This and John Abramson was such a fantastic double whammy.
Edit to add:
I think people are so quick to shoot this stuff down / quickly dismiss bc it has that fervent tin-foil-hat feel of "this goes all the way to the top." But it does. Like the reality of the situation is so bold and ridiculous and people just think "that can't possibly be true" and move on.
Yeah. When the alternative is understanding the implications of the Panama Papers and the scope of the criminal activity Epstein's black book suggests.... people just want to stick their heads back in the sand.
The cognitive dissonance which a realization of the depth and breadth of societal corruption causes... well, it more or less ensures that only zealots and neuro-atypicals are willing to follow the evidence. The destruction of your worldview is not something a normal person will countenance without resistance and/or denial of evidence.
You're right, and I think that's where you lose a lot of people. In uncovering awful behaviors among the rich and powerful, a lot of people have this deep desire to uncover a "vast global conspiracy" when 9/10 its just people in power making the most selfish possible choices in a situation that already wasn't great.
This and John Abramson was such a fantastic double whammy.
Edit to add:
I think people are so quick to shoot this stuff down / quickly dismiss bc it has that fervent tin-foil-hat feel of "this goes all the way to the top." But it does. Like the reality of the situation is so bold and ridiculous and people just think "that can't possibly be true" and move on.
Yeah. When the alternative is understanding the implications of the Panama Papers and the scope of the criminal activity Epstein's black book suggests.... people just want to stick their heads back in the sand.
The cognitive dissonance which a realization of the depth and breadth of societal corruption causes... well, it more or less ensures that only zealots and neuro-atypicals are willing to follow the evidence. The destruction of your worldview is not something a normal person will countenance without resistance and/or denial of evidence.
Unfortunately.
It doesn't even have to be a "vast global conspiracy" it is simply people with power doing what they have always done to maintain their power.
We are officially at the point where the "bad guys'" defense is literally causing cognitive dissonance in the masses.
What comes next is not going to be pretty.
You're right, and I think that's where you lose a lot of people. In uncovering awful behaviors among the rich and powerful, a lot of people have this deep desire to uncover a "vast global conspiracy" when 9/10 its just people in power making the most selfish possible choices in a situation that already wasn't great.