Radicalisation of older people

[colinthedogfromaccounts]

My dad (late 70s) has gone full gangster conspiracy theorist. His long list of increasingly radical beliefs include:

Chemtrails control us
WHO created the pandemic
The EU is evil.
Big pharma is poisoning us (he has given up all his life saving meds)
Vaccinations are a control mechanism
Bill Gates is responsible for the weather
The Democrats wanted world war
Gaza is not real - it's all made up to persecute the Jews

The list goes on. My worry is that this radicalisation is putting his health at risk, so I would like to really understand the psychology to approach this with as much evidence as possible.

Sources are sketchy online (specifically relating to how and why older people become radicalised) - wondering if anybody has any research based insights into this.

My DH watches too many videos on his phone, police behaving badly in the main. Katie Hopkins makes him laugh. However, he hates Farage. We can't discuss politics because he's right and I'm wrong. I just leave him to it.

I do think big pharma are robbing barons chasing patents to make more money at our expense.

I do like the joke

"What's the difference between the truth and a conspiracy?

6-12 months "

We're lied to consistently about some things by governments, the wealthy. We're not seen as individuals because there's so many of us. But no mind. I don't hold them in high regard either.

I'd love to see the evidence that conspiracy theories are disproportionately associated with older people, but I don't think you'll find it. You're more likely to find it among your sons than your parents.

Speaking as a 60 year old whose mother and grandmother are still alive, kicking and voting Labour, I'm getting a bit fed up of these lazy, ageist generalisations. Yes, I know Brexit yada yada. White people were also more likely to vote for Brexit, but I don't see white posters feeling stricken by collective guilt.

It's not ageist. I'm old. It's s fucking nightmare. Older people are being deliberately targeted by the far right. Nigel farage is far right and this is his main target demographic. Sadly older people are easily drawn in. They are more likely to be drawn into right wing rhetoric and less savvy when it comes to social media tricks. The young are equally gullible so they too are being targeted (see Andrew Tate for more top tips)

I blame social media. The once cautious and sane elderly are the new radical teenagers. They were the first teenagers to exist so it should come as no surprise that with time on their hands again they are naturally reverting to the trailblazing of their youth. They were the original hippies.
I’m 60 s I’m a natural cynic, a teenager of the eighties so far less gullible. My uncle,80, has gone totally conspiracy theorist. It is worrying but very entertaining. Fortunately they are a bit too old to organise sit ins at universities or protests, although they support everything from their armchairs.
The latest generation, the gender woke, are very similar and likely to be just as bad in their dotage.

Fortunately the pandemic has seen their cause fizzle out. DS20 tows the party line re gender but as soon as the whole debacle fades away he will happily accept the next new order, he really doesn’t believe that men can be women but as he constantly reminds me you have to go with the flow until it changes direction. I think the new teenage generation of 20 somethings are better at critical thinking. Being isolated from the herd has allowed them to think a little more critically.

They also understand that not everything you read online is true. They understand AI and are taught to check for AI while researching. The over 80s have very little understanding of how easy it is to manipulate images. They are still funny in their dotage analogue age.

Students and seniors then?

Because I never listened to her or the other stuff. It's white noise. Never found Monty Python that funny either.

There's no age requirement for batshit ideas. Here are a few I've heard from 20 somethings:
Mamals can change sex
Sex is a nebulous concept
You can be whatever sex you feel in your head
The female penis
A 40 year old male is a teenage girl cricket player
Anyone who thinks sex is real is a nazi
Ad nauseum

*toes not tows

Watching Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion. It struck me one day that Both are very popular with students and seniors. They both protest, lie in the road, resist arrest and are passionate about their causes.

Not solely. Also school kid's from aged 11 and also angry young men. And obviously anyone that reads the mail, were sucked into the anti Vax stuff/anti congestion charge shite - not surprisingly the same people often (targeted as gullible by all bots)

You know, OP didn't say older people are conspiracy nuts.

She said she's worried about her father, who has stopped taking his meds because he believes medical conspiracy theories among others.

The common factor is having time on their hands.

True, but a lot join them at weekends.

I read it as @colinthedogfromaccounts being worried about her dad, especially as he stopped taking meds.

cross posted with @Garlicworth thank you, I was just thinking I must have missed some really rude remarks by the OP. Weird responses here. I've seen people post concerns about relatives and CTs and they got sympathy.

Have a read about the student protests in the 1970s, Greenpeace and the Greanham
Common camps.
They are the same generation that are currently protesting.
They are the Citizen Smith generation, the punk rockers. Is it any surprise that they are now behaving badly again?

My friend did Greenham Common which impressed me no end. She was very passionate. But along came marriage and children, grandchildren. She's very mellow politically now.

Exactly. Maybe it’s not the elderly who are being radicalised 🙄

the psychology is some conspaircy theories over time have been proven , so in that reguards its not an unfounded belief in them @colinthedogfromaccounts

I had a friend who went to Greanham Common. She finished her drama degree, fell pregnant then spent a year protesting with a young baby attached. I was busy building a career in a previously male dominated field. Doing my bit for women the future. We receive very little thanks for pushing boundaries nowadays.
Maybe I’ll spend my retirement protesting. I’m just not sure what my cause is yet.

It’s just all the crap they’re exposed to in the media. To be fair it’s hard to know what’s real anymore….when world leaders go on tv : social media and tell blatant lies. It’d a confusing time to live in….

I completely agree. If someone listened to my experience I sound like an insane paranoid person. Surrounded by sociopathic people, systemically gaslighted by medical professionals. It's true. But you just can't be heard so it's best not really being too vocal. You sound nutty.

I really think an open mind is important and busy people with busy lives don't have the time and space often to really stop and see reality.

The anti Vax situation - has the vax helped people? Yes I'm sure it has and there was a place. Has it harmed people? Well yes it really has and plenty are popping up. How much is a deliberate conspiracy? I don't know. But discounting people and things that are hard to believe as conspiracies is short sighted.

Who would ever believe half the crap that's coming out about people, scandals, even this disgusting Pilicot case. You'd never imagine some of the things that are coming out at one point. Now nothing much surprise me and I'm just a tad cautious when I hear ' conspiracy theory' as a term.

Life was much simpler when I was young. I think it's easier to influence us. Remember the hoo ha about subliminal advertising which was banned. That's childs play compared to today's influence.

Look at the top streaming shows. Yellowstone and all it's copies. There's a yearning for something happening in people's minds. Simpler life, grittier living.

I think, whatever your beliefs, it is very easy to find support for them online and then to carry on finding more sources which share the same views. It can be harder to find opposing opinions once you're 'down a rabbit hole'.

Not the 70s no. But the 85+ for us. It’s sudden exposure to YouTube. Incredible the stories they come out with.