I am intrigued by con artists, conspiracy theories and cults which all have a common themes and goals – the manipulation and brainwashing of people and enriching those perpetuated the con, conspiracy theory or masterminding the cult.
Social media in all forms including podcasts not only drive particularly cults and conspiracy theories but credible social media platforms and podcasts shine the spotlight of these debunking, with proof, conspiracy theories, and exposing con artists and cults.
There are a few factors which contribute to my fascination with these 3 C’s.
My late Dad was born and raised in the Mormon faith until he finally found the courage at about 25 to leave that particular church. And it was the Church of the Latter Day Saints movement not the fundamentalist, polygamous, marrying-girls-under-age cults which broke away from the original Church of the Latter Day Saints Mormons approximately a century ago. Readers of this blog might have watched “Keep Sweet and Obey” a truly sickening Netflix documentary about the FLDS (Fundamental Latter Day Saints movement); and for years I watched a number of reality tv series programmes about young girls and women escaping from the FLDS as well as reading memoirs of women who have fled the FLDS. My fascination and intrigued must stem from the fact that my Dad was a Mormon and his Mom, my Granny Helm, was a Mormon until her death. There was not a huge Mormon community or church in Grahamstown but Granny Helm did go to church every Sunday being fetched for the services by another Grahamstown family. Both my Dad and Granny Helm only ever drank rooibos tea and never drank alcohol – in the last 20 years of his life my Dad did expand his tea drinking choices and after suffering a mild heart attack would drink red wine because “it is good for my health”.
Throughout my childhood we would have regular door knocks from very clean cut, shining white teeth, besuited and smart young men looking for “Brother Hugh” and “Sister Jill”. These were Mormons from Salt Lake City, Utah who were in South Africa on mission which seemed to include endeavouring (fruitlessly in the case of my parents) to lure my parents back into the Mormon fold.
My Dad never really spoke about the Mormon church and faith with us, and a lot of my self-education has occurred in the last 15 years or so since he passed away. He never wanted to really go into depth about this faith which had taken him more than 10 years to leave, having realised when he was 14 years old that this particular church was not for him.
From various documentaries, podcasts, exposés, and memoirs about a number of different cults, there are sadly recurring themes for every cult – abuse of the members (mental, emotional, physical and sexual), financial deception and corruption, physical and sexual abuse of minors all under the guise of “religion” whether it be a fictitious religion (Scientology) or the FLDS. Lack of education and keeping members entrapped in a web of manipulation, brainwashing, ignorance and dependence on the cult, are other common traits amongst all cults.
Brainwashing and manipulation are the skills and tools used by con artists. Con artists have existed since the late 1840’s (see : https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/nigerian.html) with the “Nigerian Prince” con and scam dating back to the 19th century (see: https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/nigerian.html)
As the years progress the cons become more and more elaborate and of course, sophisticated. I am always absolutely astounded how well-educated, clever individuals who really should know better are so easily duped and parted from their money.
In the 1990’s and while still living and working in Grahamstown, I was introduced to a very chic and personable woman and her teenage daughter. They had relocated to Grahamstown with a backstory which we all speculated about as to whether it was fact or fiction, that JH as I will call her, going through a divorce from her husband who was a diplomat or an ambassador and they had been living in Paris, France. From Paris to Grahamstown? She was very charming, and she was welcomed into our bookclub where she really worked at worming her way into all our lives. One Sunday afternoon she arrived unannounced on our doorstep with a story that her daughter had an art project or had to pay for art supplies at school the following day and her bank card had been swallowed by the ATM. Would we lend her R200 until the next day? That was a lot of money for us but we did loan the money and she did repay us the following day so it all appeared on the level and legitimate, paving the way for her next story and request for another financial loan – and we were certainly not able to be her personal bank. However, we did assist her financially again and this time I had to fight to get her to repay us – there was every single excuse under the sun, the minutiae of which I cannot recall but eventually I got paid – in two instalments. I had to resort to threatening her and because she was now working at Rhodes University as the secretary in a department where a good friend of one was lecturing, I had some “leverage” and it worked. Our friendship died and she never returned to bookclub but Grahamstown is a small town and one morning walking into the hairdresser’s, she was storming out and tersely greeted me. Returning the greeting, my hairstylist asked me if I knew her and was I friends with her? Before I could really respond she told me that JH had been at the salon 3 months previously with her daughter and the daughter’s friend – the 3 of them had haircuts, colours, treatments, blow-dries and when it came to paying JH had expressed surprise the salon did not have a speedpoint (yes in those days not ever business had speedpoints and were still largely cash operated). She said she had to go to the ATM to draw the money and would return – this was on a Saturday at about lunchtime, well after the banks had closed and she returned to the salon with the story that the ATM had swallowed her card (are you having the same déjà vu feeling as me?) so she would obtain the money on Monday and pay them. My dear stylist was far too trusting and did not have her details or possibly the incorrect ones, but of course JH did not return on the Monday to pay the enormous bill which for the salon was enormous and they could not let it not be paid. It took months to find her and threaten her before she finally appeared to repay and was so aggressively rude to my hairstylist as though she had done JH an injustice! It was unbelievable and the likes of which Grahamstown had not known before.
Another time Morgan, Tristan and I were in the Wimpy for a lunchtime treat and JH and daughter were in there eating their way through the menu. We watched them when it came to paying the bill – one went to the bathroom, and one left the restaurant and the one who went to the bathroom simply exited the bathroom and the restaurant. I knew the owners of the Wimpy at the time and I shared the crucial information as I did not want them to be out of pocket; I know that ultimately the duo was banned from every restaurant in Grahamstown and JH was ultimately fired or allowed to resign from Rhodes University (she had supposedly dropped a work cellphone in the sea but it was found she had pawned the cellphone).
Internet searches revealed no information about JH or her daughter – most likely operating under different pseudonyms.
Many years later in Johannesburg I tried to help someone who I thought was a friend and at the time for a short period he gave me a lot of emotional support and strength, but ultimately, he did indeed “bite the hand” that fed him. He was a smooth operator and manipulator; did not want to work and was I know realise, an addict. He had been the partner to a rich man for some years and was his sole beneficiary upon his death, an inheritance he blew faster than a tornado and was on a mission to find another rich benefactor. When he did and I paid for him to fly to Cape Town to be with this man (who was really nice), he was outraged that he was expected to cook and clean and be the “house husband” pleading with me to open my home to him again – by this time it was Morgan, Tristan and I again and I was going through my second divorce so I was stick to the courage of my convictions saying “no”; it was then he got nasty and very threatening about belongings which he had left with us – which he got back. In his own way he was a con artist too – another encounter too many for me but I never seem to tire from the stories of con artists (who always end up going too far) whether Bernie Madoff, Anna Delvey or Elizabeth Holmes (and the list is endless).
Conspiracy theories have abounded since time immemorial and again the list is endless and, to someone who thinks critically and logically, appear so ludicrous. While I never inherited my Dad’s phenomenal intellect I did inherit his requirement for credible sources, irrefutable evidence and not tolerating “facts”. Some years before his death my Dad gave a talk at their church in Cape Town, highlighting the inaccuracies and absurdities in Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci code. Sadly I do not have his talk anymore as otherwise I would have published it here. My Dad, a physicist, was someone to debate with but it came with a warning you would lose the debate as my Dad read voraciously, was well versed and researched and really was superior in his intellect and knowledge. And did not tolerate fools let alone conspiracy theories – like Father like daughter!!
My Mom, brothers and I have all commented that in these times of Covid-19 and anti-vaxxer and all the conspiracy theories linked with Covid-19 would have had my Dad having apoplectic fits about misinformation and misconceptions; he would have howled with outrage and laughter at the thought that chlorine peroxide or Clorox would cure a VIRUS or that being vaccinated would result in everyone being micro-chipped and tracked (are we all not tracked to an extent through our mobile phones?).
My Dad would have had zero tolerance for the conspiracy theorists fear-mongers who peddle their tales of falsehoods and misinformation especially for financial gain.I have blogged before about the poor excuse of a human being Alex Jones who PROFITED from his conspiracy theories about the dreadful Sandy Hook shooting and is now ordered to pay a staggering US$1.44 billion to the victims families of this actual tragic shooting.
Donald Trump, the man I love to hate, who really is an Orange Stain on the land of the “brave and free” in his presidency has, in my personal opinion, unleased a tsunami of racial hate, hate speech, conspiracy theories and lies; all of which are lapped up to his following who all bow down to him, donating, in so many cases, their very hard-earned and few dollars, to him not for his political campaigns but to fund his personal coffers. He has openly said he loses the uneducated and ignorant clearly because they can be so easily duped and scammed but frighteningly, supposedly well-educated people fall for all his lies, tales of fiction, fantasy and fallacy. His followers all behave like a cult obeying their “Master” clearly evidenced by those who not only still perpetuate his Big Lie of the 2020 presidential election being stolen but participated in and/or supported the January 6th insurrection.
“A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth, used especially as a propaganda technique.[1][2] The German expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his book Mein Kampf (1925), to describe the use of a lie so colossal that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Hitler claimed that the technique had been used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist political leader in the Weimar Republic.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie)
It has been very interesting to see how those who stood for election in the recent Mid-Term elections in the USA and were “election deniers” from 2020 were unsuccessful and a majority of the Trump endorsed and backed candidates, lost their election bids. Here’s hoping that the blinkers are finally falling off the eyes of many millions.
Yesterday I had a “conversation” with someone who I had thought was well-educated but clearly she has drunk far too much of the Trump Koolaid – I gaped when she told me that she thought Trump was a Genius and he had uncovered and exposed so many child and sex trafficking criminal networks (all of which were masterminded by “that evil Hilary Clinton” – typical Trump Cult and Q-Anon speak). Of course I thought after our “conversation” that I should have asked her that if had exposed all these criminal networks why did they not make international news headlines? And when I commented that he was big buddies with Jeffrey Epstein typically that was rejected and deflected very rapidly with the typical Trump Cult and/or Q-Anon “whataboutisms” playbook. Of course, I was told not to believe “mainstream media” on the tv (I told her we had no tv which temporarily put her on pause) and when I told her that I have various sources for my research and knowledge she told me that I have to “research research research” just like her (no thank you; I know that not EVERYTHING I read on the internet let alone on YouTube is credible and true) – and that it was because of some other exposing of fictious scheme, Covid-19 was unleashed on the world … I could feel the invisible smoke steaming out of my ears and the urge to literally slap sense into her (who is supposedly trained in the medical profession to help people with their mental health!!!) so I very pleasantly said “let’s agree to disagree” because I could not tolerate to be in the same space for one iota longer.
The most recent and laughingly ridiculous, is the conspiracy theory which has been peddled in the USA by the podcaster Joe Rogan (another one like Alex Jones who profits from the disseminating of misinformation to a highly naive, gullible and influential fan base), Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen, that elementary schools were installing litter boxes for students who “identify” as cats! (see: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/nov/04/joe-rogan-school-litter-boxes-kids-furries-gender) Joe Rogan recently admitted that he was wrong, having based his information on a vague post and comment, as heard on an episode of “The Damage Report” podcast this last week. Unbelievable and of course how many swallowed the story of the cat litter boxes in classroom fallacy and still believe it? Really frightening.
Instead of spreading nonsense lies about cat litter boxes in classrooms, they should be educating their constituents, listeners and followers providing solutions if they are running for a position in the Senate or the House on how they will work to combat climate change, reduce inflation, reduce gun violence with real facts, figures and problem solving solutions. And in an ideal world podcasters and all influential people would work on similarly educating their followers not sowing seeds of misinformation whether about cat litter boxes, microchips in people, its safe to drink colox or how crisis actors were used in the Sandy Hook and/or Ulvaide
I am not going to embark on a tirade on Q-Anon (there are brilliant documentaries and exposes on Q-Anon on HBO and Netflix) that underground web propagating falsehoods, lies and hate. Like far too many conspiracy theorists and cult leaders they abuse the concept of free speech.
"The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic... The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."
(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouting_fire_in_a_crowded_theater)
I live in hope that sense and sanity will eventually over-ride and champion all manipulation and lies whether propagated by con artists, cults and conspiracy theorists. After all are con artists not also peddlers of conspiracy theories and falsehoods and cult leaders operating in a world where they use smoke, mirrors and veils to blinker, blind and brainwash their followers? The modus operandi of con artists, cults and conspiracy theorists are identical.
Don't be conned, seduced into becoming a member of a cult or believing a conspiracy theory - education and critical thinking is crucial in this world of cunning, manipulation, misinformation and misconceptions.
This commentary is my personal viewpoints and opinion; expanded by the source of research cited. I am unapologetic about my beliefs and opinions.
