Geert asked
I am curious what you read and find interesting, enlightening,
disturbing, beyond the ordinary news flow.
-------------
I am reading Phil Tinline's book on an influential hoax "Ghosts of Iron
Mountain: The Hoax that Duped America and its Sinister Legacy". Its
about a fake (1962) 'think tanky style report with lots of foot notes
'so it must be true' The Report from Iron Mountain claimed that winding
down America's vast war-making machinery would wreck the economy and
tear society apart, necessitating draconian controls over the
population.
It was published as non-fiction - and was frighteningly convincing.
Journalists tried to find out who had written it. Worried memos reached
right up to the president. It became a bestselling cause celebre.
Even though the hoax was revealed long ago many still refuse to believe
it isn't real. And it has been seized on by eager figures on the
political extremes but most energetically by the far right and militia
movement, who insist that it revealed terrifying government conspiracies
to enslave Americans and even instigate eugenics. It's been regularly
referenced by Q etc and the legacy lives on and on.
Many have defended taking it seriously on the grounds that it "feels
true". Following the journey of this conspiracy and its many lives gave
me a useful account on the shifting nature overview of what constitutes
'proof' then and now.
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