Mikael Thalen
Posted on Oct 31, 2023
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
A conspiracy theory tearing through social media claims that Special Forces soldiers in Russia just crushed an “Adrenochrome cartel” in Ukraine. And as you guessed, it’s all nonsense.
For those who don’t remember, Adrenochrome is the substance that conspiracy theorists falsely believe is harvested and consumed by the world’s elite from the adrenal glands of children.
It has its roots, among other things, in the Johnny Depp movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Despite claims from conspiracy theorists that the substance causes hallucinations, it is not in any way a hallucinogenic or intoxicating substance.
Still, the Adrenochrome nonsense persists. And while it has died down, it has managed to rear its head once again. On X, users have been sharing an article with the headline “Special Forces-Spetznas Team Crushes Adrenochrome Cartel in Ukraine.”
“When the dark reality of adrenochrome finally hit me, it took me 2 weeks to emotionally process that truth,” one user wrote while sharing the article. “And I think we are finally shutting it down. The Spetznas and Special Forces (yes: Russians + Americans!).”
But the claim that Ukraine is running some sort of Adrenochrome cartel is just as baseless as the American-made conspiracy theory that biological weapons labs are located in Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, Russia has repeatedly amplified these far-right, American conspiracy theories critical of Ukraine.
Incredibly, the story even claims that “three dozen medical-grade refrigerators, often used to chill Adrenochrome, and 6,000 grams of fentanyl, one of several synthetic opioids common in Adrenochrome formulations,” were found during a raid in Ukraine.
Yet the site that reported the so-called news, known as Real Raw News, is a certified fake news website that even admits to spreading satire on its About page.
Despite the site being debunked on a daily basis, its ability to craft narratives that excite conspiracy theorists has allowed it to flourish for years under numerous names.
So, if your uncle from Facebook ever cites Real Raw News, you might want to let him know. In reality, Adrenochrome is a QAnon-based fantasy.
Why it matters
The Adrenochrome theory, while easily debunked, remains ever-popular among the far-right. Since the beginning of the Donald Trump era, conspiracy theories that once were relegated to the darkest corners of the internet are now believed by mainstream conservatives.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to.
QAnon, whose members include cunts like MTG and Michael Flynn, is a putler-run shitshow for cretins. Alex Jones, Fucker Karsonov, Gateway Pundit, Breitbart etc are willing to push the bio-labs bullshit as well as the “Adrenochrome Cartel” on their sewer websites, along with lies like “Zelensky persecutes Christians.”
Plenty of arseholes believe it.
The US far right and far left have successfully poisoned American minds against Ukraine. Joe Six Pack is now a full-blown conspiracy theorist.
“Despite the site being debunked on a daily basis, its ability to craft narratives that excite conspiracy theorists has allowed it to flourish for years under numerous names.”
Just think about it for a moment. A site that’s been debunked regularly is still able to influence masses of people. It baffles the normal-thinking mind how brainless people can be.
No, humanity has learned nothing from another dark period of its history, when Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin poisoned the minds of their citizens. But, back then, the people didn’t have many options to get informed. There was radio and the newspapers, both easily controlled by the state. Today? We know much more simply through the www. Does this make today’s people stupider? I think so.
These assholes rely on business, among other things – and like with Fox News and Carlson, like with Al Capone, if you don’t catch them with their wallets, the poison will spread. you will be caught in intellectual degradation, like in a storm that will not stop anymore.
you need trust to live together, not to take all things for granted, it’s certainly a good thing that allows you to evolve, but for doubt as with everything, it’s the dose that makes the poison: instilling doubt everywhere , all the time, it is energy-consuming and destructive. It’s part of the zombification process. in this sense such behavior in a group is like harassment, aggression, sabotage
As for distilling poison, if the process is gentle, almost invisible, the intention to harm remains maximum.
This Adrenochrome bollocks is ridiculous, we Freemasons are regularly accused of so-called ‘Gang Stalking’ to instill fear into people so we can harvest the Adrenochrome they produce due to that fear.
The increased use of the internet with the increased knowledge available has led to a comparable decrease in intelligence and rational thought.