Other than a penchant for organic diets and opposition to vaccines, the Nazis were also convinced society was secretly under attack by an elite society of monsters. Sound familiar?
Last week, there were rallies in London, Berlin and LA against lockdown measures, and what was noticeable was they attracted both New Agers and far-right groups. I’ve written about this overlap before — how both the New Age and the far right (and left) are drawn to conspiracy theories.
We’ve seen this overlap with the fastest-spreading conspiracy theory — Qanon, which insists that an evil cabal of Hollywood celebs and liberal politicians (led by Tom Hanks and Hillary Clinton) are child-eating Satanists who control the world. Luckily, a secret government source called Q (who leaves cryptic comments on the website 8Chan) is gathering together a patriot army to fight back and support president Trump, who is a genius sent by God to defeat the evil cabal and usher in a new Age of Love.
This conspiracy theory, which would be a terrible movie plot, is surprisingly popular around the world and is beginning to influence American politics, to the extent that Congress is now debating a bipartisan bill to condemn it. And the Qanon cult has proved popular with both the Far Right and New Age influencers (here is an excellent podcast episode on how Qanon funnels New Agers into far-right thinking).
Some people are astounded that New Age hippies could have any overlap with extremist conspiracy politics. But it happens. This week, I want to look at another period when the New Age overlapped with far-right politics, with disastrous consequences for the world — Germany in the 1920s and 30s.
Read the article by Jules Evans in Big Smoke.