by A Midwestern Doctor, Lew Rockwell:
The increasing freedom of information enabled by an uncensored media is gradually waking people up to the many harmful things being done to them on a daily basis. That uncomfortable reality is traumatic to come to terms with, which in turn leads many to want to understand why it’s happening.
In my own case, whenever I observe something pernicious, my question is always whether the events were:
- A naturally emergent phenomenon resulting from human nature and the specific circumstances at play — one that likely would have occurred regardless of who was involved.
- A coordinated plot by a group of bad actors (e.g., powerful sociopaths) who deliberately harmed the world for their own benefit.
The essential problem is that in most cases, a strong case can be made for either interpretation, so which one you settle on is typically a product of what your mind is primed to focus on. In my own case, I seriously consider both — I’ve spent decades reading about the people behind the scenes who pull the strings, and I’ve lost count of how many malevolent things I’ve seen enacted in a coordinated, systematic manner over years if not decades. But as time has gone on, I’ve leaned toward the naturally emergent perspective because:
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- I keep seeing the same processes play out across so many different spheres.
- In many cases, bad actors don’t directly orchestrate things so much as amplify existing dysfunctional dynamics to move things in their preferred direction.
- Putting all your focus on one bad actor rarely proves productive. Those fights drag out for years and rarely go anywhere (e.g., we are still waiting for Fauci to be brought to justice for COVID), and intensely focusing on a single person just creates a niche for other bad actors to do the same thing. In contrast, focusing on the core dynamics that allow evil to arise provides a much more lasting immunity against it.
For example, all things considered, the COVID-19 health freedom movement has been incredibly successful — accomplishing much more than I ever expected — but it has still fallen short of many of its key goals. Much of this stems from continual fracturing and infighting that has prevented MAHA from presenting a unified front to lobby for systematic policy changes. Partly because of this, RFK Jr. (who is still accomplishing a lot) has been unable to implement many of the most contested MAHA health policies the federal apparatus is doing everything it can to undermine.
As a result, many commentators have convinced their audiences that MAHA’s leadership sold out, while others are convinced the pharmaceutical industry has intentionally planted divisive voices to accelerate fractures — along with a smaller minority who believe pharma is using tools like bots to amplify divisive voices, incentivizing them through internet engagement rather than direct payments.
While I recognize it’s possible there are “controlled opposition” figures in the movement — particularly since both I and associates have periodically seen obvious plants inserted into much smaller movements we worked with — I believe the natural emergence hypothesis (likely amplified by bots and mainstream media) is far more probable because:
- I’ve seen the exact same dynamics in many smaller groups I’ve been involved with — disruptive members trying to defame or “controlled opposition” a leader I knew with certainty was completely committed to the cause. Ultimately, much of this resembles the gossip and reputational violence I dealt with from mean girls in high school, which I was then shocked to encounter again as a medical student and resident at multiple hospitals.
- In any movement, there will always be a spectrum from people deeply committed to the cause to those who join out of convenience or self-interest and are motivated to prioritize themselves over the group. No one is perfect, so even the most committed people, once put under a microscope, have potentially questionable traits. And individuals who have been marginalized their entire lives — who learned they can’t trust people when opposing the system — will be prone to traumatic, overreactive responses that can easily be misinterpreted as sinister.
