DS into David Icke (should I be worried?)

[Lilsausages]

Checked DS's search history on his ipad and found out hes into David Icke all of a sudden.DS told me that everything David Icke predicted has basically come true. I am worried for DS as he is quite reclusive and socially awkward at the best of times. Is this something I could raise with the school psychologist?

I… had a David Icke phase when I was 19, embarrassingly 😳 an ex of mine was in to conspiracy theories, and they sound all the more legitimate when someone you respect is explaining them to you. It didn’t last long. Unless Icke’s come up with some new stuff in the last 15 year, at that time his theories were all to do with Bigfoot being real and that the illuminati are after us 😂

Lol ok so maybe it's just a phase. Exactly I remember him accusing the queen of being a lizard and there being powerful groups into all sorts of weird stuff like child sacrifice and global pedo rings and all sorts.

I’d try and encourage critical thinking and evidence-based thought.

blindly following ideology will leave him at risk of radicalisation

I'd definitely keep an eye on it. I have a family member that's into him and various conspiracy theories and quite honestly I'm worried about him. Some of the stuff he comes out with is bizarre.

I’d definitely keep an eye on it. For some it’s just a phase but for others is can get very deep and dark very quickly and can be virtually impossible to drag your loved one back out.

Yeah it is a worry. He knows Covid exists but says that the response to it was totally over the top. He also believes in something called the world economy forum and says they are trying to crash the global economy and that they are behind both side of the war in ukraine. I can barely keep up

I mean Jeffrey Epstein turned out to be legit … Yeah definitely second the critical thinking, there was a post on here the other day about a teacher going on about conspiracies too.

I’m quite interested in them again (used to believe them) but once you read about the anti semitism aspect and history it’s quite horrifying actually.

Am reading a book about Agenda 21 and the logic they use to get to their conclusions can appear quite solid despite the actual conclusion usually being batshit and racist at best.

Although in the post covid Russian war/ energy crisis it might be the only thing that makes logical sense to him right now as opposed to being on some mad planet that’s spinning in the middle of the universe that we have no control over. Usually people feel the need for some kind of over arching narrative to be able to actually process what’s happening xxx

sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21

This is probably what he’s on about as well if you want a read to see what he’s referencing 📖 xxx

Ok... so you're saying there's some truth behind my DS's madcap ideas?? 😮

DS has not said anything racist or antisemitic... but he's always going on about Jeffrey Epstein.

Well that’s the thing I was so shocked about is that the whole “bankers taking over the world” dates back wayyyy long ago and it has quite racist roots. But it’s never really explicitly stated if that makes sense so I don’t think you’d realise if you didn’t have any context or hadn’t done some serious digging

On the if it’s true front, I’m unsure but you can definitely tell how people reach their conclusions off the source material, be them right or wrong xxx

What's racist about? I don't get it. Soz if I'm being thick.

Oh you're saying that the conspiracy theories are anti Jewish? Is that it? Or have I got the wrong end completely?

The world economic Forum meets at Davos every year. Yes it is the richer countries and players, yes they think about the direction they want the world to go in. That's capitalism and globalisation.

The conspiracy theory is taking these meetings and saying that's the illuminati/ paedo ring etc. Also many of the oldest and richest institutions have Jewish founders, mainly as Christianity was against loaning money, which leads to the Jewish control conspiracies.

Ok BoomBoom so you're saying that the richest institutions are controlled by Jewish people but that it's nothing to be worried about? I completely agree.

I mean, are we going to start questioning why most curry houses are owned or run by South Asians and how that is a conspiracy? Am I right?

There's a pattern here in what he's into. So yes, I'd be concerned.

I don't know how to approach it though. I imagine that people denying it or telling him he's wrong could drive him even deeper into it. I'd look for advice, even if it's only online.

I wouldn’t worry. I am young enough to have grown up in the readily available internet age; conspiracy theories and Internet wormholes are part of the fun of it all.

Many adult MNers enjoy it. There’s a great thread running atm with 1000s of wormholes to enjoy.

If I remember correctly didn’t Icke think the royals are lizards?

I think the important thing to remember is perspective. I am sure some net conspiracies are true, or parts of them (obviously not the alien royal lizards 🤣). But at the end of the day we will likely never know. And even if we do know they are true well so what. Doesn’t really change anything. Still got to get your grades, get a job, make a living and enjoy your short precious life best we can.

I would focus on trying to convey the latter.

If I remember correctly didn’t Icke think the royals are lizards?

He still does although, in fairness, it's not clear whether he is just using Lizards as code to mean Jews and it's bog standard anti-Semitism or he really thinks the RF and the Jews are literally Lizards.

He's very clever at fleecing this followers for money and attracting a whole range of different type of nut. He latches on to every new conspiracy that appears to milk racists, antivaxxers, far-left, far right and any other cause which attracts fools.

That doesn't mean he isn't completely insane but it's a very profitable form of insanity.

A conspiracy about a conspiracy! 🤣

How the plot thickens!

I genuinely think the people who get stuck in these holes are just missing something in life. Cliche as it is ‘trying to fill a void’.

A young adult has a lot of space to fill. They have the fully fledged brain of an adult whilst still mainly the responsibility/ schedule of a child. I am confident most figure it out and fill these voids as their lives become richer.

This is it exactly - while he comes across as a sandwich short of a picnic, he's a straight up grifter - and outright anti semite - that just follows whatever conspiracy theory brings the most profit (and fools) to his door. Totally knows what he's doing.

A conspiracy about a conspiracy

Not really. Mental illness is complex. I think he probably is (or was when it all started) unwell but he's clearly lucid and rational enough to market very effective lies for huge profits.

I agree. I think at the time of the Wogan interview he was very unwell and Wogan's behaviour was disgusting. It really showed a nasty streak.

But I think Icke absolutely knows what he's doing now.

I would absolutely be in touch with the safeguarding lead at school. While these things can start innocently enough they can go further and get darker pretty quickly. School can be on the lookout for any further worrying signs, and better to keep them in the loop.