Bit late to comment on this one, but these snippets stood out:What a bizarre story the Alex Batty situation has turned out to be. Pair of conspiracy theorists who think the world owes them a living kidnap a young boy and drag him all over Europe and North Africa because they don’t want to live in “the system” and pay their electricity bills. What a sad and messed up childhood he’s had, he is very brave!
From FB groups to flat Earth theories - how Alex Batty ended up in commune
THE “off-grid” beliefs and conspiracy theories of Alex Batty’s mum and grandad have been revealed as the missing teen returned to the UK six years after vanishing on holiday in Sp…www.thesun.co.uk
It was at the Facebook anti-eviction groups that Melanie and her dad reportedly befriended a divorced father and former IT consultant, who claimed he had found a free and limitless source of energy.
According to The Times, the man invited the duo to Morocco in 2014 to see a quantum energy generator.
There, in a makeshift lab, a crowd reportedly cheered and whistled when a mysterious device switch on a dozen light bulbs without any apparent power source.
That year, Melanie took Alex, then aged eight, to live in a commune in Morocco with David.
....Some of the group the Battys were mixing in believed in conspiracy theories such as the Earth being flat, The Times reports.
From anti-eviction Facebook groups to flat Earth conspiracy theories, the duo's "off-grid" philosophy included believing a homeowner shouldn't have to pay a mortgage, council tax, electricity, gas or water bills, or for a TV licence.
In a compilation of accounts from close family sources, The Times reported how father and daughter became followers of a movement called the One People’s Public Trust.
The organisation claims to have "legally foreclosed" the global system of governments and companies, implying that all debt, including bank loans, has been wiped.
Foreclosure is the process of reclaiming property bought with borrowed funds, but the One People's Public Trust argued governments owed the people money due to years of illegal taxation and made financial demands.
All sounds similar to some QAnon thought processes - my partner's mum talks about the new Quantum Banking System* about to emerge, cure-all medbeds on the way (only for 'good people' - which can de-age and cure all ailments, including mental health issues and addictions - they don't like the government-mandated vaccine or lockdowns but believe in space age medicine??!) and how the governments all owe 'us' money because taxes, bills, mortgages / loans are 'illegal'. She also believes the banks are collapsing and they're being taken over. (Nesara-gesara).
It's amazing that Alex's mum, Melanie, was studying for a law degree yet somehow got hoodwinked by these weird beliefs. It just goes to show it's not about intelligence, but maybe a certain personality type is drawn to these utopian fantasies. We all converge on corners of the internet that are our 'echo chambers' to a degree, but surely she'd be smart enough to sense bullshit?
I've read a few interviews with Alex Batty and he seems quite level-headed and focussed for such a young lad. I wish him all the best, and I hope his family assumed they were doing the right thing by him?
The 'Quantum Energy Generator' may be loosely linked to the 'Q' Nikola Tesla theories (many CTs believe there is free and limitless energy out there already, already discovered by Tesla but 'kept from the public' - that we're being conned into paying for it by energy companies owned by governments).
As far as I know, MIL doesn't believe the world is flat, though!
Looks like another corner of society for Louis Theroux to explore, though, I get the feeling he's left oddball subject matter behind and wants to do more serious documentaries. In the US, particularly, 'Q' is about US patriots and Trump obsessives so maybe he feels he's done that to death already.
*Some believe the Quantum Banking System is overseen by Space Force - which is similar to Scientology! Maybe they cherry pick different pieces from various wacky belief systems?
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