Though it’s understandable that in the current complex world of heightened global interactions and the resulting increased intercultural exposure, the social construct of ethno-culture may not stay the same, in the long run it might evolve into better, stronger and more adapted forms specific to its environment.
Accepting the evolving nature of any social construct, such as ethnicity, is not the same as claiming that there is a sinister plot to wipe out ethno-cultural identities. The radical right storyline of defending ethno-cultures is based on an imaginary scenario—the doomsday of ethno-cultural heritage.
The conspiracy landscape is the only place that provides complete (dis)information on this cultural doomsday scenario. How do conspiracy theories put together a story on so-called cultural annihilation, using a series of dominant and supplementary conspiracy narratives?
The main plot begins with a backstory: the Illuminati, an 18th-century Bavarian secret society, determined the future of humanity and came up with a plan to establish a new world order, bringing all of humanity under one world government. Ever since, the storyline says, the elite secret societies manipulate the course of history with the aim of achieving this cardinal goal.
With this background established, countless supplementary stories provide evidence. If one wants to eradicate human cultures and morph them into one, it’s necessary to abolish cultural differences. This task is said to be underway through several phenomena: cultural Marxism, set against traditional western culture; homosexuality, which is said to deface traditional culture; abortion, to get the global population at manageable levels; radical feminism, which is said to destroy traditional western family values; vaccinations and opioid epidemic to create easily controllable masses; immigration, to mix and eradicate cultures; and globalisation and climate change agenda, which is said to aim at creating global hierarchies at economic, political and societal levels.
Despite YouTube’s efforts to remove millions of videos as part of its fight against the conspiracy boom, plenty of content still exists on these topics. The most outlandish theory in January 2020 appears to claim that NBA star Kobe Bryant was ritually sacrificed despite the obvious fact that he died of a helicopter crash.
Conspiracy beliefs can influence narratives to conform with those underlying beliefs; the belief in a secret cabal of elites working to usher the New World Order (NWO) can become so entrenched in a person that everything from a helicopter crash to climate change action may be seen as evidence.
Print
Chamila Liyanage | Radio Free (2020-04-07T00:00:00+00:00) Apocalypse now: the conspiracy theories of the radical right. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/04/07/apocalypse-now-the-conspiracy-theories-of-the-radical-right/
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