The first Turning Point Talks with Aidan Ricketts was a great success. He educated and entertained the audience with his insights into the problems of ignoring the real and ongoing issues in favour of blown out of all proportion conspiracy theories.

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Liz’s Summary of Aidan Ricketts’ talk; 7.10.20 Courthouse Pub

Aidan has been writing in Nimbin Good Times for months, showing how
conspiracy theories are a distraction from understanding the real cause of the
current dismal tide of problems. The cause is the corporations. These are clearly
operating in broad daylight, but hard to see or personalize like the archetypal
villains like Gates, Musk or Murdoch. Corporations are sociopathic by design and
have been so for several centuries.

It is understandable that people are anxious about loss of democracy and climate
etc, but the paranoid fancies about wickedness is not good analysis, nor adaptive
to new solutions. Nature of corporations is like Artificial Intelligence, an amoral,
relentless, growth addicted governance form based on mid 19 th century white
male imperialist philosophy. The corporations have full human rights in law but
are not bound by death or bodily vulnerabilities like real people. Neoliberalism
springs from corporate think tanks and includes shrinking the democratic state
and the unions and reducing taxes and social responsibility

Two maladaptive responses are wasting time when we could be changing
constructively: non-scientific conspiracy theories and conservatism which is trying
to turn the clock back to some imagined past excellence, mixed with outrage at
loss of white, male, American privilege. The Pandemic shows a major split is
between hyper-individualism and communitarian mindsets. There is even a
fascist, puritanical steak in hippie cultures. Alienated and lonely people are more
likely to be paranoid. Be compassionate when dealing with conspiracy theorists.
Corporations see people as either managers, workers, consumers or superfluous.
Consumers are encouraged into debt. Superfluous people include third world and
unemployed people.

What to do? Stay sane by connecting with family, friends, community, ones own
body and especially with nature. Value remaining democratic structures such as
unions, non-corporate donation political parties and our good health system and
even the ALP, struggling with its own heart and current neoliberal capitulation.
There is no one big solution but complex regenerative experiments need creating,
some will fold and others to adapt and flourish. More crises are coming; so be
aware, keep perspective and have faith that something better will come after
difficult period. Keep connected!