The Odd Reptilian Theory and The People That Believe It

[8bitagent]

I realize there's been people with an online presence to shill a pro establishment line(pro government, pro Israeli lobby, whatever) as well as a long endless amount of infiltration into peace and other activist groups.

I'm more talking about the popular notion on conspiracy related forums that anyone who disagrees with someone, has their own wild theories or perhaps some mental issue is a "paid agent". Nowhere did I hear this accusation thrown around than in the "9/11 truth" underground in the zeroes. I was trying to picture some Pentagon guy going "My god, they've discovered our secret nano thermate drone plane coverup...quick, get a professor to go online to promote direct energy weapon theories and no planes hypothesis!"

[MacCruiskeen]

Yeah, well, fine, but I wasn't doing that. Obviously not.

[Searcher08]

I realize there's been people with an online presence to shill a pro establishment line(pro government, pro Israeli lobby, whatever) as well as a long endless amount of infiltration into peace and other activist groups.

I'm more talking about the popular notion on conspiracy related forums that anyone who disagrees with someone, has their own wild theories or perhaps some mental issue is a "paid agent". Nowhere did I hear this accusation thrown around than in the "9/11 truth" underground in the zeroes. I was trying to picture some Pentagon guy going "My god, they've discovered our secret nano thermate drone plane coverup...quick, get a professor to go online to promote direct energy weapon theories and no planes hypothesis!"

I think there might be a useful light in this.
Look at things simply - eg accepting the FBI/CIA/XYZ as super smart is less empowering than saying they are just ordinary, and will have loads of people who are probably as dumb as a sack of spanners.
'The purpose of the system is what it does': is the person a force at bringing people together or do they end up creating conflict around them?
Do they repeat the same things endlessly or do that have an inclusive diversity in their thinking that allows for viewpoints quite different to their own - (which obviously doesnt mean having to agree with them)?
Will they tolerate allow their own approach to be respectfully and empathetically challenged - or do they respond with personal attack and / or claims of victimisation and / or ignoring any challenges or critiques?
What does the person NOT post about? For example if they post thousands of posts about evil organisations A, C and evil people W, X, Z but leave out organisations B and evil person Y, sometimes that is because it is a blind spot and maybe never occurred to them. I have seen blind spots happen lots of times here and have done it myself; that is one of the reasons why I appreciate Slad - because the variety of information she brings here is like a one woman news bureau and it provides a wide space of new material. A varied diet to graze on if you will...
If a person has a blind spot pointed out and disagrees, fine - but if they rigourously avoid this conversation, I think it can either indicate being a shill or being a monomanic or a hypocrite or deranged or combination of some or all of those things.
Why is this important?
In the 21st Century, if a John or Jane doesn't set outcomes for their own thinking, then someone else will attempt to do their thinking for them - and that thinking may not have the best interests of John or Jane at heart. At all.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Fuck you Mac.

And this is the part where the moderator comes in and says "Holy shit please let's ramp it down here."

And Mac, please don't play dumb, you write too well to pull that role off. AD = not an agent, and neither is Nick Pell. Not just against the rules, but also a waste of time - there's better conversations to have here.

[MacCruiskeen]

[...] Mac, please don't play dumb, you write too well to pull that role off. AD = not an agent, and neither is Nick Pell. Not just against the rules, but also a waste of time - there's better conversations to have here.

I'm not playing dumb, WR, nor did I say anything dumb.

AD = not an agent

Are you sure? If so, how? Do you know him better than I do?

I thought he might speak for himself, even though the fee per line is poor. I can't imagine why he doesn't, unless it's because the fee per line is so poor. Perhaps he has just lost his job and therefore has no access to a computer.

neither is Nick Pell.

"Nick"? He calls himself "Nicholas", at least online. And therefore I'm like WTF, so to speak. Do you know him better than I do? Apparently so.

I think interests should be declared. Seriously. Otherwise where the hell are we? God forbid I (or anyone) should say a bad word about any article written by a Mod's pal. Depending on the response, we might actually start getting paranoid or at least be accused of it.

[MacCruiskeen]

Thanks, ̶C̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶G̶̶u̶̶e̶̶v̶̶a̶̶r̶̶a̶ American Dream, and thanks Nicholas "Nick" Pell!

Whoa boy, those Conspiracy Nuts and their typically wacky "Reptilian Theory"!! If it hadn't been for C̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶G̶̶u̶̶e̶̶v̶̶a̶̶r̶̶a̶ American Dream, and that fine journalist Nicholas "Nick" Pell, I might actually have carried on believing 'em!!!

"Laugh at the stupid and never doubt the clever." (Eh?)

RI is and remains an incredibly useful resource.

[American Dream]

[Joe Hillshoist]

That avatar is great AD.

[Peregrine]

AD, please don't start posting photos like this, they contribute nothing & they tend to fan flames. I'm quite tempted to lock this, actually, the last thing we need is another shit-show thread.

[American Dream]

AD, please don't start posting photos like this, they contribute nothing & they tend to fan flames. I'm quite tempted to lock this, actually, the last thing we need is another shit-show thread.

Peregrine, have you paid any attention to Mac's behavior on this thread?

Also, do you think Mr. Icke has a good position on the Nazi genocide and/or the Protocols?

[seemslikeadream]

what purpose does ANOTHER thread about anti-semitism here serve? Well I guess it keeps it on the front page

[Wombaticus Rex]

I'm not playing dumb, WR, nor did I say anything dumb.

People make a big deal out of me being a mod when they want to be offended, otherwise I hope y'all realize just how meaningless that title is.

I already quoted your post, and it pains me on a grown-up level that I really need to split hairs with you on this. Your "entirely off-topic" musing about agents reposting material was obviously and directly related to AD, and pretending otherwise is, emphatically, "playing dumb." That is all. I'm not a hall monitor.

Yes, I do know Nick Pell. Slightly better than I know you or AD. Allow me to rephrase the ambiguity of that sentence:

For the purposes of discussion and participation on the RI board, American Dream is not an agent, a priori, and neither is anyone else who participates here. My own conclusions about Nick Pell are not objective or meaningful enough to be mentioned here.

Aight?

[Peregrine]

AD, please don't start posting photos like this, they contribute nothing & they tend to fan flames. I'm quite tempted to lock this, actually, the last thing we need is another shit-show thread.

Peregrine, have you paid any attention to Mac's behavior on this thread?

Yes. Wombat seems to be addressing that. This thread you started is flamebait.

Also, do you think Mr. Icke has a good position on the Nazi genocide and/or the Protocols?

AD, I like ya & all, but don't start that hosepucky questioning what my position is. I don't know a whole lot about Icke & tend to avoid the more "out there" theorists. I think it's pretty clear where I stand in regards to any racist ideologies.

Ah fuckit, locking. This is gonna turn into a clusterfuck.