The Q movement reminds me of something that happened a long time ago

[PCIntern]

When I was a kid, some humorous individual wrote a parody the premise for which was that the nakedness of animals was obscene, since their private parts are exposed. A decent-sized movement grew in which the individuals wished to have laws passed forbidding nakedness of animals in public.

The amazing thing was, like in the era of Trump, most people knew someone who was intrigued by this movement and considered becoming or became adherents.

The Q hoax (there’s that word again!) took advantage of the mental rubes and is not atypical historically. There was a book in the 60’s entitled “Rumor, Fear, and the Madness of Crowds”. In it, there were many examples of frankly irrational and destructive behavior due to faulty belief systems.

There’s nothing new under the sun.

[FSogol]

1. I remember an old Encylopedia Brown story were a grifter wanted to build a lifesize model of the

solar system. The Q movement are guys who would invest in that.

[coti]

8. Even a scale solar system is quite the thing to build

[FSogol]

9. Nah, has to be full size or you can't appreciate the cosmic grandeur.

Cool video, btw, thanks for posting.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. I remember that animal nudity movement you mentioned

Not all the details, but I remember thinking that some people can’t handle satire.

[randr]

3. Light needs to shine in on the whole organization

Who is Q? and lots of questions about claims need to be public.

[Simeon Salus]

4. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841)

by Charles McKay

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds]

[PCIntern]

6. This one was entitled as I said...

https://www.google.com/search?q=rumor+fear+and+the+madness+of+crowds&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

[Simeon Salus]

11. Hadn't read that one

Thanks!

[LiberalLoner]

5. In my childhood, there were the John Birchers who decried fluoride in the water

Several towns in Montana unfortunately never added fluoride to the water. Lots of older people with full dentures in those towns.

[PCIntern]

7. Very common now

Especially in the Green generation.

As a dentist I’m appalled

[Johnny2X2X]

10. This still exists

And this one is as much from the left as the right.

And 5G is definitely equal parts right and left. "Vibrating cells man."

[LeftInTX]

15. They are still around

Tyranny they call it...

[ironflange]

18. We used to have fluoride here

Until a gullible city councillor spent a little too much time on the web and led a successful attempt to remove it. Now tooth rot is running rampant.

[yardwork]

12. There were mass hysteria events in Europe during the Middle Ages.

They seemed to be brought on by waves of epidemics and social and economic upheavals.

[Hugin]

13. I remember one initiative of the group which formed was to put pants on Donald Duck.

SERIOUSLY!

Too much time on too many hands.

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. Sounds like the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals.

The Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, or SINA [pronounced "sinna"], was a satirical hoax concocted by serial prankster Alan Abel. The group used the language and rhetoric of conservative moralists for the ostensible aim of clothing "indecent" naked animals, including domestic pets, barnyard animals, and large wildlife. The society and its aims were then largely presented in the public arena on news and talk shows by comedian/improviser Buck Henry ( in the guise of SINA president "G. Clifford Prout" ) from 1959 through 1963.

...

The group received widespread American media coverage, beginning with an appearance by G. Clifford Prout on NBC's Today Show on May 27, 1959. Press releases and media appearances continued for the next few years, until the hoax was finally revealed in late 1962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Indecency_to_Naked_Animals

[LeftInTX]

16. Maybe instead of cartoons, these clowns' mothers propped them in front of

Nostradamus Effect and Ancient Aliens.

[jcgoldie]

17. In other words...

"There's a sucker born every minute."