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.

Why do you think they want to lower the age for voting.

Why do you?

I assume it's due to the ageing population, we already have more over 65s than under 15s.

This documentary is from 2015 and is fascinating.
https://www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com

Is your Dad socially isolated, OP?

Exactly, but as so often on here let’s not let the facts get in the way of accusing people of being ageist .

Usenet, BBS's and CompuServe were very different animals to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

I’m in my 70s, and was a teenager in the 1960s. I was “radicalised” then (though in a different way), and have remained pretty much so all my life, like many of my contemporaries.

What you describe is just a bog standard credulous person, to be found in all age groups.

And quite a lot of those who did are dead now. I wasn’t in the Brexit voting over 65 age group nine years ago, now I am. We don’t magically change our views when we move up into the next age group.

This you tube obsession has flown under my radar I rarely use it, then only for music. We've been warned about tik tok many times. No-one makes a squeak about you tube.

One factor in this stuff is social isolation, which can be a risk for some older people- the harder it is to get out and about and meet a variety of people, the more likely you are to look for social contact online, and you don't get the counter-effect of the fact that the rest of the world is just getting on with life.

(FWIW the only person I know who's gone down this rabbit hole is in his 40s.)

The devil makes work for idle hands
😈

I sympathise with this. It's happened in my extended family and can be deeply damaging. We were once talking and they said something horrible and provably false. I showed evidence and explained how it couldn't possibly be true and what the person spouting this rubbish had to gain through the lies.

They would not hear it. I asked 'what evidence would make you believe it's false? What could I say or show you that would introduce doubt?' and they said firmly, 'nothing, I know its true and all counter evidence is fabricated to cover it up'.

Thats when I realised you can't argue with it. Its not political debate its a religion. Its faith and belief. All I know is my focus will be on my children learning critical thinking skills straight off the bat.

I equally have a problem with the far left (or right) targeting young people. But this is not what the thread is about.

This is precisely why I think it was a massive mistake for the government to go so over the top with fear messaging, and authoritarianism, especially about vaccines. People are now thinking “they cried wolf, so I will never listen again”, or “if they went to such lengths to bribe and coerce us into taking it, it can’t be good for us”. This and the very obvious suppression of debate and counter arguments convinced many people (rightly or wrongly) that the government was up to something.

Incidentally, I’ve heard some people in their forties saying “if somebody had told me when I was a teenager that I could change sex, I would totally have believed them”. Make of that what you will.

I must have missed the “fear messaging” about vaccines. What was that, exactly?

the old bbs i believe was one way to share conspiracy info amonst other things back in the day

@borntobequiet I didn’t link fear messaging to vaccines. But in a way, there is a link - fear of dying which the govt had rammed down our throats in the first place was probably one reason so many people agreed to the vaccine, and although not actually said out loud, it was very, very, VERY strongly implied and hinted “if you refuse, there will be more lockdowns just for you, you might be banned from travelling, working, or going about your business, you will not have the same rights as other people; look at what other countries (Austria) are doing: the same might happen here.” To me, that is fear messaging, and doing it in this whispered way is almost worse than saying it out loud.

The conspiracy theorist side of BBS's etc was like having to travel to another town because that was the only place that had a shop selling print copies of Mein Kampf. You had to hunt it out.

By contrast, modern social media is posting copies of Mein Kampf, the Anarchist Cookbook, Behold a Pale Horse and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion through your letterbox every day. And if you so much as open one of them, you get twice as many tomorrow. It's a very different paradigm.

I don't think it's just older people as I hear the same nonsense from all ages, however there is definitely a correction between certain media consumption and these views. My own father has become increasingly like this and definitely reads GB News!

it was a massive mistake for the government to go so over the top with fear messaging, and authoritarianism, especially about vaccines.

This seems to provide the link, and indeed you go on to expand on it, though through your own interpretation as to what was “meant”.

In fact, vaccination slowed progress of the virus, protected many people, and did help us all to resume normal life earlier than would have been the case without the vaccine. I and many colleagues, felt safer at work once vaccinated.

Some of us are able to listen to what is communicated dispassionately, without immediately inferring controlling/coercive or malicious intent. It’s an approach I recommend.

Familiar with the Incel movement? MGTOW? It is lazy and ageist. And as I said the UK is horribly agest and none of you care.

true,

The collapse in trust is largely down to the way in which "facts" are created being exposed. So there is no way to reason anymore

The difference is that the OP's examples of conspiracy theories are just that- conspiracy theories. Whereas Just Stop Oil and XR are worried about a staggeringly vast scientific consensus pointing to the fact that we are experiencing climate change linked to the burning of fossil fuels.

People of all ages are concerned by this, but you see a larger proportion of retired people and students out protesting because they don't have work or childcare responsibilities.

@scalt I agree wholeheartedly. People have lost faith in the government following Covid. Their approach was forceful and felt 'off' to many people which has caused fear. People were told they wouldn't be able to keep their jobs or travel and those who chose to not have the vaccine were accused of putting the vulnerable at risk making them feel cohersed into having a vaccine they didn't want or need. I'm not against anyone having the Covid vaccination but think its a personal choice and should not have been pushed so hard, especially since they have now been linked to various health conditions.

It is. This is one of the biggest dangers to our population. It's disinformation and destructive agendas designed to break our nation legitimised as a 'newspaper'

causing division, inciting hatred, forcing Brexit, with boundless conspiracy theories and gossip designed to keep the mindless masses busy while bad men do bad things and make a shit load of money doing it.

Stop fucking reading this stuff. please!!

This is a problem with my DM. She is believes everything she reads in the Daily Mail and spouts the nonsense back at us. She is age 84. She didn't hold these views when she was younger.