3 ms·
While the article does a great job outlining the motivations (fear of X, etc.) from a movement participant, I think there is a far easier answer to the headline
by hobofan 6y ago
While the article does a great job outlining the motivations (fear of X, etc.) from a movement participant, I think there is a far easier answer to the headline question if looked at from a movement organizer perspective:
It's hard to argue against pedophilia.
If you argue against another conspiracy theory (e.g. flat earth), the worst thing that will happen is that theorists label you as "part of the system" (or whatever) and everyone not directly subscribing to the theory will laugh it off.
If you argue against a pedophilia conspiracy theory, the theorists will quickly label you as someone defending pedophilia, or a pedophile yourself. If even people that don't directly subscribe to the theory hear that, there is a serious risk of social exile. This makes it incredibly risky to argue against it.
- insickness 6y agoAlmost all mainstream media outlets label pizzagate as a conspiracy theory with no repercussions. It's not hard to argue against unsubstantiated accusations of pedophilia.
- dariusj18 6y agoThe downfall of that conspiracy was to have it involve pizza. Americans just won't let such an important part of our life be besmirched.
- salawat 6y agoThis is actually a fairly good point, and the required intellectual tap dance required to safely defuse a "strange bedfellows" (no pun intended) tainting of your rhetoric is heartfelt and only likely to be pulled off by someone completely genuine in their commitment to a cause, generally of the variety of "and liberty for all" where all by definition includes even the prospective pedophiles who haven't been investigated or caught yet, and no, catching them is not worth the false positives or abuse engendered by authorizing wholesale violation of civil rights. There is also the aspect to it that predation on children is generally the ultimate societal affront. We toil everyday not just for ourselves, but to create a world for our descendants better than our own. Pedophilia, in that sense, taps into the same aversion that make things like cannibalism of children a taboo subject.
- senectus1 6y agoits also a great way to get an otherwise uninterested (at least initially) LARGE group of people with free time on their hands to get enrolled and spread it further via social media. Bored housebound carers of children.