Who is @Q? (Part Two: Who Could Believe Such a Thing?)
Not only is it important to marginalize and silence anyone who’s suspected of thinking like a QAnon, it’s important to let others know how important it is. It’s crucial. If we are to survive, it must be done. The sooner QAnons are gone, the sooner we can get back to normal while making progress.
The media has made it their mission to lead the charge against QAnon by calling them out, again and again, for well over four years now. When something is called out by the media, people understand it is their duty to direct hate toward whatever has been called out. The calling out of QAnon has continued despite the fact that there has not been any Q-related happening of any sort since December 8th 2020.
The fact that I am able to discuss “QAnon” at this length without calling out QAnon surely must make me a dirty QAnon, whether I am or not. I do not identify as a ‘Q follower’, but that’s not for me to judge. That’s for the writers at Newsweek, and people who edit their selfies, to decide.
Because I have a set of rational, plausible, unauthorized beliefs about a wide range of subjects, I am a no-good, very-bad no-no person - a QAnon. That these beliefs are backed by far more evidence than the claim that masking up will help prevent the spread of an aerosolized viral bio-weapon is irrelevant to the people who thought mask-wearing was necessary for modeling good behavior.
As our betters, the very good people determined that regardless of whether or not masks worked (they don’t), they should be worn out of respect. Our betters demanded symbolic displays of respect, performed in public, in honor of their power. Rules don’t have to make sense, but they must be followed. Society’s least powerful and least fortunate - otherwise known as those most easily harmed by covid policies – were forced to cover their faces, despite the physical and psychological harms masks inflict, to show respect.
Someone has to show those QAnon nutjobs how they should act. It’s not a big deal.
Those who have been following Q posts since Q’s inception see me, I think, as an open-minded guy who wants to know what the Q phenomenon is all about. They know - and I know - that they know infinitely more about Q than I do. They had a three-year head start in their process of understanding one of the most confusing, complex, undefinable, and downright fascinating phenomena in the history of information. Truthfully, I’m a bit jealous of the fun they had.
To people who know the most about Q, I am not a Q follower. To the people who know virtually nothing about Q (and little more about what I think), I have become crazy and joined the cult of the no-no people. I am a conspiracy theorist. I am a QAnon. And for that, I must be destroyed.
I ignored Q from its inception. I hadn’t seen or read a post, certainly not in any serious way, until late summer of 2020. I became aware of Q through various news stories and podcasts, but it seemed far-out and silly, exactly as it was framed to seem. I saw a weirdo with a sign at a Trump speech, or something. I saw their crazy “WWG1WGA” in their Twitter profiles - Where We Go One, We Go All.
They’re trying to pretend they’re looking out for one another for the betterment of humanity. Like they’re all in it together, as a country. Truly cult-like!
The media has made it their mission to lead the charge against QAnon by calling them out, again and again, for well over four years now. When something is called out by the media, people understand it is their duty to direct hate toward whatever has been called out. The calling out of QAnon has continued despite the fact that there has not been any Q-related happening of any sort since December 8th 2020.
The fact that I am able to discuss “QAnon” at this length without calling out QAnon surely must make me a dirty QAnon, whether I am or not. I do not identify as a ‘Q follower’, but that’s not for me to judge. That’s for the writers at Newsweek, and people who edit their selfies, to decide.
Because I have a set of rational, plausible, unauthorized beliefs about a wide range of subjects, I am a no-good, very-bad no-no person - a QAnon. That these beliefs are backed by far more evidence than the claim that masking up will help prevent the spread of an aerosolized viral bio-weapon is irrelevant to the people who thought mask-wearing was necessary for modeling good behavior.
As our betters, the very good people determined that regardless of whether or not masks worked (they don’t), they should be worn out of respect. Our betters demanded symbolic displays of respect, performed in public, in honor of their power. Rules don’t have to make sense, but they must be followed. Society’s least powerful and least fortunate - otherwise known as those most easily harmed by covid policies – were forced to cover their faces, despite the physical and psychological harms masks inflict, to show respect.
Someone has to show those QAnon nutjobs how they should act. It’s not a big deal.
Those who have been following Q posts since Q’s inception see me, I think, as an open-minded guy who wants to know what the Q phenomenon is all about. They know - and I know - that they know infinitely more about Q than I do. They had a three-year head start in their process of understanding one of the most confusing, complex, undefinable, and downright fascinating phenomena in the history of information. Truthfully, I’m a bit jealous of the fun they had.
To people who know the most about Q, I am not a Q follower. To the people who know virtually nothing about Q (and little more about what I think), I have become crazy and joined the cult of the no-no people. I am a conspiracy theorist. I am a QAnon. And for that, I must be destroyed.
I ignored Q from its inception. I hadn’t seen or read a post, certainly not in any serious way, until late summer of 2020. I became aware of Q through various news stories and podcasts, but it seemed far-out and silly, exactly as it was framed to seem. I saw a weirdo with a sign at a Trump speech, or something. I saw their crazy “WWG1WGA” in their Twitter profiles - Where We Go One, We Go All.
They’re trying to pretend they’re looking out for one another for the betterment of humanity. Like they’re all in it together, as a country. Truly cult-like!
Upon deciding that this radical cult of demonic ‘Worshippers of the Unmasked Face’ was worth a serious look, I was confronted with cryptic posts on internet sites with ubiquitous cartoon frogs where Nike and Apple logos should be.
What is this, I thought - these people don’t even work at think-tanks or Ivy League universities. I can’t trust these anonymous people! What if they’re not diverse enough?! What if Q is a white man, like Ron Watkins from the HBO documentary who’s at least half-white… like Barack Obama?