Fascinating to see how great fears are woven through a crisis story and how eagerly people pick up explanations that suit their needs. At least as long as it absolves them of responsibility: others will of course be 'blamed'.
The picture below has been playing to each other for months as proof of the 5G chip in Covid vaccines. It's a sophisticated thing; there is even a volume control, so that Bill Gates' messages can be understood better. (It's just a diagram of a guitar effects pedal, probably started as a joke)
It just goes to show: offer people something to hold on to in a story that confirms their distrust and they will be ready to do anything, especially if they are powerless in the face of adversity. Evidence that they don't actually understand - you can see the diagram as a symbol for something with 'science' - is no problem: it is there and creates a 'See, I've always known it' effect - and voila: you have it with you. After all, there is always distrust in new technology, just like distrust against people who do better (sometimes much better) than ourselves.
Whether it's 5G, Bill Gates' lust for power, the science fiction stories surrounding nanochips, or the abuse by a group of rich, lying, and profiteering exploiters, people are just waiting for it and eating it. Especially the last story: blaming a successful group of people, that turned out to be a successful strategy 65 years ago, with the difference that it was still linked to origin at the time. So that is really no longer possible nowadays.
We have made a little progress.
