Did a Bigfoot write this post?
From the beginning, I’ve had a policy against conspiracy theories here at Unprepared.life. In much of the common imagination, prepping equals conspiracy theories, largely because so many notable preppers are deep into conspiracy territory.
While this was a well-meaning rule I set for the publication, it was also a tactical error, because the reality is we’re all conspiracy theorists now, of one sort or the other.
Case in point: the recent mad speculation about the whereabouts and well-being of Kate Middleton. In January, she was admitted to the hospital for an unspecified abdominal surgery, with a public announcement that she wouldn’t return to the public eye until Easter.
Speculation immediately started brewing and held to a low simmer. Did Kate get a hysterectomy? Maybe she got an abortion? Then gasoline was added to the fire earlier this month, when the Associated Press issued a “kill order” on supposedly recent picture of Kate with her children. An AP kill order is an instruction to news outlets to not publish something from the wire, in this case because the photo had been heavily altered.
Buckingham Palace responded with a written message, allegedly from Kate, explaining that she was just having a little to much fun with Photoshop. What? Huh? Buckingham Palace is just letting a princess—who just had major surgery—do their photo editing now?
Now the conspiracy mill is in overdrive. Is Kate dead? Did Prince William kill her? Is she filing for divorce? Maybe he wants a divorce and she won’t give him one? Is Prince William having an affair with Rose Hanbury? Are all of her children in fact his? Is Prince Charles on the verge of death? Has he died? Is Elvis still alive and has he taken Kate on a romantic escape? Is Prince William in fact the infamous Bat Boy?
Jokes aside, something is fishy in Buckingham Palace. They could end this PR nightmare with a 30-second video from Kate, but won’t… for some reason. Instead, we get this extremely blurry video of someone (that sort of kind of looks not entirely unlike her) instead, which won’t raise anymore questions.
Part of the obsession of the Middleton Mystery is bored people having fun solving an apparent mystery, which is at the core much of the conspiracy theory hobby. This can be a fun diversion… to a point.
But the other concerning aspect is that people have grown so accustomed to being lied to by their leaders that they’re constantly second-guessing. This is a problem for our society’s collective sanity, and while it’s easy to point finger at China and Russia, most of the calls are coming from inside the house, from leaders who lack virtue.
For instance, does anyone really believe the official government story about Jeffrey Epstein’s death?
In a recent YouGov poll, only 20% of respondents said they believe he committed suicide in prison. 37% think he was murdered, 3% think it was accidental, and 40% are unsure. All in all, that’s 80% of the respondents questioning the narrative set out by the federal government. Even among those I know who believe he committed suicide, they all think he had inside help.
Most recently, Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died between bouts of testifying against his former employer, supposedly of suicide, after telling a close friend he wasn’t suicidal, and now people are asking questions. The timing is certainly curious.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes astronomical stock market gains and is also adamantly against bills prohibiting Congress from engaging in insider trading, but you might also be accused of being a crank for noticing this.
Many of the JFK assassination documents are still classified 60 years after the fact, supposedly due to national security? How in the world would 60-year-old documents about the JFK assassination still pose a national security risk? Unless…
I’ll stop myself there, because it’s important that we guard our attention. Other than prayer, there’s nothing we can do to help Kate Middleton, Epstein’s victims, or JFK. When you feel pulled down one of these rabbit holes it’s important to ask:
I’m not going to blow smoke up your hindquarters and tell you conspiracies don’t exist. They clearly do. However, you have to be careful that they’re not dragging you into time-sucking rabbit holes or driving you mad.
I encourage you to read my post from last year about the importance of guarding your attention.
Originally published on Unprepared
