• tate@lemmy.sdf.org
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    21 days ago

    What the actual fuck do these nutjobs think the FEMA workers are doing? Looting? Registering non-citizens to vote? Eating the dogs? What?

    • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net
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      21 days ago

      As someone who used to be one of those nutjobs many years ago; there was an extreme mistrust of FEMA, and the main conspiracy at the time was that the New World Order would someday use FEMA to begin rounding up people to be put into concentration camps, and had millions of plastic coffins waiting to be deployed for the people who resist.

      We fully believed that with every fiber of our being, and if we had seen a FEMA response to a disaster, especially if communications were down, we’d probably just assume the end times were upon us and that they chose this time while we were vulnerable to strike.

      Religion is a hell of a drug that can paralyze critical thinking skills beyond comprehension.

      • False@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        I always figured it was people that took the plot of Deus Ex too seriously.

          • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net
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            21 days ago

            Maybe I got the right message from it then; went from being a religious conspiracy nut to a scientifically objective solarpunk! :D

        • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net
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          21 days ago

          It’s almost a shame that Deus Ex has the crazy illuminati conspiracies included, because (at the risk of sounding crazy again myself) there’s a surprising amount of truth to some of the things talked about in the game, and on topics that essentially no other game has ever attempted to cover. Ross’ game dungeon did a fantastic video on that topic specifically (linked to the relevant part).

      • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        One day I’d like to pick your brain (not today, I’m drinking). I’ve always been nutjob adjacent but the only time I believed was as a kid and that stopped when the pastor of the church my family attended started using stupid math to force the letters in COMPUTER to add up to 666. That was literally the beginning of the end for me. I was also into conspiracies in my 20s but I thought it was like no_sleep where we pretended to believe in wacky things because it was funny. Turns out it wasn’t funny to most of them, which I found out during some fiasco where people were sure the military was about to take over because of Obama or something.

        I always wanted to hear from someone who was deep into some shit but figured out it was all bullshit. Keep spreading that knowledge because it is super interesting and it’s important for others to see that you can absolutely get out of it.

    • boydster@sh.itjust.works
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      21 days ago

      If I had to guess, it’s something to the effect of “FEMA will come in, give you $750 for your home, then send you to a tent, leaving you both permanently displaced and destitute.” It’s not true, but it seems like the kind of thing that would catch on amongst the conspiratorial-minded.

      • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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        21 days ago

        conspiracy theorists will fear things like this and then be against social programs to help the homeless get housing again

    • dan1101@lemm.ee
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      21 days ago

      They haven’t trusted FEMA since at least the Clinton administration. They see the emergency powers FEMA can invoke and they get all worked up about “muh freedoms.”

      • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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        21 days ago

        I think the people who need to have these rumors debunked wouldn’t trust a .gov website. They’ll believe a random fb post though.

    • smokin_shinobi@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      They are pussies who don’t want a real fight they want soft targets to terrorize. Let a neighborhood watch post up with their own ARs and watch them scuttle back to their moving trucks.

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
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      21 days ago

      I remember reading FEMA conspiracies on the internet 20 years ago. The bit I remember is that FEMA is going to use a diaster to round up anyone not a milquetoast “sheeple” and put them in concentration camps as part of ushering in the New World Order. Wikipedia has an article on it that covers the basics – it dates back to 1982.

      The website I saw had pictures of the backs of street signs, claiming the stickers and blemishes from the factory were “semaphores” that FEMA could use as route markers to said concentration camps. It was wild.