.5 hour video just 8 minutes after it was uploaded...

[@staubach1979rt]

How do you know that?

[@mugdays]

@@staubach1979rt I commented when it had only been up for 8 minutes

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

Qanon has always been a media creation and larp. It was a joke on 4 Chan. The media thought it was real and didn't understand any of it. They pick out the random 5 or 10 people in a crowd that are playing along and then smear the crowd in general as "conspiracy theorists".

[@joemarker1]

@@rickyrayrosenberg420 qanon got legitimately nutty at a certain point. You're mostly correct, but q anon has so much going against it, I wouldn't say it's a good use of time defending them. I will say though that there are a lot of things that corporate media and the government lies to us about or doesn't acknowledge, and on and around January 6th when things reached a fever pitch, there was a lot of bullshit swirling around that was dismissed as conspiracy before it was able to be examined thoroughly. I don't know to what degree the election was fair or not. But there were absolutely things that should have caused anybody to raise an eyebrow and media outlets outright refused to acknowledge them. I recall KZbin itself issuing a statement that because it was an "historic election", that it would not allow its platform to be a purveyor of contrary viewpoints. The lies and corruption are everywhere, and some people don't really see it. And many times the people who do see it misinterpret things and it gets blown out of proportion. I am sympathetic to the reasons that the movement got its rise, but it became truly wacky.

[@staubach1979rt]

@@mugdays Oh. Got it.

[@ApplesOranges123]

I have watched this all the way through. I agree with most of it. I am a skeptic and critical thinker. I don’t agree, EVER, with censorship. I believe in 1st Amendment Rights. I surprised Michael didn’t push back more. He just reviewed a book on The New York Times yellow journalism.

[@ezbody]

That's the problem with a dogmatic, black and white, thinking -- it turns off your rational reasoning, even your sense of self-preservation. For example, you believe that anyone, at anytime should have an unrestricted ability to convey any information they want to you. A lot of people will find an issue with that already, but you still insist an no censorship EVER. OK, how about your children? Should anyone be able to influence your children without any restrictions? That's where the majority of parents will exercise their right to... that's right -- to censor the information their children have access to. What about the mentally disturbed, violence prone people? Should anyone be able to manipulate them, even if it puts the lives of others in danger? What if it's a deliberate attack on a group of people, using deception and manipulation in order to dehumanize them, opening a path to atrocities? We all know it happened before, many times. Why, then, should we be so careless as to allow for it to happen? Just to preserve an ideal for the sake of it?

[@Hirnlego999]

"I don’t agree, EVER, with censorship" Yeah you do. Would be OK with videos on YT containing pedophilia? Not making the question loaded just for the sake of it, just trying to get you understand that you also are in favor of some limitations. We all are.

[@crypticnomad]

"I believe in 1st Amendment Rights" "I believe in Tuesday" Instead of saying you believe in something that would be totally irrational to not believe in, like not believing there are 1st amendment rights in the US constitution or that Tuesday doesn't exist, just say what you really mean.

[@cjfroese70]

Great conversation, thank you!

[@dustincastellanos9138]

My now ex girlfriend got into Q years ago...this guy nails it.

[@sketcharmslong6289]

Brutal

[@ryanellsworth7246]

I feel sorry for your ex. She is obviously more intelligent than you are.

[@etherego2913]

Did she talk about the McCan case and John Podesta? The Podesta brothers match the suspect sketches in the case. They were supposedly staying 1/3 mile away from where she disappeared in Sigmund Freud’s grandson’s mansion who’s a suspected pedo. He was gone when she went missing but when he returned he invited the family over to his mansion. I suspect that the parents might have sold her and he compensated them. Also, Andrew Briehtbart tweeted that John Podesta was a underage sex slave op cover uperer in 2011 and there’s a video of what strongly appears to be John Podesta torturing a kid for mk ultra/ sra purposes. Parts of the video can be seen on here but it’s still disturbing

[@ezbody]

@@etherego2913 Have you heard about the 84000 cases of child molestation within the Boyscouts (just one of the many "god-fearing" organisations out there with this issue)? You are not aware of that? Oh, that's right, in your world everything is backwards -- good is evil and evil is good. When you do evil it's not true, but when "they, the godless ones" are baselessly accused of doing evil, it must be true no matter what. You are a moral fraud and a hypocrite, engaged in a well known psychological trickery of belittling others in order to elevate yourself.

[@etherego2913]

@@ezbody of course I have lol why are you making assumptions that I don’t know about that? It’s not just the boyscouts, but plenty of churches, religious people, and others who claim to be righteous people are involved in evil. And cue doesn’t promote idol worshiping christianity.

[@garrywillits8025]

What Michael is talking with randomness is poisson distribution which is really counter intuitive and fascinating.

[@chriswhitt6618]

This book could do so much good regarding helping to steer people out of or away from these crazy conspiracy theory cult groups. Let’s hope so.

[@Raydensheraj]

There is already a library full of books like these...most individuals spending money on a book like this read it for confirmation of their own scepticism or those interested in wacky Pseudoscience...

[@chriswhitt6618]

@@Raydensheraj no, there isn’t any books that directly address the very latest issues regarding this current state of affairs.

[@BrianBattles]

Deprogramming someone or extracting them from a cult is exactly the same as convincing them their religion is absurd

[@megankwisdom]

Listening to this now, that comment about "the science" and covid vaccines did not age well woof 😬

[@patharvard]

Michael, How about balancing out the conversation by doing an interview about BlueAnon (the Russiagate conspiracy) with expert liberal guests such as Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and Aaron Mate. Discuss the Michael Sussman indictment.

[@zebonautsmith1541]

I am still unclear as to whether oil pulling does or does not kill bacteria. It either does or it doesn't. This should be very easy to test.

[@marlontorres3128]

Can we get him booked on Joe Rogan’s show?

[@sulljoh1]

That would be good for humanity. His audience should contain QAnon-sympathetic people

[@mkilptrick]

Great guest interview! I mean great!!

[@mikeq5807]

No to government control

[@XXISecolo]

I love the Saturn V model on your desk

[@madis_l9578]

Question we should constantly ask - are we sceptical enough if covering this topic? For me this Q thing feels somewhat artifcial ie some kind of construct.

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

What conspiracy theory ISN'T "some kind of construct"? That's how CT's work- Some guy/group CONSTRUCTS a narrative (eg "the elites are secretly reptililan aliens" meme that was constructed by Icke, or "the elites invented the globe, but really earth is flat" that was constructed by Sam Rowbotham), and people either start to believe that narrative, or they don't. At this point, it doesn't even matter whether or not the "Q" meme was deliberately constructed, or not- Once the CT has sincere believers, it takes on a life of it's own, and becomes the same as any other conspiracy theory. "Constructed" or not, Q-tards are just as sincerely convinced that they're the only ones with "teh REAL troof", as the adherents of any other conspiracy. [But it's super-common for followers of 'conspiracy theory A' to assert that 'conspiracy theory B' is just made-up nonsense that no-one really believes, or which was deliberately created just to make conspiracy theories look dumb and gullible. UFO believers often make this claim about flat-earthers, while flat-earthers make essentially the same claim about UFO believers- Both group believes that the other is "a psy-op" and "controlled opposition", that was deliberately created by the spooky, nefarious conspirators, in order to throw """truth-seekers""" off the scent, and to divert the dumb and gullible (although it IS kinda funny how even conspiracy theorists admit that conspiracy theorists are frequently dumb and gullible...)]

[@joemarker1]

Madis, how do you mean?

[@mikeq5807]

Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin are effective therapeutics

[@Ometecuhtli]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Model_List_of_Essential_Medicines

[@mikeq5807]

@@Ometecuhtli WHO is corrupt. Not to be trusted.

[@rickveleke6966]

even you believed he was a billionaire

[@mikeq5807]

Never give up your freedom

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

Hey Michael! Let me scold you: I am listening while repairing guitars! Sure it's routine for me, but I wouldn't call it brainless. (

[@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104]

Rothschild is a good name for a critic of conspiracy theories!

[@jerryholliday5367]

Was there any success in denazification of Germans after WW2?

[@georgemanka]

Michael’s same jokes every podcast. Love it.

[@michaelo.1320]

And the dumb laugh that always follows them

[@TheDjpdjp]

the only difference between falsely accused conspiracy theory and truth is time

[@Borrow919]

Wow. His name is Rothschild. How ironic. I just had to ... I just did!

[@flipgsp]

I googled Qanon and nothing popped up except articles panicking about Qanon. Is there a website or something?

[@barbaraannen8126]

Starts @6:30

[@markrussell4682]

Will oil pulling cure gout? I need Senator Oz to answer me. 😮

[@mikesthoughtsonplants.9857]

My space was better than Facebook.....

[@geraldmaybebaby1585]

I liked the video. I genuinely knew little about qnon. It's always been on the periphery of my view. But I have to disagree with the latter opinions of the video. The people who want everyone vaccinated and wearing masks, think they are the most important people in the world.

[@Muonium1]

Starts moderately interesting and predictably devolves into just another episode of the TDS Hour With [insert guest name here].

[@quantumdecoherence1289]

What's more disturbing than the belief in this nonsense are the 44 dislikes from these kooks.

[@mikeq5807]

Yes to real gold and silver

[@pacodogtule]

Qanon exists on the internet only. I’ve never met anyone that gives a shit about Qanon that wasn’t a “liberal”. Like mountain climbers concerned with The Matterhorn” in Anaheim, Ca.

[@richardparker2555]

They're real. I personally know people who did get pulled into this scary crap and the effects it has had on their lives hasn't been good.

[@pacodogtule]

@@richardparker2555 “Tempest in a tea pot” I’m sure there are believers out there somewhere. Just not near my circle of friends…Could be our lack of higher modern education.

[@bphennesy]

He IS the messiah!

[@theprinceofcrows8691]

I think this has a unique design that is like a fingerprint of sorts to explain its origins. I think this was designed to tap a large diverse group of people of various backgrounds and by using conspiracies to boost the Donald Trump voter base using fringe group people. The various threads that connect back to Q are different groups that are woven together around Q and Trump. It is one of the unique ways he was able to add to the population of GOP voters that swung the election. It bound them to him in a very committed way but they would not have supported a GOP politician like Bush II and had a long history of being on bbs and forums based around the individual conspiracies. I suspect it was done after reviewing a lot of research and reviewing data by strategists like Bannon. It was a clever and very intricate marketing ploy(Cambridge Analytica) used to bolster the number of voters for the GOP. Trump was clearly able to draw on untapped potential outside the typical GOP roster and he used some really clever ideas to do it. He was willing to cross lines and do things no one else had done and this is one of the secrets to his unlikely success. It was planned out using a lot of scientific fields and each component woven together to compliment the other. Maybe this will be revealed one day but I think this is the most plausible explanation and why it is so unique in comparison to all other conspiracies.

[@dubbleplusgood]

I'm only 21 minutes into this so maybe they will mention it later. But Mike just described a few of the major elements of QAnon but I didn't hear him mention one of the factors I noticed being a major draw for supposedly normal and often younger followers of Q - anti-abortion. I had several Facebook friends who I knew to be nonpolitical, young and religious and they increasingly shared anti abortion memes and articles branded with Qanon logos. That's part of why I stopped using Facebook, it was getting too crazy for me, and upsetting to learn that good people could believe so much garbage.

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

Is it possible people just don't like the idea of people murdering babies? I mean - I don't think they have a soul but I also don't think old people have a soul or people that are asleep have a soul or people that are unconscious have a soul but I don't think that you can murder people that are unconscious or old or unable to speak for themselves so why can we murder babies?

[@shaun906]

@@rickyrayrosenberg420 because a fetus is none of the above? Gary has decided to give women lessons on their own body? plus I doubt a woman/ child would want to give birth to a baby conceived by an incestuous rape! q) so what if the birth will kill both of them? so again it's not for you to judge!

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

@@shaun906 What is a woman? Today I identify as a woman and I think your presumption that you can tell me what I can do with my own body is silly. I get that you have decided that human rights are things that you can throw away when they are inconvenient to you but I'm just not as much a nazi as you are

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

@@cubangal1 i am as much or as little of a woman as you are

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

that's just because Q was always a conservative movement- Of course they're going to correlate with touchstone conservative positions, whether it's "pro-Life", or anti-gun control, or anti-immigration, or a dozen other standard conservative memes.

[@VladyslavKL]

🕊

[@50-50_Grind]

40:29 "... greatest power in history ..." Mongol empire? British empire?

[@cpdukes1]

Sorry dude, the the yahoos who invaded the Capital are anything but normal, well educated or intelligent.

[@blbphn]

the selection bias saga continues -- oblivious to the effect of perpetuating and exaserbating societal polarization....where will it end?

[@paulpaintshop103]

This video aged like Milk 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MikeHunt-rw4gf]

Algorithm.

[@djflobug]

PS- "I don't see how punching a Nazi is effective" That's the same lib logic that let Charlottesville happen. If you're not comfortable with street actions, fine, whatever. But if you think that it's the ONLY aspect of what Antifa is dismissive and offensive

[@mrcrowly11]

Antifa should fight themselves.

[@mikeq5807]

Yes to bitcoin

[@chalfontstgiles4307]

Russiagate?!

[@Khemith_Demon_Hours]

You mean the investigation that got many prosecutions and both the Mueller and the Senate report say that Trump got help from the Russians?

[@et1016]

I can’t take anyone seriously who works for CNN or the NYT.

[@jasonklimes2231]

Do you take someone that works for Fox or OAN seriously?

[@davenchop]

@@jasonklimes2231 no just as bad...all sensationalize everything then people like shermer add to it.. just another liberal only seeing one side of the idiots on both sides...

[@fullmatthew]

@@davenchop I'm no great fan on the NYT, but if you think they're as bad as OAN, you are divorced from reality.

[@drewbruni4668]

Not a conspiracy, FBI presence on Jan 6

[@rickyrayrosenberg420]

No, you're not allowed to accept that the federal government uses dummies as useful idiots on both sides of the aisle. You have to believe that the entirety of the summer of 2020 and all of the riots were completely organic.

[@mikeq5807]

Keep your weapons, second amendment

[@mikeq5807]

Media lie

[@kennethobrien8386]

Rothschild? Ironic, no?

[@vapor9042]

Jesus is real Mr.Shermer, hundreds of testimonies on KZbin, keep an open heart and don't close it off from the Lord. May God Bless you

[@jamessoltis5407]

Hundreds of testimonies on KZbin? Wow, you’ve completely convinced me. Where do I sign up?

[@Neeboopsh]

the people you definitely want to talk about "qanon" should have names like rothschild, or soros, etc. =)

[@erixoz8535]

Building 7 genius.

[@davidbaker8483]

How to talk to a CNN er?

[@DISASTERJOE]

Rothschild