About a decade ago, through a series of synchronicities, I’ve come to learn about conspiracy theories and soon became fascinated with them. It started out as a light, fun read and eventually changed the way i look at things for good, although i guess that’s a story for another post. Since I’ve always been a bit of an outsider, i never really cared about what people thought of me. That’s why it wasn’t long before i started sharing such theories with those around me, despite their occasional adverse reactions. It was in fact a good and innocent way of testing among other things, their loyalty, patience and freedom of thought.
A couple of weeks ago, while talking to one of my best friends, after sending her a couple of links to what i thought were interesting articles, she finally requested that i let her live in her own little universe where everything’s fine. Later on, she even admitted to never having opened any links i sent her, simply because she assumed they’re the type of information that could shake her image of the real world. The response reminded me of the HTC vs iPhone viral video where the Apple fangirl(?) dismisses all the advantages of the competing product just because it’s a different brand by repeatedly saying “I don’t care”.
At that moment i realized that it didn’t really mattered how many videos i showed her or how much compelling the evidence on a certain subject was. Unless she became prepared to accept this type of information, nothing i did would have made any difference. On one hand, i truly understand it as a natural form of psychological protection against what would otherwise be a rather depressing outlook on the world. Still, simply pretending something is not there, doesn’t really make it disappear, as proven time and time again by human history. After all, we have plenty of examples in our day to day lives that refusing to address negative things in a timely manner only allows them to grow in strength and eventually require a whole lot of extra effort to eliminate.
As you can probably imagine, when dealing with this type of sensitive subjects, people showcase a wide variety of reactions ranging from complete disbelief due to their inability to entertain such “outrageous” facets of reality, then denying them due to a variety of reasons, despite secretly acknowledging their validity and eventually accepting them as fact. The sad thing about it is that it’s usually some form of fear generating these reactions. It doesn’t matter if it’s the unknown, ridicule, marginalization, personal or professional security, sadness or any other reason, since at the end of the day they all do a pretty good job in restricting the amount of possibilities we are willing to entertain. It’s all about going beyond your comfort zone, because every step you take further away from that little box where you feel safe, is making you stronger, it enriches your life and expands your universe.
Before you start labeling me as a lunatic propagandist, you should know that i really don’t care whether or not we share the same opinions regarding a certain situation or event. I like an intelligent debate any day of the week and i am aware that i might be wrong at times. However, i would never deny something or ridicule someone just because that’s what I’ve been told by others or that’s the recommended attitude dictated by the majority. As recent history has shown us, especially during elections, that very same majority is capable of making the most peculiar and absurd choices known to man, due either to a very loose grip on their emotions or a growing inability to rationalize the information they’re being constantly fed by the media.
Let’s for a second assume that there’s some truth in all those “slanderous accusations” regarding the way in which the ruling elite is calling the shots concerning the future (not so) well being of the commoners. Hearing some of these theories might seem shocking at first, but they obviously are about as depressing as what you normally experience on a daily basis through news and entertainment programs. In the end, you can actually gain some hope by having an allegedly more in depth view of the mechanisms that make the world go round and learning that you might actually hold the power to manifest change.
You could of course, go about with your life, refusing to even hear anything that’s not cheerful enough to make your 9 to 5 day sparkle. Indeed that’s a valid option and for a while it might even seem like the most comfortable one. However, what do you do when the things that seem so far away that would never impact your life suddenly become a harsh reality? What if, on your leisurely walk through a posh London neighborhood, you snap a couple of pictures only to be questioned or even detained by the ever vigilant protectors of peace? What if you get x-rayed to death and have your luggage searched like you were a security thread each and every time you board a plane? What if you end up not being able to buy vitamins and medicinal plants without a prescription, find organic food that hasn’t been genetically modified yet or control the amount of harmful chemicals in your diet?
What if you wake up one sunny day to realize that the freedom you once had is no longer there and that the picture perfect world you once thought was real, has become flooded with an endless list of restrictions that virtually take away everything that’s human in of your life.
