I’ll make a confession. It may change your opinion of me. If it does, it does.
I watched an Alex Jones episode last night.
I can see you right now. You are rolling your eyes and thinking I have finally lost it. You have heard of Alex Jones. He’s a nut job, right?
Maybe.
Why did I listen to him? I listened to him because it was a recommendation from someone I trust, someone who is not a wild conspiracy theorist. To be fair, I have friends who think this person isn’t trustworthy at all. But, what the heck, it can’t hurt for me to watch and listen, can it?
For me, no, it can’t hurt me because I am a person who considers everything and sifts through it, tries to make sense of it, decides what is valid and what isn’t, throws useless parts out, and keeps what is useful. Have I been wrong before? Yes. Have I been right? Yes.
But, I’m not writing today to talk about what Alex Jones said and if I think it is correct or not. My topic is about how we, as thinking and spiritual beings, know who and what we can trust, and who and what we cannot, or if we can trust anything at all.
Everyday, we are hit with so many stories about every topic, politics, Covid, society, law, etc. They come from many different sources, main stream media, alternative and secondary media, social media, government sources, and even word of mouth. It’s like being in a giant wave pool where the waves come at you so quickly you can never gain your footing.
On one day, you hear from the CDC that the Covid vaccines are safe. Then you hear that they have caused serious allergic reactions, blood clots and even deaths above the average for vaccines. Then you hear that they have been created to kill people in a move to reduce population. The European Union suspends the AstraZeneca vaccines. There are reports of deaths, cases of Covid AFTER vaccination, miscarriages. What do you believe? Who do you believe, because medical experts on all sides are saying something different.
This is just one example of the quandry the average citizen is in.
It wasn’t always like this. As you know, I was an Air Force brat as my Dad was career Air Force. He worked at the Pentagon for a bit in a high clearance job. I always felt secure that what the government, the news media, and the medical profession told us was true. There were things we knew, our phones were bugged, he couldn’t tell us any details about his job, etc. But I NEVER thought our government was blatantly lying to us.
I was naive. As more and more information is declassified by the government, we see that different agencies, the CIA, FBI, DOJ, NSA, etc. have been not only hiding information for us, but distorting and fabricating it as well.
With cable networks and the internet available to all of us with all of what is reported or shared there, there is a huge tsunami of information rushing to us. Just this morning I woke up, turned on the History Channel and there was a story about the CIA and the shady drug and biological warfare projects they used in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Some of it was theory and conjecture, but some of it was documented. Interesting and a bit scary.
On the internet there are more and more options for people to produce videos, blog, news posts, and message boards that share similar stories about hidden government projects, plans, conspiracies and actions. Where once a documentary required money and special equipment, now all someone needs is a smart phone and a story to tell.
So, we are inundated. How do we know what is true and what is not? I have some methods I use to help me sift through it all.
- I question EVERYTHING. The questions I ask are: Who is telling me this? Are they credible? Do their past actions make them trustworthy? What is their motive for sharing this story? Are they making money off of this? Who do they work for or represent? Do they have a motive to lie? For example, when the World Health Organization says that the Covid virus came from animals and not a lab in Wuhan China, it’s important to note that the Communist Chinese Party participated in the investigation. Right away, I realize that there is not only a bias to this revelation, but also a motive for the WHO to lie since they get funding from China.
- I judge the character of the person creating and delivering the information. As a former teacher, my experience helps me to analyze character. I’m not always right, but I would say I am MOSTLY right. There are some content creators I judge to be trustworthy. Very few actually. I always thought Rush Limbaugh was trustworthy, merely because even though he had an agenda, I knew what that agenda was and I also knew he didn’t warp information to his agenda. Yes, he stuck to stories that proved his points, but he also gave credit where credit was due. He was consistent. There are a few others, but most sources I consider “on probation” because I have seen too many that seemed trustworthy do something to lose that trust. Same with politicians. I have almost NONE that I trust. Why? Because they are politicians and politicians will say and do whatever they need to get elected. The only one I have NOT seen do that is Rand Paul. I don’t always agree with him, but he is consistent and seems to have the good of the country at heart. He doesn’t run to a microphone every time something happens. One person I don’t and never have trusted is Dr. Fauci. My distrust started with a gut feeling that this guy was more interested in getting the attention he craves than actually helping our country through Covid. He has definitely proven me right as he has bounced from one side to the other with recommendations. His motives are not pure, he gets paid more if Covid lingers, and I think he is in league with the drug companies.
- I think for myself and ask myself if what I am hearing makes sense. For example, when the CDC tells me to wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart, get a vaccine before I do anything BUT they don’t make a peep about the untested thousands coming across the border, that doesn’t make sense. When Black Lives Matters protests are not considered “super spreaders” but Trump rallies are, that doesn’t make sense. And, when I see a man who cannot form coherent sentences being touted by the media as ” competent” and “in charge,” it doesn’t make sense. I also lean on my own experience and investigation to tell me when things don’t ring true.
- Who is trying to change my behavior and why are they trying to change it? Many times bad information is created to make the average person change their behavior. Example, how many times have we been told different food items are bad only to be told later that they are good? An even better example is taxes. When the government doesn’t want you to do certain things, they tax them at a heavier rate. Remember when New York and other cities placed higher sales taxes on sodas? They said it was to keep people healthier by forcing them not to drink soda. What happened was that people just got their soda elsewhere to avoid the taxes. The only people hurt by these behavior taxes? The merchants in the city. And the citizens still drank soda. When you think about it, that’s where the whole vaccine passport motive seems to be tyranny and control. Leana Wen, a talking head former Baltimore City health officer on CNN, unwisely disclosed this motive when she said that resuming our lives was the necessary “carrott” for getting the vaccine. Hey, thanks, Leana, but my rights aren’t a reward, they are an irrevocable fact. So, keep your vaccine. ( BTW, Leana has the typical soft spoken, smiley persona these lefties have when they promotes this tyranny. Another reason not to believe her.)
- And sometimes, my gut just tells me something is wrong.
One of my theories for all of disinformation is that the more chaos and confusion there is, the more division there is, the easier it will be to freeze people where they are. Remember “paralysis by analysis”? The more we all have to carefully analyze everything that is said, the more we distrust EVERYTHING and EVERYONE, the more likely it is that we will do NOTHING.
What we CAN do is act together as we do our own “fact checking.” This is not just by social media posts, but in person, face to face, in conversation. The more people investigating something, the more likely we are to get to the truth of the matter, especially if we can’t hide behind our online anonymity. This will scare some folks off, but those of us who remain will know the truth and how to proceed.
We can also keep our knee jerk reactions to a minimum. It’s easy to hear a rumor and go off the deep end with emotions. But, we waste our time and energy if the rumor is untrue.
This is not about making more confusion. It’s about talking with real people about what we have learned. We need to learn how to use the “chaos” to create order.
Yes, I watched Alex Jones. Yes, I learned something new. And, yes, I investigated his information myself. I won’t tell you my conclusions. If you want to know what he presented, go see it yourself by searching “Emergency Broadcast” and his name. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too.
In the end, you have to trust yourself and God. The rest you have to verify.
