num_pages: 256
description: The mainstream news media struggles to understand the power of social media while conspiracy advocates malicious political movements and even foreign governments have long understood how to harness the power of fear and the fear of power into lucrative outlets for outrage and money. But what happens when the harbingers of inside knowledge go too far?Author Tea Krulos tells the story of one man Richard McCaslin whos fractured thinking made him the ideal consumer of even the most arcane of conspiracy theories. Acting on the daily rants of Alex Jones and his ilk McCaslin takes matters into his own hands to stop the unseen powers behind the worlds disasters who congregate at conspiracy worlds Mecca- The Bohemian Grove. It all goes wrong with terrible consequences for the man who styled himself-The Phantom Patriot.McCaslin is not alone as conspiracy-driven political action has bubbled its way up from the margins of society to the White House. Its no longer a lone deranged kook convinced of getting secret messages from a cereal box now its slick videos and well-funded outrage campaigns ready to peddle the latest innuendos and lies in hopes of harnessing the chaos for political gain. What is the long term effect on people who believe these barely believable stories? Who benefits and who pays the price?Krulos investigates and explains the power of conspiracy and the resulting shared madness on the American psyche.
language: English
title: American Madness: The Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American Consciousness
publisher: Feral House