Is QAnon a synonym for righteousness?

A quiz game to show how the mass media directs people away from morality

Would you like to take my quiz?!? It’s just a little one, but long enough to make a point. I think you will have a bit of fun…

Q1A. Is being concerned about the integrity of national and local elections righteous?
Q1B. Does being concerned about the integrity of national and local elections make you a part of ‘QAnon’?

Q2A. Is objecting to unlawful and unethical use of experimental medications on children righteous?
Q2B. Does objecting to unlawful and unethical use of experimental medications on children make you a part of ‘QAnon’?

Q3A. Is it righteous to be curious why the mass media is not interested in Epstein’s client list?
Q3B. Does it make you a part of ‘QAnon’ to be curious why the mass media is not interested in Epstein’s client list?

Q4A. Is it righteous to investigate the possible involvement of NGOs in human trafficking?
Q4B. Does it make you a part of ‘QAnon’ to investigate the possible involvement of NGOs in human trafficking?

Q5A. Is skepticism over the allegiance of some leaders to their own country a righteous thing?
Q5B. Does skepticism over the allegiance of some leaders to their own country make you part of ‘QAnon’?

Q6A. Is it righteous to reject Big Tech censorship of speech that breaks no law?
Q6B. Does rejection of Big Tech censorship of speech — that breaks no law — make you part of ‘QAnon’?

Q7A. Is it righteous to ask if there was an ulterior motive to lockdowns and vaccine passports?
Q7B. Does asking if there was an ulterior motive to lockdowns and vaccine passports make you part of ‘QAnon’?

Q8A. Is support for the expansion of citizen journalism righteous?
Q8B. Does support for the expansion of citizen journalism make you part of ‘QAnon’?

Q9A. Is wanting the prosecution of those involved in treason and crimes against humanity righteous?
Q9B. Does wanting the prosecution of those involved in treason and crimes against humanity make you part of ‘QAnon’?

Q10A. Is reading the Q drops before forming an opinion on them righteous?
Q10B. Does reading the Q drops before forming an opinion on them make you part of ‘QAnon’?

I could do more. Lots more. We could quibble about the phrasing and framing. But the word game I am playing is pretty obvious.

It is an easy quiz to mark: the answer to every A question is ‘yes’ (it is righteous), and B is ‘no’ (is not that dreaded QAnon thing). That’s because there is no such thing as ‘QAnon’ in any rational sense. Any question that is deemed taboo is just chucked into a bucket labelled ‘QAnon’ to indicate that going there is socially unacceptable. But once we realise that asking sensible questions is righteous, and those questions cover every single aspect of ‘QAnon’, then there is no space left for the denigrating label to semantically occupy.

Let’s reduce this to its essence…

• Is it righteous to assert that “the answer to bad speech is more speech, not censorship”? Or is that a QAnon trope?

• Is seeking evidence and thinking critically before forming opinions righteous? A QAnon trope?

• Is holding the powerful to account and prosecuting criminals righteous? A QAnon trope?

• Is wariness of propaganda and the potential for abuse of the press righteous? A QAnon trope?

• Is having an open mind and considering dissenting views righteous? A QAnon trope?

Matters that would ordinarily generate intense interest and outrage from the liberal and progressive wing of society are casually dismissed as irrelevant (and even wicked) when labelled as ‘QAnon’. You can ignore medical informed consent, overlook high crimes, and promote book burning — just as long as it is all excused as being against the nebulous (and never prosecuted) synthetic bogeyman.

It has been quite stunning to discover that people I thought were principled are indeed principled, but only have one principle: do whatever the group norm says. What I thought were genuine individualist principles, like the need for fair elections, free speech, and civil liberties were just adornments to be worn and discarded as fashions dictated. Every single enlightenment value can be tossed aside with a single disapproved epithet.

Just like “conspiracy theory” has been used to shut down debate and stop free thought, “QAnon” is used to denounce rational inquiry into the abuse of power and the lack of accountability. But these things can cut two ways: as Elon Musk notes, every “conspiracy theory” about Twitter is true, so the label can end up reversing meaning, indicating it’s likely a suppressed story of great significance. What was meant to stand in for “false and immoral” can turn into a signifier of truth and even holiness.

What is really scary is how facts and morals become relative to the ideology of the speaker; there is no absolute reality, just as there is no God. The State and its mouthpieces are the only trusted authority, and Science™ is your new deity. Meanwhile, we are watching the worst political scandals in modern history being revealed in real time on Twitter. This includes hard proof that politicians and government agencies were censoring journalists and professors because they rightly questioned the official “scientific” narrative on Covid.

Yet many people still look away simply because Musk has been tarnished with the brush of unrighteous media disgust via ‘QAnon’:

• Vice — Elon Musk Is Now Promoting QAnon

• Forbes — Musk Flirts With QAnon: He Attacks Fauci, Roth In Latest Shift To The Right

• Washington Post — QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter

What is happening is that the propaganda label ‘QAnon’ frames the world as competing hive mind collectivist belief systems; data points (Q et al) and independent thinkers with varying interpretations (anons) don’t exist. We have reached the depraved point where being righteous results in you being accused as ‘extremist’, 'Russian bot’, or a ‘potential domestic terrorist’. That is a knowing inversion of reality, and a denial of civil rights, that opens the door to totalitarianism.

The very essence of rule of law and the pursuit equal justice is now being discredited as a ‘QAnon’ value. There is a reason why we insist on the separation of powers, due process in law, and accountability for abuses of those powers. Censorship that strips people of their livelihoods, voice, and participation in society — on the say-so of hidden accusers — is the death of any semblance of democracy. Once you own the media, and have no clerical opposition, then you own everything. You can redefine truth and morality to mean anything you like.

As the good book says, woe indeed to those who call evil good and good evil, for the script is flipping. Every effort to frame truth and morality as being wrong is going to boomerang. The ‘QAnon’ mind manipulation label will be the death of the mass media as the public realises how they have been duped into poisoning themselves. Next up in the Twitter Files is Anthony Fauci, mass murder extraordinaire. His surviving victims are not going to quietly accept their suffering as being a ‘QAnon’ fantasy.

And righteously so.

Stormy sea at Newgale Sands in Pembrokeshire