Welcome to the big tent of conspiracy theories

As all significant political movements do, conspiracy theorists are merging under one big tent.

image: Philadelphia Inquirer

Movements are convenient way of identifying where you fit in on certain issues. If you are a liberal, you can find a set of values consistent with yours. And if you aren’t sure what you should think about a particular issue, just look at what the group’s opinion is. It helps clarify who’s with you and who isn’t.

Big tents are the goal of successful political parties: the more voters you can include, the greater your chances of getting into power. Big tents are appealing to conspiracy theorists because they create communication networks.

For convenience, let’s label the conspiracy theorists movement as “popster” from populism meaning grassroots, and from Apophenia: the condition of seeing or imagining patterns in random occurrences.

Like any big tent movement, the overarching tenets of popsters are few: believe that a handful of sinister individuals control world affairs for their nefarious ends; that the scientific method to be a means of confirming what they know to be true; that freedom means acting contrary to public health such as vaccinations.

While the overthrow of the government often seems to be the goal of popsters, they seldom have a identifiable platform for replacement nor do they run for office.

An exception was the Trump administration which was a disaster. While President Trump echoed the anger and discontent of popsters, he was incoherent. Popsters are against governments of all stripes.

Conservative leader candidate Pierre Poilievre is making a mistake in thinking he can convince popsters to vote Conservative.

He thinks that by supporting “freedom convoys,” normalizing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, and wild talk about firing Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, that he will win support.

What Poilievre fails to realize is that popsters have a deep seated suspicion of political leaders because governments are just puppets of those really in control; one of those being Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

At a lunchtime rally for Poilievre in Ontario, a woman wanted know how Poilievre could be trusted when a “member” of the WEF was in his party.

She was referring to John Baird, the former foreign affairs minister under Stephen Harper. As foreign minister, he went four times. “I haven’t had any contact with them since 2015,” said Baird.

The same woman believes that Schwab, who founded the World Economic Forum more than 50 years ago, along with billionaires Bill Gates and George Soros are trying to take over the world.

Another attendee at the Poilievre rally believed that COVID-19 vaccines are “experimental drugs.”

Some popsters believe the WEF either created the pandemic or is using it to control people, through microchips in vaccines or stealth socialism.

Popsters have latched onto language used by the WEF – the “Great Reset.” The WEF used the phrase to mean a more greener and equitable post-pandemic world. Now popsters see the Great Reset as a sinister plot for global control.

Sensible Conservatives will realize that popsters will not support conservatives and if they do, it will attempt to undermine the Conservatives party.

Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo is backing Jean Charest as leader of the Conservatives party.

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‘No Jab, No Pay,’ not here

Australia has a blunt way of getting parents to vaccinate their children called ““No Jab, No Pay.”

image: Forbes Phoenix

As the name suggests, parents don’t receive welfare payments, tax benefits, and child-care rebates if they don’t vaccinate their children. It can amount to $15,000 annually.

Not only do parents lose payments but unvaccinated children can be barred from daycare and schools during disease outbreaks. Daycares that allow unvaccinated children can be fined up to $30,000.

The exceptions to vaccinations are those children who have some medical condition such compromised immune systems or cancer. These children have a genuine reason not to be vaccinated; and these are the children who can benefit most from everyone else being vaccinated.

Australia has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. But rates only improved slightly since the ‘No Jab, No Pay’ policy was implemented, from 90 per cent to 93 per cent. The improvement was not entirely because of the threat. A key to their success is a national registry. Health reporter Andre Picard says:

“We should not forget either that, in addition to financial penalties, Australia greatly improved its monitoring of vaccination. Having a register that shows what vaccinations children have – or haven’t – received has contributed greatly to bolstering rates (Globe and Mail, July 9, 2018).”

While it seems effective, it’s not appropriate for Canada. We are similar to Australia in that we are both former British colonies but Australia’s culture is different than Canada’s. Perhaps it’s because they were a former penal colony that the big stick approach is more accepted.

Canada has a hodgepodge of provincial systems with no consistent registry. We need to do better. We now have an immunization rate estimated (because we don’t know) to be 85 per cent. Herd immunity requires rates of 90 to 95 per cent.

There are many excuses for not vaccinating children. One is selfishness. If sufficient numbers of other children are vaccinated, herd immunity protects my child.

These parents don’t remember, or never knew, what it was like when vaccinations didn’t protect against diseases like polio. I do. I remember growing up in Edmonton during the “polio season” when epidemics of the crippling disease raged in the summer and fall. Provincial public health departments tried to quarantine the sick, closed schools, and restricted children from travelling or going to movie theatres. My uncle survived polio but walked with difficulty with the use of a cane and died prematurely because of polio complications.

Another reason is the irrational fear that vaccinations cause disease. While these hard-core anti-vaccination parents receive a lot of press, they only number about two per cent. The other 13 per cent fall into the categories of complacency, those who doubt the necessity of vaccinations, and those who just don’t’ find it convenient to get the vaccinations done.

Convenience is a big factor. Parents don’t get around to vaccinating because it takes time and effort. One-on-one attention is sometimes all it takes, such as an email or phone call reminder.

Canadians need to be encouraged, not bullied into improving or vaccination rate. We need a national registry. Improved rates will provide immunity, not only for their own children but for those vulnerable children who are unable to receive them.