This is a relatively minor one, but Aaron Fleszar is an internet conspiracy theorist who has, for a while, been haunting various comment sections and webpages with incoherent rants about global conspiracies. As Fleszar sees it, there is an organized and secret conspiracy consisting of a cabal of the world’s richest people lurking behind the world’s official governments, and whose goal it is to implement a New World Order. Interpreted slightly allegorically, that suggestion (perhaps minus the ‘secret’ part) might not be too far off, but according to Fleszar, it “appears their goal is to implement socialism, monopolize their industries, and collapse the dollar in an effort to create a one world currency. It sounds like science fiction, but from what I discovered, they came close to achieving it with the election of Obama.” You might wonder why those rich people would try to implement socialism; the answer, of course, is that Fleszar is paranoid and has entertains some vague negative associations with the word ‘socialism’ – so socialism it must be.
Then, when it comes to the means for carrying out the operation, things take a somewhat surprising turn: “There is an enormous organization online behind an endless number of work-at-home opportunities, affiliate marketing, and get-rich-quick schemes. This group is positioned to cash in with a tanking economy.” So to make the dots connect, Fleszar trawls various websites, looking at photos and identifying random people (in particular online marketers) in pictures of what he deems to be relevant businesses (“These online marketers operating in code are masters at deception and search engine optimization. Like they do for their products, it appears they controlled the conversation, the feedback, the headlines, and the finance of the last presidential election”) with famous politicians, CEOs and media moguls that the people in the pictures do not really resemble. And then he identifies them with people on FBI Wanted Terrorist list (so the FBI must be among the few good guys left?). In other words: If you think there are plenty of different people in the pictures you find all over the internet, you are wrong: There are only a few – and they are internet marketing consultants, CEOs, politicians, stock photo models and terrorists all at the same time – and they are in a conspiracy to oppress you! Give Fleszar a random picture of people, and he’ll find you Soros and most of the Al-Qaeda leadership.
And then there are the obvious clues, such as this one from a decade back: “In my strongest opinion, Osama Bin Laden isn’t only a name, it’s a code, a riddle. I believe that Osama represents Obama and Biden (Bi)n la(den.)” (what exactly he means by the word ‘represents’ is unclear). As a curiosity, Fleszar’s conspiracy theory surrounding Osama’s death in 2011 does in fact have a disconcertingly perceptive slant: the whole announcement that Osama had been killed was apparently a desperate ploy to “interrupt Celebrity Apprentice” because “[c]learly, Trump is a danger to the Republican establishment”.
Diagnosis: Yes, he’s bought it all. No matter what silly idea you come up with, as long as it has a paranoid conspiracy angle, Fleszar will bite. His influence is probably limited, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment