For a moment, let’s assume that the entirety of the tinfoil beanie brigade, the purveyors of green ink, are correct and every possible conspiracy theory is true as described: That every shadowy organization ever intimated does indeed exists and operates with impunity, in fact, with outright invulnerability.
My question is, well what’s wrong with that? Other than having unaccountable leaders, what, at the end of the day, does it cost us? It sounds rather like now with the questionable 21st century low information voters and our opportunistic jackal politicians taking advantage of all the fear, uncertainty and doubt, except it’s more a comedy of errors than any kind of master plan engineered by an éminence grise.
Same stuff, different day.
You see, if the conspiracy theorists are right then they’re still the losing team. By not being a “sheeple” and “waking up”, what do you get? It seems you get to eat a little bland food, live in a spider hole, forsake most human relationships, live in constant paranoia (however justified), smell and look bad, be poor, lonely and wretched; In short, you never get to stand in the sun again.
You become a troll; A pariah, even. The guy that’s never invited to parties because he makes all the guests uncomfortable. Someone less than presentable. Is that worth it? Is knowing the truth and sticking it to The Man worth it?
For you see, if I accept this position as true and go with the herd, I still get to enjoy human companionship, sex, drink fine spirits, have nice things, eat good food, live in a lovely place, go on holiday regularly and access the countless amenities that make modern western life so wonderful to me and my cohort. I remain pleasantly in the sun and despite the awareness of the Awful Truth, I can still be heteronormative. Status quo, even.
What does raging against a monstrously huge, unstoppable, well hidden & undefeatable machine get me? You can’t win against it, it’s too large. It’s probably too smart if it is extraterrestrial lizard men and certainly too well funded. It’s got a lot of experience, measured in millennia, if the conspiracy theorists are correct. Honestly, how does an infinitesimally small disorganized junta of agenda analysts sleeping rough honestly expect to topple something so vast? Never mind convincing people like me it’s worth leaving my creature comforts to fight such an enemy.
“If I join your righteous crusade against Them, I have to give up regular sex, fancy dress parties, champagne, caviar, Tahiti, the ease of exchanging currency for goods, all the delicious herbs & spices of the world, medical science, basic hygiene, close friends & family, central air & heating in an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood and all my lovely iToys? No thank you.”
“But! But! You’ll know the truth and the truth will set you free! You’ll be special and different! A unique little snowflake soldiering against the forces of evil!”
“Hmm, eternal battle in the muck and mire with an invincible enemy, who, by the way, could have crushed you at any moment but let’s you exist despite the cat being let out of the bag probably because you’re great poster boys for the non-alternative? Ever think of that?”
“But we’re special! We’re awake, you see. You can be too!”
“Then I’d rather go back to sleep. Life’s nicer that way.”
Who would've thought it was so easy to be a counter-revolutionary?
It’s rather like, though not exactly similar to, the whole notion of what if reality isn't real and you’re just a brain in a jar experiencing an extremely well made computer simulation? It goes that since you can’t know or tell the difference, then the observable universe is reality because that’s all you can perceive so all the usual rules would still apply. You're stuck describing & experiencing the systems of an artificial and perhaps quasi-universe, not that you could tell, so all experience would be just as valid. But if this was so and you realized you are just a brain in a jar experiencing an incredible simulation, then what does that get you? You’re a sentient lump of fat in a jar that can’t do much. How is that better than continuing the simulation? At least in the simulation you have a body and other bodies to enjoy and all the delightful constructs theretofore appertaining. I’ll take that over the other any day. It all would now seem a little more ominous now if it were all true, which is both exciting and interesting.