What the actual fuck do these nutjobs think the FEMA workers are doing? Looting? Registering non-citizens to vote? Eating the dogs? What?
As someone who used to be one of those nutjobs many years ago; there was an extreme mistrust of FEMA, and the main conspiracy at the time was that the New World Order would someday use FEMA to begin rounding up people to be put into concentration camps, and had millions of plastic coffins waiting to be deployed for the people who resist.
We fully believed that with every fiber of our being, and if we had seen a FEMA response to a disaster, especially if communications were down, we’d probably just assume the end times were upon us and that they chose this time while we were vulnerable to strike.
Religion is a hell of a drug that can paralyze critical thinking skills beyond comprehension.
One day I’d like to pick your brain (not today, I’m drinking). I’ve always been nutjob adjacent but the only time I believed was as a kid and that stopped when the pastor of the church my family attended started using stupid math to force the letters in COMPUTER to add up to 666. That was literally the beginning of the end for me. I was also into conspiracies in my 20s but I thought it was like no_sleep where we pretended to believe in wacky things because it was funny. Turns out it wasn’t funny to most of them, which I found out during some fiasco where people were sure the military was about to take over because of Obama or something.
I always wanted to hear from someone who was deep into some shit but figured out it was all bullshit. Keep spreading that knowledge because it is super interesting and it’s important for others to see that you can absolutely get out of it.
I wrote more about it a while back in this post, if you’re curious. But it’s more on how I got out of it, and not the specifics of all the crazy shit we believed, which would be lengthy.
Of course I’m curious, you glorious bastard! I really appreciate it.
not today I’m drinking
looks at your user name…. Yup, that fits
I always figured it was people that took the plot of Deus Ex too seriously.
Which is ironic because you eventually defect from the fascists and join the resistance
Maybe I got the right message from it then; went from being a religious conspiracy nut to a scientifically objective solarpunk! :D
It’s almost a shame that Deus Ex has the crazy illuminati conspiracies included, because (at the risk of sounding crazy again myself) there’s a surprising amount of truth to some of the things talked about in the game, and on topics that essentially no other game has ever attempted to cover. Ross’ game dungeon did a fantastic video on that topic specifically (linked to the relevant part).
If I had to guess, it’s something to the effect of “FEMA will come in, give you $750 for your home, then send you to a tent, leaving you both permanently displaced and destitute.” It’s not true, but it seems like the kind of thing that would catch on amongst the conspiratorial-minded.
conspiracy theorists will fear things like this and then be against social programs to help the homeless get housing again
FEMA has a webpage for catalogging and responding to rumors about the hurricane response, though I don’t see any as extreme as the ones mentioned in this thread: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/recover/rumor/hurricane-rumor-response
I’m skeptical of how much this will help after seeing how misinformation spread during COVID, but at least they’re trying.
I think the people who need to have these rumors debunked wouldn’t trust a .gov website. They’ll believe a random fb post though.
They haven’t trusted FEMA since at least the Clinton administration. They see the emergency powers FEMA can invoke and they get all worked up about “muh freedoms.”
They are pussies who don’t want a real fight they want soft targets to terrorize. Let a neighborhood watch post up with their own ARs and watch them scuttle back to their moving trucks.
So bullies.
I remember reading FEMA conspiracies on the internet 20 years ago. The bit I remember is that FEMA is going to use a diaster to round up anyone not a milquetoast “sheeple” and put them in concentration camps as part of ushering in the New World Order. Wikipedia has an article on it that covers the basics – it dates back to 1982.
The website I saw had pictures of the backs of street signs, claiming the stickers and blemishes from the factory were “semaphores” that FEMA could use as route markers to said concentration camps. It was wild.
They’re comin’ to take our guns!!! Live free or die.
People are going to die. FEMA workers could get murdered, but a lack of FEMA services will kill people too.
I helped people do sign ups for FEMA assistance in one of the impacted areas. Many were older and just needed help with the forms. Or didn’t have Internet. Some just needed money for groceries, one lost both his job and apartment. All really need help and were already living on the edge. Many were retired and on a fixed income. Idiots spreading rumors hurt these people by delaying help.
That man is a actual terrorist. They should treat him as such
