Rob Castell

Here's my latest rap! Been a while. Obviously a lot lower-fi than my previous offerings. I've wanted to do something about conspiracy theories for ages, as it's something that I think about a lot and have even clashed with friends over.

A few things I want to say alongside the vid. I think it's really important to scrutinise everything and I do accept that there have been legitimate political conspiracies uncovered in the past. I don't think that corporations, big pharma, media etc are without flaws and often dubious agendas, but I think the detail is complicated.

The world of online conspiracy theories is now in itself an industry - a very profitable and exploitative one at that. People pushing them usually have a political agenda. To conclude that there's a sinister cabal or evil billionaire behind everything is to deprive oneself of agency as a citizen. It can often result in an abdication of responsibility (ie tax is pointless, voting is all rigged anyway) and it also leapfrogs the heads of those who actually need to be held accountable for societal failures, by deferring blame to a villain in the shadows.

Two links that people might find interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/15/the-wellness-realm-has-fallen-into-conspiritualism-i-have-a-sense-why?fbclid=IwAR3j0cGoU7JYpZf0MC9EfCWEyurhEs9alcDjICYtdnkG7iJTPqvYqmkJ-bo

https://politics-on-the-couch.zencast.website/episodes/anti-vaxxers-fear-anxiety-and-the-psychology-of-misinformation

Enjoy the song! x