IT WAS THE GOVERNMENT · Posted May 3, 03:23 PM by Todd Babiak
One of my neighbours, a Mexican gentleman, informs me there is no swine influenza. Not really. His friends in Mexico say it’s a tactic, cooked up by the government, to steer attention away from a devastating war on drugs that is quickly destroying his country.
Conspiracy theorists in Mexico liken swine influenza to the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States, the BIG ONE for conspiracy theorists. A government tries something that seems to be ridiculous in order to seize control of popular opinion and:
1. Start a war
2. Reduce civil liberties
3. Get rid of some really bad people while no one is looking
I worked for the feds for a while, and I don’t think ANY government is capable of pulling off a stunt like that — even if it did make sense. Thousands of people, including journalists, would have to shut up. This is just not in a journalist’s genetic code. But it does show just how skeptical we’ve become of institutions we once trusted implicitly: the media, the government, business, religions, influenza.
There was a time when this news sort of news depressed me. Now nothing depresses me except littering. Oh, and unnecessarily large trucks with diesel engines idling while I’m trying to breathe. And creationism. All right, some things depress me. But not the old things.
What I’m hoping is that when the distrust of institutions reaches a peak, a vacuum will appear and we’ll fill it with something grand. Neighbourliness. Novels. Regard for others. Movies that aren’t about Wolverine. You know?
commenting closed for this article