... A friend of mine analyzed it, and said its intent was to reinforce "learned helplessness".

In other words, people who are unhappy with what the government is doing will use Q to rationalize that "someone is doing something" and that they won't need to act themselves. Essentially keeping the fanbase quiescent unil it's too late for them to do anything.

I'm not saying Q isn't real, Qfans; but "the Lord helps those who help themselves", so don't just sit on your asses in your moms' basements.