The Conspiracy Business
You may have been under the impression that the thriving industry of right-wing pundits, bloggers, radio personalities, PAC's, and "analysts" exists because of selfless souls who want to save their fellow citizens from the evils of "big government" out of the kindness of their born-again Christian hearts. Perhaps. At the same time, there's no denying that catering to people's obsessions with the Book of Revelation and the Rapture or to fears of Obama's coming UN invasion is a big and growing business.
It's not necessarily just the lunatic fringe. Big retailers are even starting to get into the act, such as famously pro-Republican Wal-Mart, which has started carrying a growing line of emergency food packs. For the more hard-core, there's companies such as eFoodsDirect, which offers, among other things, one-year food storage kits and cooking supplies for the end of civilization.
If you're worried about all of your money becoming worthless once all of the global currencies collapse, there's countless shady gold scams dealers out there, such as Lear Capital, which, like eFoodsDirect, has a large advertising presence on right-wing radio talk shows. Glenn Beck heavily promoted the Goldline International scam.
Then there's the even more shady ToolsForFreedom.com, which is in the business of selling books about all sorts of fraudulent tax avoidance schemes, "sovereignty kits", and dubious "nutritional supplements". There's no shortage of various pills and potions marketed as secret "treatments" and "cures" that have been "suppressed by the pharmaceutical industry"--for example, the incredibly shady Carnivora, another one that's heavily promoted by right-wing "media personalities" (and oh lookee, it even has "science" behind it).
For the more purely political-minded, there's a wide variety of shady PACs to choose from; for example, Sarah Palin's "SarahPAC", which collects millions every year and yet funnels less than 2 percent of the money to candidates that Palin claims to support.
I'm not saying there's anything with taking some common-sense precautions to be prepared in case of the inevitable emergency. As we've seen with Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, hurricanes and blizzards do happen. More mundane emergencies such as power outages, cars breaking down, and getting lost in the woods happen too. I still remember living without power for nearly three weeks after Hurricane Hugo swept through the Carolinas.
Buying a few extra non-perishable goods every time you go grocery shopping, keeping a well stocked first aid kit and learning how to use it, carrying some emergency supplies in your car, learning about edible plants and insects if you like to camp or hike, knowing how to read an actual map and use a compass, keeping flashlights and candles around in case the power goes out -- these are all prudent common-sense steps that anyone should take to be prepared to fend for yourself for a few days if the need ever arises. I'm not saying you shouldn't do these things.
I'm also not denying that corporations and governments engage in all sorts of shady dealings that we don't hear about. I certainly have no love for big oil companies or the pharmaceutical companies or Monsanto. There's clearly a lot going on behind that scenes that your average person wouldn't want happening if they had a choice in the matter and many of these things could, potentially, bring us harm.
But when people let go of all sense of science and reason and logic in order to wallow in paranoia about the most unlikely of threats, it does more harm than good. If you've become so obsessed with the end of the world that you can't live your life and you're freaking out so much that you're becoming a cash cow for scam artists and snake oil salesmen, you've crossed that line from sensible preparedness into mindless hysteria. That serves no one other than hucksters lining their pockets.
700 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of wheat, and 14 guns? Now that's what I'd call overkill.
It's not necessarily just the lunatic fringe. Big retailers are even starting to get into the act, such as famously pro-Republican Wal-Mart, which has started carrying a growing line of emergency food packs. For the more hard-core, there's companies such as eFoodsDirect, which offers, among other things, one-year food storage kits and cooking supplies for the end of civilization.
If you're worried about all of your money becoming worthless once all of the global currencies collapse, there's countless shady gold scams dealers out there, such as Lear Capital, which, like eFoodsDirect, has a large advertising presence on right-wing radio talk shows. Glenn Beck heavily promoted the Goldline International scam.
Then there's the even more shady ToolsForFreedom.com, which is in the business of selling books about all sorts of fraudulent tax avoidance schemes, "sovereignty kits", and dubious "nutritional supplements". There's no shortage of various pills and potions marketed as secret "treatments" and "cures" that have been "suppressed by the pharmaceutical industry"--for example, the incredibly shady Carnivora, another one that's heavily promoted by right-wing "media personalities" (and oh lookee, it even has "science" behind it).
For the more purely political-minded, there's a wide variety of shady PACs to choose from; for example, Sarah Palin's "SarahPAC", which collects millions every year and yet funnels less than 2 percent of the money to candidates that Palin claims to support.
I'm not saying there's anything with taking some common-sense precautions to be prepared in case of the inevitable emergency. As we've seen with Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, hurricanes and blizzards do happen. More mundane emergencies such as power outages, cars breaking down, and getting lost in the woods happen too. I still remember living without power for nearly three weeks after Hurricane Hugo swept through the Carolinas.
Buying a few extra non-perishable goods every time you go grocery shopping, keeping a well stocked first aid kit and learning how to use it, carrying some emergency supplies in your car, learning about edible plants and insects if you like to camp or hike, knowing how to read an actual map and use a compass, keeping flashlights and candles around in case the power goes out -- these are all prudent common-sense steps that anyone should take to be prepared to fend for yourself for a few days if the need ever arises. I'm not saying you shouldn't do these things.
I'm also not denying that corporations and governments engage in all sorts of shady dealings that we don't hear about. I certainly have no love for big oil companies or the pharmaceutical companies or Monsanto. There's clearly a lot going on behind that scenes that your average person wouldn't want happening if they had a choice in the matter and many of these things could, potentially, bring us harm.
But when people let go of all sense of science and reason and logic in order to wallow in paranoia about the most unlikely of threats, it does more harm than good. If you've become so obsessed with the end of the world that you can't live your life and you're freaking out so much that you're becoming a cash cow for scam artists and snake oil salesmen, you've crossed that line from sensible preparedness into mindless hysteria. That serves no one other than hucksters lining their pockets.
700 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of wheat, and 14 guns? Now that's what I'd call overkill.