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Original poster

Radicalisation of older people

211 replies

colinthedogfromaccounts · 19/02/2025 22:37

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.

OP posts:
daffodilandtulip · 20/02/2025 12:42

My parents are mid 70s. They are disgustingly racist, don't believe in education, and used to throw any medication I was given away. I had to get my vaccinations as an adult.

But my sister is the same, as are her children so I don't really think it's an age issue.

Original poster
colinthedogfromaccounts · 20/02/2025 13:25

Brefugee · 19/02/2025 23:09

Oh goody. On the day it is revealed that the UK is an absolute hotbed for it, up pops yet another ageist thread.
Slow handclap

Eh? Not at all ageist - this change has happened in the past two years. My parents are old.

OP posts:
Adamante · 20/02/2025 13:32

Almost as crazy as believing men can be women and that drag queens should host story hours for pre schoolers. Or that Joe Biden was perfectly capable and it was just far right viciousness that said he was actually sinking fast into dementia. Or the insistence that’s there’s absolutely no cultural element to the Rape Grooming Gangs. Or that masks worked and the Covid vaccination was completely safe and that it all started out in a wet market and got into humans via a pot of soup or some such 🤷🏼‍♀️

All of which I saw asserted strenuously and repeatedly right here on MN…

Original poster
colinthedogfromaccounts · 20/02/2025 13:37

BusyExpert · 19/02/2025 23:26

the patronising self obsessed young posting here!. If tyour parents belief in these theories does not affect you then let them get on with it. It's no worse than the beliefs of so many younger people and possibly has more basis in truth.
certainly the widespread belief in many that men can be women.
There are very few older people that have fallen for this guff.

I am worried that my father has done a complete 180 and I am trying to understand if there are any studies or information that relates to this.

To go from a logical, evidenced based critical thinker to a complete fanatic who believes we are being controlled by chemtrails and has stopped taking cardiac medication due to a new belief that the WHO is killing us in conjunction with big pharma...

I am honestly trying to understand and am struggling.

OP posts:
Upchuck · 20/02/2025 13:40

colinthedogfromaccounts · 20/02/2025 13:37

I am worried that my father has done a complete 180 and I am trying to understand if there are any studies or information that relates to this.

To go from a logical, evidenced based critical thinker to a complete fanatic who believes we are being controlled by chemtrails and has stopped taking cardiac medication due to a new belief that the WHO is killing us in conjunction with big pharma...

I am honestly trying to understand and am struggling.

Show quote history

There have been various studies, but I don't have the info on hand. Could post later if that would be helpful, but you should be able to find many of them on Google.

Original poster
colinthedogfromaccounts · 20/02/2025 13:41

Upchuck · 20/02/2025 13:40

There have been various studies, but I don't have the info on hand. Could post later if that would be helpful, but you should be able to find many of them on Google.

Show quote history

Thank you. That would be great.

OP posts:
FurAll · 20/02/2025 13:41

I would say that your DF either has the beginnings of dementia or he has always had these views and concealed them very well. My mum who is 89 is unfortunately the latter. Not about medicine but very racist when she was always pretended to be anti racist before. She watches Fox News and adores Elon Musk which doesn’t help.

JasmineAllen · 20/02/2025 13:42

trainermush · 19/02/2025 23:17

I think it's too much Daily Mail

I'm no fan of the DM, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't report that Bill Gates controls the weather or any weird stuff about chem trails !!
Or Gaza doesn't exist? How can that be a thing?

trainermush · 20/02/2025 13:44

@ApolloandDaphne there was an article about boomers and AI slop in the daily mail, my aunt said it to me. Quite off brand for the DM 😆

Upchuck · 20/02/2025 13:45

FurAll · 20/02/2025 13:41

I would say that your DF either has the beginnings of dementia or he has always had these views and concealed them very well. My mum who is 89 is unfortunately the latter. Not about medicine but very racist when she was always pretended to be anti racist before. She watches Fox News and adores Elon Musk which doesn’t help.

It can be both of those things, but it can also be down to things like radical social change, an increasing lack of faith in governments and institutions (both justified and unjustified), feeling like you're part of something bigger/a community, and various other factors that I won't bore you with. It's actually a really complex and interesting topic.

trainermush · 20/02/2025 13:45

@JasmineAllen The title of the OP
is radicalisation of old people. Maybe google
some DM articles to do with Trump, labour, vaccines, lockdown and look at the comments...

trainermush · 20/02/2025 13:46

And the DM loves scaremongering which isn't helping

trainermush · 20/02/2025 13:47

@MzHz your explanation was much better than mine, thank you.

JasmineAllen · 20/02/2025 13:56

I know the title of the thread and I was referring to the list of things the OP said her parents now believe. Someone suggested they believe these things because they've read them in the DM and I pointed out the DM can be crazy, but it's not printing all the lunacy in the OPs list. I quoted the 3 most 'unusual' conspiracy claims in the list.

I think it's more likely the change in ideas have been encouraged by social media.

Fitzcarraldo353 · 20/02/2025 13:57

My 80 year old mum has gone this way. It's funny because my dad would be fairly conservative and always has been and is maintaining his conservative views.

But my mum, who was more lefty and a believer in the good in the world has done a total 180 to being anti immigration, right wing, racist and Trump and conspiracy supporting. For her she was always into ' wellness' and holistic therapies so she's followed that WELL worn path from natural remedies to anti vax to full blown conspiracies.

My 11 year old nephew was afraid to brush his teeth the other night because Nana had told him the fluoride was poisonous.

It's so sad and so frustrating but it's also a product of loneliness. My dad doesn't listen to her so she spends her time on YouTube and Facebook with nothing else to do.

MotherofPearl · 20/02/2025 14:00

I've seen similar with my mother and my PILs. Maybe not the exact same conspiracy theories you list OP, but some similar ones.

In both these family cases it seems to come from consuming more and more content from YouTube, and a lack of awareness about how the algorithms work to direct you to watch more and more material that 'confirms' what you've already watched. They have huge amounts of time on their hands and seem to spend an enormous amount of it watching YouTube.

I wonder if greater social isolation amongst older people also contributes to this as people don't have enough people in RL to put these things in perspective. That's certainly the case for many I think - though maybe not in the OP's case.

murasaki · 20/02/2025 14:03

It's not social media in FiL's case. I still think it's loss, his world changing after the end of a 55 year marriage, grief, a shrinking world, and GB news filling the silence of his home. It's so sad to see.

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:06

@JasmineAllen it's a general point though and media outlets like DM & GB news contribute to the increase in conspiracy theories but you don't have to agree.

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:07

I mean the DM definitely contributed to Brexit 😆

justasking111 · 20/02/2025 14:17

Tabloids don't talk about chem trails, lizard people and the like. So where does this guff appear?

JasmineAllen · 20/02/2025 14:26

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:06

@JasmineAllen it's a general point though and media outlets like DM & GB news contribute to the increase in conspiracy theories but you don't have to agree.

I agree with you that the DM prints a lot of nonsense.

My point though is that the DM has been around for donkeys years and it's only since the advent of social media (and the modern Internet) that there's been a big increase in crazy conspiracy theories. That's why I generally point the finger at social media and not the DM.

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:27

And my point is the DM doesn't have to talk about every single conspiracy theory in order to feed into the lying mainstream media argument.

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:28

@JasmineAllen do you think the DM was always online?

trainermush · 20/02/2025 14:29

When I referred to it upthread I wasn't talking about the physical paper.

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