I’ve been having some interesting conversations over the last few days. One of the most entertaining stemmed from a discussion of conspiracy theories. Everything from the Sandy Hook school shooting to the World Trade Center to JFK have all been subjects of conspiracy theorists.
How, one wonders, can someone believe that the government is full of idiots, useless, powerless, etc and still believe that they government is capable of creating and maintaining a conspiracy that would involve tens, if not hundreds of people (tens of thousands in the case of Moon hoaxers) when all it takes is one person to spill the beans and become a wealthy global hero?
The title of this post is zombies. But not the brain eating kind. No, my friend Sam made a genius comment to me today.
brainless wonders maybe? I think we just stumbled upon a realization. It is they who are the source of the upcoming zombie apocalypse.
That’s brilliant. Zombies are not the creatures that shamble along and kill people en masse to consume their brains. Zombies are the people who cause our brains to atrophy. Sadly, many of these zombies are in positions of power and are supported by their zombie hoards.
How else can we explain Romney getting 49% of the vote (or whatever it was, I’m writing now, not researching)?
These zombies are exceedingly dangerous. Not because they are millions of slow, undead creatures. Not because they are the new ‘fast-zombies’, the ultimate in zombie technology.
No, these zombies are dangerous because they are real. They exist, right now. You very well could be sitting next to one on the bus. They really exist as legislators in the state and national congresses. They really exist, spreading their brain rotting disease through the airwaves as commentators and conspiracy theorists.
They are, sadly, easy to spot. Look for discussions of ‘alien invasions*’, ‘conspiracies’**, ‘secret societies***’, etc.
They are, sadly, not easy to deal with. Facts, verifiable information, evidence have no effect on their actions or opinions. They have millions (46-52% of the US population for example) of followers who will do as they say and think as they want without question.
Unlike movie zombies, it is possible (though difficult) to save some people from zombification. We can help them. Even one life saved is beneficial.
What is the solution?
Education. Critical thinking skills. And continually promoting fact-based, logical reasoning, in the face of personal attacks and fallacious reasoning.
Don’t give up. We can save the world. One zombie at a time.
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* Sheer economics would prevent an alien invasion. If they can travel between solar systems, then why the heck do they need slaves (even we have robots), genetic material (that would be incompatible anyway), water (comets… hello!), or raw materials (asteroids) from earth?
** see above.
*** Apparently any group with exclusive membership and rich or powerful people in it, is really out to control the world. Really? Here’s a hint, THEY ALREADY DO… well a big chunk of it. The wealthiest 300,000 people in the US have 25% of the total wealth of the US. The wealthiest 3,000,000 people have almost 70% of the wealth of the US. Leaving 297,000,000 to share about 30% of the wealth in the US. This trend has greatly increased in the past few decades. Further, look at criminal prosecution rates for the people responsible for the US financial collapse vs. the non-top 10% of the population.