Not sure whether to put this in the US thread or British.
Decided on the US one because I thought it’s most relevant to it even if it’s a British guy I’m talking about.
In my work as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities. I’ve met more than one person who believes a group called the world economic forum are trying to bring in a ‘social credit’ system where your loyalty/ disloyalty to the government dictates what you can buy in a shop.
I thought at the time this idea is so fringe, out there and crazy that it doesn’t warrant my attention much at all.
I’m unapologetically leftist but we had agency workers who came in. Most didn’t do their jobs in the slightest and never gave a single fudge about the people we cared for.
But ever increasingly someone would appear who subscribed completely to this ‘world economic forum’ ideas.
One day in January I was walking with one of the guys we supported and a new agency worker.
He was spouting out all this - clearly right wing - propaganda.
He then said ‘you know who’s a very intelligent guy. Russell Brand’
I can’t rember the ins and outs of what we were talking about. But he’d just expressed an idea that was clearly right wing. I said ‘but Russell Brand is left wing?’
He said ‘no you’re thinking of his old stuff. His new stuff now is different’
Afterwards I forgot about this for 3-4 months. The other day I saw an article about Brand’s divergence to the right and it reminded me about the whole conversation again.
I wouldn’t necessarily say any of it is a complete shock to me, but it is was still a surprise that the same guy who backed Jeremy Corbyn a couple years back is now a right wing populist.
Personally I blame the inherent right wing sway of tailboids and the failure of the right wing press to confront conspiracy head on.
When the right are backed by people like Tucker Carlson they always downplay the association between right wing populism and anti-Semitic tropes.
This coming from myself, a left wing pro-Palestinian who has, in the past, been labelled on this forum an anti-Semite for daring to question whether the country of Israel is guilty of apartheid.
Not sure how to conclude this. I’m just so surprised that Russell Brand’s now a right wing activist and that it should give us pause to think that the same group who praised recognising Israel’s capital as Jerusalem night themselves be the backers of an anti-Semitic populist movement.
I've seen loads of people talk about the WEF and a global conspiracy to increase government control, lots of talk that covid was manufactured as a test bed etc to see how the public would react to lockdowns. I don't think the WEF really needs to exist and governments obviously do a lot of bad things but it still amazes me how many loons there are. Worst thing is they can't stop going on about it - seems they need confirmation on their views from others to re-assure them so they end up in an echo bubble talking to a cult of the same opinion.