Fear Pyramids

There’s a deeper cruelty in taking a few facts and twisting them into lies that harm. The truth becomes a tool to extract loyalty and cash; leaving people confused and exploited with what I call Fear Pyramids.

A Fear Pyramid operates like a pyramid scheme, but instead of selling products or investments, it peddles fear. At the top, you’ve got the fearmongers—media outlets, influencers, politicians—who profit by creating and amplifying anxiety. They sell solutions to problems they often exaggerate or invent: think overpriced supplements, doomsday prep gear, or divisive ideologies. The further down the pyramid you go, the more people buy into the fear and spread it, becoming unpaid recruiters for the cause. The currency isn’t just money—it’s attention, outrage, and loyalty. Fear Pyramids thrive because fear is easy to ignite and incredibly hard to extinguish.

MAGA and MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) run on Fear Pyramids. What ties MAGA and MAHA together is their shared reliance on fear and the promise of reclaiming control. For MAGA, it’s about restoring a mythical America where everything was better. For MAHA, it’s about restoring the body to a mythical state of purity and health. Both appeal to people who feel betrayed—by elites, by institutions, by the modern world. Their followers often share a similar profile: deeply skeptical, yearning for agency, and driven by a sense of loss or alienation. The leaders of these movements exploit those feelings, packaging them into a worldview that feels empowering but is ultimately destructive.

MAHA might not have the same national spotlight as MAGA, but its influence is just as insidious. It thrives in the wellness world, among “crunchy” moms, alternative medicine advocates, and fitness enthusiasts. On the surface, MAHA seems harmless—even noble. Who wouldn’t want to eat better, live healthier, and take charge of their own well-being? But dig deeper, and you find the same psychological and emotional triggers that drive MAGA. Both movements attract people who feel disillusioned with mainstream institutions. They thrive on mistrust—of government, corporations, and science—and offer simple answers to complex problems. They create an “us versus them” mentality, where insiders hold the truth and everyone else is complicit in a grand conspiracy.

An unlikely figure ties these movements together: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr. has positioned himself as a bridge between the far-right skepticism of MAGA and the anti-establishment health conspiracies of MAHA. His vocal opposition to vaccines resonates deeply with both camps, who see him as a crusader against institutional overreach. For MAGA, he embodies resistance to government control. For MAHA, he validates their mistrust of modern medicine. This convergence shows how seemingly opposite ideologies can align when fear and mistrust are the driving forces.

“The principles underlying propaganda are extremely simple. Find some common desire, some widespread unconscious fear or anxiety; think out some way to relate this wish or fear to the product you have to sell; then build a bridge of verbal or pictorial symbols over which your customer can pass from fact to compensatory dream, and from the dream to the illusion that your product, when purchased, will make the dream come true. They are selling hope.”
- Aldoux Huxley

The people who fall into these traps aren’t villains. They’re scared, frustrated, and looking for clarity in a world that feels chaotic. The real blame lies with the leaders—the influencers, politicians, and profiteers who know better but choose deception because it’s lucrative. They prey on vulnerability and sell distrust, fear, and snake oil. The grift is the point, and the consequences—broken trust, fractured families, and misdirected rage—are just collateral damage.

Take vaccines. Yes, they have side effects. That’s a fact. In rare cases, people experience adverse reactions. But anti-vaccine activists take this and turn it into “vaccines cause autism.” That’s false. It’s been disproven repeatedly, but the fear persists because it’s constantly pushed. Many parents buy into this not because they’re foolish but because they’re trying to protect their kids. Fear clouds judgment, and those fears are stoked deliberately. Instead of solutions, they get fear-based marketing schemes and dangerous alternatives.

Look at the food industry. Processed foods contribute to health problems—true. But wellness influencers exaggerate this into claims that everything non-organic is toxic. They demonize seed oils or gluten without sound evidence while selling expensive “natural” alternatives. The people following this advice aren’t naive; they’re trying to make better choices. But their good intentions are manipulated into profit margins for those pushing these ideas. Even worse, they’re made to feel guilty for not being able to afford the "pure" lifestyle being sold to them.

MAGA uses the same playbook. Immigration policy is complex and imperfect. That’s the truth. But MAGA rhetoric turns it into “immigrants are stealing jobs and overwhelming the system.” That’s not supported by facts. Immigrants contribute to the economy and often fill roles others avoid. People who believe these lies often do so out of economic anxiety, not malice. They’ve been misled into focusing their frustrations on scapegoats. This redirection of anger serves the leaders, who remain unaccountable for systemic failures while deepening divisions.

This strategy—taking a small truth and wrapping it in lies—isn’t new. It’s a classic authoritarian move. It’s not about informing; it’s about undermining trust and critical thinking. If you can make people believe the system is broken and only you have the answers, you can control them. The tactic works because it capitalizes on existing pain and magnifies it, offering false clarity in place of complex truths.

History shows how dangerous this can get. In Nazi Germany, a thriving wellness movement was co-opted. Ideas about holistic health and organic farming were tied to racial purity and used to justify atrocities. What started as a focus on better living became a vehicle for control and genocide. The Nazis took a movement that advocated for health and weaponized it, tying it to their ideology of Aryan supremacy. It wasn’t just about eating better or exercising; it became about purging “impurities” from society itself. What’s terrifying is how easily this shift happened—good intentions manipulated into monstrous outcomes. It’s a stark warning: when critical thinking is abandoned, even good ideas can be twisted into tools of harm.

And here’s the bottom line: MAGA and MAHA aren’t about the people they claim to serve. They’re about the leaders at the top, profiting from the confusion they create. Selling fear and mistrust is a lucrative business. The victims are left sicker, poorer, and angrier while the grifters walk away richer. This isn’t about making America great or making people healthy; it’s about consolidating power and raking in cash.

So, what can we do? Start by asking better questions to people that we know that are part of these cult-like movements:

1. What evidence supports your claim? Is it reliable, or does it crumble under scrutiny? If the proof is anecdotal or cherry-picked, dig deeper.

2. Who benefits from you believing this? Follow the money and motives. Are the people pushing these ideas selling something or asking for donations?

3. Are you being asked to trust one voice and doubt everyone else? That’s a red flag. Healthy skepticism involves multiple perspectives, not blind allegiance.

4. What evidence can you find to disprove this claim? If nothing can, it’s not truth; it’s propaganda. Real ideas hold up under scrutiny and evolve with new evidence.

5. What fear or worry is this connected to? Emotional manipulation is a hallmark of bad faith actors. Ask yourself if the message is serving your growth or someone else’s agenda.

People deserve better than lies. They deserve clarity and honesty. The grifters behind MAGA and MAHA? They deserve to be exposed. The victims of these narratives need compassion, not ridicule. Most of them are doing their best in a world that feels stacked against them. To fight back, we need clear thinking, honest conversations, and the courage to challenge the stories that don’t add up. It’s not cynicism—it’s curiosity with a backbone. That’s how you beat the grift and reclaim what’s true.