Peper column: Conspiracy theories can be more spooky than Halloween
We’re now a couple weeks into a month that builds and normally ends with spooky sounds and strange costumes. Not sure we’ll end-up in that circumstance by the time that candy corn starts to harden this year. After all, it’s tough to socially distance and admire somebody’s effort to transform into Count Dracula. A virtual vampire doesn’t quite provide the desired chilling effect.
Who knows what Halloween will look like in a couple of weeks. I’m sorry kids will get the short-end of the broom stick. It just doesn’t seem like there’s any great justification for knocking on various people’s doors and waiting for them to handout some candy.
In the absence of that opportunity to dress-up like a hero or creepy character, I find myself wondering what prompts folks in this country, and elsewhere, to embrace something far more concerning, but still with elements of make-believe.
Do you know anybody that latches onto conspiracy theories? Don’t act like you’ve never heard of any.
These manufactured thoughts and premises have been around for decades and in the world of COVID, some people have taken some extreme liberties to explain why we are where we are.
Did you hear?
The first conspiracy theory to cross my conscience surfaced while in high school. Just a few days after man walked on the moon, there were people saying it was all a hoax. Anybody remember that? This was all staged in a secluded, government-sponsored bunker in a remote part of the desert.
As smart as many people are, there are others who’d rather embrace a more sinister storyline.
Through the years, various wackos would claim the Holocaust never happened and that even 9-11 was an inside job.
Pop culture had its fair share of headline seekers. Is Stevie Wonder really blind? Or how ‘bout the ongoing narrative that Elvis didn’t really die, he just wanted some privacy. He’s still out there, wearing disguises.
Granted, the majority of these stories were often told in magazines that were sold in the checkout line at the grocery store. You probably saw some of the same stories touting a Bigfoot sighting or an alien spaceship that abducted a few unsuspecting souls.
Personally, I think what killed a few of those periodicals had nothing to do with their liberties regarding the truth. Their demise was directly related to self-checkout lines. People didn’t have time to wait in line and read that junk. They were on a mission to get somewhere as fast as possible.
Treating the symptoms
Victory over a virus has been quite daunting. Face masks, hand-washing and keeping our distance has been a challenge because some people don’t know what or who to believe.
Schools and working environments are altered. Barely seven months ago, people would have seriously questioned your sanity if you opted not to shake somebody’s hand out of fear of catching something.
As we all try to navigate back to normalcy, there are still some out there who believe the virus is a hoax. As a matter of fact, I read recently that some conspiracy nut job warns that a COVID-19 vaccine will include an implant so our movements can be tracked.
The good Lord gave us all brains to sift through this drivel. Don’t get caught up in conversation about the secret elites who want to rule us and control all of our thoughts and actions.
Our smartest doctors and scientists tell us that if we keep wearing masks, keep our distance and wash our hands, we’ll get through it. The rest of it is just, well — it feels like a standing-room-only theater full of bad actors.
If you want to mess with some of these conspiracy folks, just tell ’em you think you saw Elvis in Walmart, but it was tough to know because he was wearing a face mask.
Thank you, thank you very much.
