Over the past few months, it's been a wonder to behold the infighting among the crackpots inhabiting the demented world of QAnon. The broadsides going back and forth from the likes of Lin Wood, Michael Flynn, Patrick Byrne and many lesser-known cranks comes as some of the conspiracists (Wood, Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani and Sydney Powell) are facing legal peril and hefty financial damages. The various warring loon camps have one thing in common, though: they know there are sheep to be fleeced to cover their bills:
To help cover their legal bills, the factions have set up online merchandise shops targeting their most loyal followers. Fans of Powell’s bogus conspiracy theory can, for instance, buy a four-pack set of “Release the Kraken: Defending the Republic” drink tumblers from her website for $80. On Flynn’s newly launched website, fans can buy “General Flynn: #FightLikeAFlynn” women’s racerback tank tops for $30. And Wood’s online store sells $64.99 “#FightBack” unisex hoodies; the fleece, a listing says, feels like “wearing a soft, fluffy cloud.”
Their arguments increasingly resemble the performative clashes of pro wrestling, said Mike Rothschild, a conspiracy theory researcher and author of a book on QAnon: full of flashy, marketable story lines of heroes conquering their enemies. The drama, he said, gives the influencers a way to keep their audiences angry and engaged while also offering them a chance to prove their loyalty by buying stuff.
QAnon is “the easiest money that you could possibly make if you don’t have a conscience, but there’s only a certain number of people you can fleece. It’s not a renewable resource,” said Rothschild (who has no relation to the famous banking family targeted in antisemitic conspiracy theories).
“The fact that they’re all mad at each other, that’s all a byproduct of the fact that they’re just desperate for money, and there’s only a certain amount,” he added. So now, he said, the us-vs.-them argument for many QAnon influencers is: “They’re the pedophiles, the Freemasons, the illuminati. I’m the truth-teller. I’m the one who’s trying to save the world.”
There's always been and will always be an audience for conspiracy theories because they provide an explanation (however bizarre and demented) of the otherwise inexplicable to some portion of the population, many of whom have some mental illness or weakness, who fear change or a perceived loss of status. The QAnon movement exhibits the characteristics of a shared psychosis, and those who take advantage of them (however much we rightfully disdain their dangerous gullibility) for power or financial gain are truly people with no conscience. If these factions of fleecing sociopaths end up cannibalizing each other, so much the better.
(Photo: The QAnon shaman / Dario Lopez-Mills, AP)
