Francis Edward Dec (January 6, 1926January 21, 1996) was an American lawyer best known for typewritten

diatribe A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. Hist ...

s that he independently mailed and published from the late 1960s until his death. His works are characterized by

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

and highly accusatory and vulgar attacks, often making use of conglomerate phrases like "Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God" to slander people, groups, or companies that he believed were engaging in

electronic harassment Electronic harassment, electromagnetic torture, or psychotronic torture is the delusional belief, held by individuals who call themselves "targeted individuals" (TIs), that malicious actors are transmitting sounds and thoughts into people's head ...

against him, and gained a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

from the mid-1980s onward due to his comedic incoherence. He has additionally been described as an outsider writer in the field of outsider literature.

Biography

Francis E. Dec was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on January 6, 1926. In early 1944, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he enlisted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

with the rank of

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

. He remained within the United States for the duration of the war, periodically moving between bases, at one point being assigned to Yuma Army Air Station. After the war, Dec entered into law, but was disbarred by the state of New York in 1958 and proceeded to make numerous "incoherent" legal appeals, including an appeal to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 60 days in 1961 and in 1965 attempted to flee his home in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Dec spent the next 25 years writing and distributing lengthy screeds about the "Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God" and its conspiracy to control the world through electronic mind control devices which he referred to as "Frankenstein Radio Controls." These flyers were mailed to radio and television stations across the United States. According to Dec, the Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God was the product of an ancient Polish (Slavonic) civilization which it subsequently drove to near-extinction. He was also

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, seeing the Jews as the Computer God's pawns. In his writing, he blamed

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

on the Jews, and preceded the names of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

members with "Jew" (example: Jew

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

; Nazi JEW

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...

). He asserted that the belief that Jews were victims of the Holocaust was based on misinformation from "

Hollywood movies The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...

Analysis

Jeffrey Sconce Jeffrey Sconce is a professor and cultural historian of media and film. He is a professor in the Screen Cultures program at Northwestern University. Early life and education Sconce has a B.A., B.S., and M.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, ...

analyzed the written works of Francis E. Dec in his book ''The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity'', within a chapter discussing the phenomenon of targeted individuals. In it, he argues that "his writing speaks to a feature of technical delusions that became increasingly prominent in the second half of the twentieth century." Sconce also states that "Dec's screeds are emblematic in their careening, amplified panic over imperious yet chimerical powers that seemingly are everywhere all the time and yet can never be fully confronted or understood."

Legacy

Dec gained a cult following in the 1980s, becoming infamous through the KROQ-FM newscaster Boyd Britton's widely circulated dramatic readings of his rants, and figures interested in Dec's works included

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

and

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmi ...

; the latter used a recording of reading Dec's rants on the

Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...

album ''Ultrahouse (The L.A. Connection)''. A 1983 issue of the comics anthology '' Weirdo'' reprinted a page of Dec's writings,''Weirdo'' #8 (

Last Gasp (The) Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, dis ...

, Summer 1983). and the collective

Radiohole Radiohole is a collective of artists that have created devised performance works since 1998. Radiohole has created 17 original full-length shows and numerous short pieces, and has been described by The Drama Review as “the quintessential Am ...

, consisting of Eric Dyer, Scott Gillette and Maggie Hoffman, created a stage play inspired by Dec, titled ''A History of Heen (not Francis E. Dec Esq.)'' in 1999. Dec's delusions formed the basis of the

Chronicles of Darkness ''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

's ''God-Machine Chronicle'' story arc, which explores a world in which his delusions are true.

References

External links

UbuWeb
audio of Dec's works as performed by the

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

newscaster Boyd Britton (known as "Doc on the ROQ").
Fansite
by online cartoonist zer0 which features transcriptions of Dec's works. Also has audio recordings, by others, of some Dec rants not read by Boyd Britton. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dec, Francis 20th-century American writers 1926 births 1996 deaths American anti-communists American conspiracy theorists American people of Polish descent Antisemitism in New York (state) Disbarred New York (state) lawyers American outsider artists American Holocaust deniers People from Hempstead (village), New York Pseudohistorians United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Writers from New York (state)

Biography

Analysis

Legacy

See also

Further reading

References

External links