Scientology criticism was one of my first passions in researching disinformation. It was a mix of being involved with the fraud in internet strategy games, especially online poker and a lot of just plain dumb luck, since shit happens. Before the key event, I was part of what I suspect was a large group of people that just thought it was some space alien weirdness that Tom Cruise was into. Which was no surprise he was involved , because Tom creeps me out to this day.
A co-worker thought I might enjoy a copy of Maxim magazine she had picked up somehow for free. Never turning down a chance to look at pict…read high quality journalism about guy stuff, I was all like, “Hell yeah, sure.” The amusement park ride was best described as a friend: “Come for the crazy. Stay for the human rights violations.” Here’s the type of literature I was now consuming, since I love dwelling in overwhelming negativity.
http://www.davidkushner.com/article/anonymous-vs-scientology/
This was well before Leah Remini escaped and not long after the South Park episode. And similar to a lot of flat earth/gematria/other “weird” stuff - a lot of the discourse revolved around how could people be stupid enough to fall for this? Just because you are savvy enough to not be involved in a cult doesn’t mean Dunning and Kruger aren’t that savvy.
Nowadays, the scapegoat is more generalized to anyone who has a science degree. Add on attacking someone who demonstrates any empathy in a job that to be effective requires some empathy (police, teachers, health care workers, you know - the everyday people that are the real heroes). Hubbard, no not the new cult leader*, L. Ron Hubbard, chose a specific target as the scapegoats. Psychiarty. The group of people that if they take their job seriously would be best suited to help people avoid getting involved with a cult masquerading as a religion. Giving brainwashed cult members a convenient target - check that box off on your cult bingo card.
It would require an entire other blog to recap what I learned about Scientology. And it’s not really necessary since the cat is pretty much out of the bag on that one now. Let’s turn back to our old friend Alex Jones. The scapegoat is now the government. Well, that’s an overused topic. Always has been the scapegoat, always will be the scapegoat. What a yawn fest. So what changed, what made it catch on?
To me - it seems fairly obvious the scapegoat is EVERYBODY. If dead children are crisis actors and your not allowed to mourn them, then pretty much nobody is safe. And with the crank and grift magnetism going around every con artist is looking at ways to point a finger at the most arbitrary targets. You did WHAT? That’s a Freemason hand gesture! Heretic, Satanic, Pedophile, how dare you wear purple clothes! We all know what that means. If only a knight with a duck could prove that the target doesn’t weigh the same as that duck….
In case you need a current example of how this works, I give you this:
https://amp.france24.com/en/live-news/20230513-meteorologists-targeted-in-climate-misinfo-surge
Apparently the solution to climate change is to make online death threats to weathermen because planes leave condensation behind them. The same people that fall for the long debunked chemtrail conspiracy and act like a shithead online are the same people that look for trouble in real life and are terrible employees.
It’s not my fault you failed science class. It’s not the weatherman’s fault you failed science class. It’s not the rest of the world’s fault the only class you passed is Having cognitive biases 101.
* Since there’s a Jimmy Butler is Michael Jordan’s son conspiracy going around here’s my version. Zach is actual L. Ron’s son and has modeled his cult by access to all the history of what works. Fictitious back stories. Targeting sports are rigged for a fresh scapegoat. Pumping up viewership by buying likes and followers. It all makes so much sense. The only thing that can change my mind is if he posts a video of his girlfriend hugging a weatherman.
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