Yes, except the Left is in control of the establishment. Through Hollywood, the media, and academe (all notoriously Left-leaning), it has elevated its own conspiracy theories and prejudices to the level of respectable opinion or fact. Except for a few minor politicians, stuff like QAnon remains little more than an inconsequential wacky belief, regardless of what the fear-mongering rags try to say.

Crazy ideas come about naturally, but the political opportunists know when to fan the flames of those ideas if it benefits them. You don't necessarily need a central planning committee to benefit from insanity.

In the case of COVID, the sad tactic that's used to discredit anyone, even highly respected people in medicine, when they depart in the slightest from the flaky "official narrative" is to either silence such people immediately across all friendly channels, ridicule them, or to dredge up some completely preposterous claim and poisoning the well, etc., essentially claiming that anyone who disagrees with the official party line is like the guy who believes that lizard people run the world.

Nothing you can really do about it. You can't pry the scales from people's eyes, especially if they like them just where they are. I'm pretty sure the inner coating on those scales is reflective.