Although many Americans see Alex Jones, talk show host and conspiracy theorist, as a critic of the political “elite”, he could not be further from it. Whether he is aware of it or not, Alex Jones is a member of the political elite, and a useful one.

Alex Jones labels his work as “alternative media” and says “the establishment is doing everything they can to suppress us”. But while other authors, including academics and scientists, struggle to have their views aired in the US, Alex Jones‘ stupid crazy beliefs and theories are broadcasted into every home in America. As far as all forms of hard and soft censorship are concerned, Alex Jones experiences none. In fact, his performances are actively encouraged and circulated by the existing media, nationally syndicated, flanked by corporate advertisements.

Even more scandalously, some of the “elite” demonized by Alex Jones actually have almost no mass media reach, including transhumanists, compared to his asinine show and website. The only reason Alex Jones (and Daniel Estulin) gets away with demonizing transhumanists as a global power elite is that the transhumanists are too weak and outnumbered to retaliate. He is a bully, picking on people too weak to respond and portraying them as grand conspirators. Yet we transhumanists are apparently the “elite” suppressing him?

Alex Jones works via the same broadcasters and is supported by the same web services as all other cheap, shallow corporate media. A substantial amount of his income comes via Google ads, which are denied to many other journalists on the grounds that their content is too “sensitive” to feature alongside products. Because Alex Jones’ work is shallow, devoid of intelligence, and aimed for the stupid average consumer’s online shopping bag, it is fit for consumption alongside all other cheap entertainment and products featured on the internet whereas other, more serious and hard-hitting political analysis would have been rejected and boycotted by a number of websites and services including Google (the most important one of all).

Whether Alex Jones really believes the stupid nonsense and paranoia he tries to spread through his shows or he is actually a paid actor recruited by the FBI or other agencies to discredit the “other” political dissidents and libertarians in the United States, there is no doubt that the “elite” whom Alex Jones claims to hate find him absolutely non-threatening. In fact, Alex Jones can be likened to a court jester.

Court jesters were a type of clown (probably often mentally ill), kept in a king’s court, who were allowed to ridicule the king in the medieval era without the fear of losing their head (though there were probably some exceptions). They were the only ones allowed to do this, because they made such a show of themselves and amused the rulers enough that they were not considered to be threatening.

When Alex Jones was interviewed by Piers Morgan on CNN, and also issued a crazy video against The Young Turks (with no shirt on) he went into almost the same kind of rambling, exaggerated facial expressions and stereotypical behavior typically seen in stand-up comedians, and left viewers with the impression of a psychotic madman. However, between his tirades it was clear that Jones was in complete control and deliberately making himself sound crazy and paranoid, much like an actor. The result is always entertaining, and the impression left on the average viewer is always that of a crazy “prepper” who holds tin foil hat views about the US government. That sounds harmless enough, but when you realize broadcasters show preference towards Jones over actual critics of the US government and media conglomerates, it is not so funny anymore.

All this means Jones is no dissident. He serves a purpose in the US political establishment as a type of courtier, whether he realizes it or not. He creates a baseline for the political crazies, also known as the lunatic fringe, enabling the US government to dismiss its domestic opponents as madmen easily. The US government and the “elite” love Alex Jones because more sincere opponents of the US government of the type who appear on other shows like Democracy Now! could easily be dismissed as similar to this idiot, who can’t control his tantrums or even talk normally.

If the US government has enemies as useful as Alex Jones, does it need friends?