Sam LaCrosse (Spectrum of Lies)

Sam LaCrosse didn’t intend to write Spectrum of Lies. 

When he pulled up to Chipotle in his black four-door sedan, all he wanted to do was carb load via a burrito stuffed with double-steak. 

But that afternoon’s mundane itinerary was interrupted when his friend sent him a video of a young woman who was bemoaning the rigors of her autism. 

“I had no clue I was going to write this book until my friend sent me that video,” says LaCrosse, who within minutes of tuning into this woman’s monologue, became incensed.

“It was twenty minutes of detached, non-reality bound drivel. Her unhinged bloviating was downright disrespectful.”

For context, LaCrosse’s sister has autism, an affliction that severely limits her ability to function like most others. 

And the woman on camera that day, well, she exhibited no signs of actually having autism. 

In fact, one scroll through her social media feed revealed that she was conventionally attractive, attended college, was part of a sorority, and regularly attended the football games on campus with her friends. 

In other words, she showed all the hallmarks of a normal person, one whose life was not inhibited by an insidious disease that prevented her from moving freely and independently.  

It’s no secret that the internet is inundated with individuals who view social media platforms as their chance to achieve acclaim, but in a culture where clout and relevancy seem to be the most desirable currency, people are going to greater lengths than ever to attain attention, mostly from strangers they will never meet, or anonymous accounts they will never interact with. 

LaCrosse, a sensational cultural critic, has long been aware of the fruitless attempts at garnering eyeballs, but seeing this depraved woman adopt a disease that no one (hopefully) would wish on their worst enemy, sparked a curiosity that may never have ignited if not for his sister, and having lived through the challenges that come for a family that has a child with autism. 

As LaCrosse mentions at the outset of his new book, he is not a medical professional, and despite citing over 1,300 sources, he is not proclaiming to be an expert on anything medical-related. 

But he does have common sense, a trait that some may argue has evaporated in the last decade-plus, particularly as society has scrambled to find answers for questions that not too long ago were considered self-evident. 

To recap Spectrum of Lies in a few sentences, which for the record is a gross disservice to LaCrosse’s literary genius, the book explores themes like the social justice movement’s newfound affiliation with autism.

It also covers how the word “spectrum” has become so convoluted in medical spaces that seemingly anyone could be diagnosed as autistic. 

Plus, much like with other charitable organizations that have cropped up in recent years, LaCrosse discovered the sad reality that nearly all of this cultural propaganda can be traced back to money, and how individuals and institutions alike bear no shame in doing and saying whatever they can to profit off the well-intentioned sympathy of the general public.

If it was only money that was being lost, perhaps insanity like this would quietly exist outside of the purview of the layman, but as LaCrosse found in his research, when people, particularly young, impressionable kids, go looking for labels that automatically award them praise, their lives inevitably suffer. 

“No one is allowed to be weird anymore,” LaCrosse says.  

“Everyone needs to have a label ascribed to them, almost as a means of validation.” 

In lieu of merit, these kids suddenly see their self-anointed victim status as their crowning achievement, which robs them of motivation to actually pursue something meaningful in their lives. 

A few years ago, esteemed journalist Abigail Shrier was ridiculed for writing Irreversible Damage, a book that explores how young girls were suffering from the figurative and literal distortion of gender.  

“At great personal cost, Abigail Shrier published a book about the transgender madness that is taking place, particularly toward young women and girls,” says LaCrosse, who routinely references Shrier’s work in Spectrum of Lies. 

Thrust into the malaise of cancel culture, Shrier’s life was radically upended, the dissenting voices ruthlessly attacking her and her work in order to mask some truly nefarious behavior on the part of shady characters and institutions.  

Which is to say, especially in the last decade, daring to run counter to the narrative of the mainstream almost always has significant consequences for those courageous enough to disavow evil when they see it. 

Since LaCrosse is a great friend of mine, I worry.

Yes, he has written a masterpiece, a book so spectacular that if it doesn’t get embraced by readers on a national level, it will only be because the cannonball didn’t hit its target, and not because the cannonball was made of pixie dust. 

At the same time, seeing how other prominent conservative voices have been maligned by legacy media, overzealous undergrads, and those whose intellectual capacity expands no further than what they read on X (formerly Twitter), I can’t help but think LaCrosse could suffer the same fate as someone as bold as Shrier, or popular commentators like Ben Shapiro or Matt Walsh (it’s been reported that Shapiro and Walsh will need private security for the remainder of their lives).    

For his part, LaCrosse is not hedging.

The Cleveland native doesn’t just believe in Spectrum of Lies.

He’s lived it, intensely studied its nuances, and he will not succumb to the panopticon-like forces, nor acquiesce to the proponents of orthodoxical free-speech who seek to stifle his message. 

“My stance on free-speech is that you have a God-given right that the government cannot touch,” LaCrosse insists.  

“In my opinion, you can say whatever you want about any topic. That means people can be critical of me and my books, they can be critical of elected officials, and they can comment on anything else that’s currently happening, without having to worry about some governmental arm imposing its will on them.” 

Like LaCrosse has made abundantly clear in the past, he is here to leave a mark.

A successful coach for entrepreneurs and young men seeking guidance, LaCrosse isn’t trying to curry favor with anyone. 

With Spectrum of Lies, he’s here to tell the truth, and showcase that autism is a real disease that impacts finances, ruins marriages, and disintegrates nuclear families. 

In that sense, autism is not an identity that one can casually self-proclaim at their convenience, because the sad truth is that no one wants autism. 

“The disability community has already been through enough. They’re the most forgotten community in the world. No one has looked out for them, and they are actually suffering,” LaCrosse emphasizes. 

“To see privileged, able, narcissistic, well-off people grift onto the most undesirable circumstances, nothing gets me more enraged than seeing that.”

Adds LaCrosse: 

“I wanted to write this book for the families that actually go through those hardships, to remind them that they’re not alone, and that, in spite of all the nonsense and chaos circulating our culture, there is someone who understands what they’re going through and is equally upset at all the disingenuous individuals who are trying to profit off of that in some form or fashion.” QS

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