Useful Idiots

There’s nothing quite as dangerous as a useful idiot – and we’re drowning in them. The term, often misattributed to Lenin, originally described well-meaning but naive Westerners who unwittingly parroted Soviet propaganda. But the species has evolved. These days, useful idiots aren’t just confined to misty-eyed communists waxing lyrical about five-year plans – they come in all flavours, and social media has turned them into a pandemic.

You know the type. The bloke down the pub who thinks he’s got it all figured out, regurgitating half-baked theories he picked up from some dodgy corner of YouTube. The self-proclaimed “free thinker” who, in their desperation to reject the mainstream, laps up whatever contrarian drivel they stumble across. The activist who screams about injustice but can’t be bothered to scratch beneath the surface to see if they’re being played. It’s all the same – the common thread is an absolute unwillingness to ask, who benefits from me saying this?

Take the current crop of anti-democratic bootlickers masquerading as rebels. Some of them have convinced themselves that parroting Russian, Chinese, or other authoritarian propaganda makes them enlightened critics of Western hypocrisy. “Ah, but what about NATO?” they say, as if that’s some grand checkmate that excuses every war crime and kleptocratic lunacy from Moscow to Beijing. They sneer at “mainstream media” while swallowing state-sponsored disinformation by the bucketload. Useful idiots, the lot of them.

Then there’s the conspiracy crowd – the ones who think questioning everything is the same as thinking critically. These are the people who’ll tell you vaccines are a global control mechanism, climate change is a hoax, and the moon landing was filmed in a broom cupboard at Pinewood Studios. They’re not sceptics, they’re just credulous in a different direction. And the funniest bit? While they bang on about how they’re resisting the system, they’re usually just serving the interests of the very forces they claim to oppose. Oil barons, oligarchs, billionaire media moguls – all rubbing their hands as the useful idiots fight their battles for them.

Take Rupert Murdoch, for example – a man whose empire has spent decades churning out sensationalist bile that keeps people angry, misinformed, and distracted. Fox News in the U.S., The Sun in the UK – both have played key roles in pushing climate denial, fostering division, and propping up right-wing populists who serve corporate interests. Then there’s the Koch brothers, funding think tanks and lobbying efforts designed to muddy the waters on climate change, convincing people that fossil fuel dependency is somehow a personal freedom issue. Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs pump money into Western political chaos, amplifying conspiracy theories and stirring up culture wars, all while their own kleptocratic regime tightens its grip. It’s a well-oiled machine – literally.

It’s all so painfully predictable. Useful idiots aren’t stupid in the traditional sense – many of them are well-read, articulate, even intelligent. But intelligence without critical thinking is just fuel for stupidity. They never ask, What if I’m wrong? – because that would require actual reflection, and useful idiots are allergic to that. Instead, they barrel on, convinced they’re fighting the good fight, blissfully unaware that they’re just someone else’s pawn.

And let’s be honest – none of us are completely immune. We’ve all had moments where we’ve been taken in, swept up in righteous fury, convinced we’re the ones who’ve seen through the lies. But the difference between a rational person and a useful idiot is simple: one eventually stops, questions, and recalibrates. The other just keeps on marching, oblivious to the strings attached to their back.

At least I think I'm right on this. I could be wrong....