A friend told me of a movie about a theory that basically blames the collapse of the twin towers, the crash in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon as an elaborate government fraud that goes back to the 30's to destroy some incriminating documents and give us an excuse to go to war. Either I am incredibly naive and very slow and missed the boat by a mile, or this is a fruitcake idea. But I think she believes it. I am beginning to believe that we don't have a chance of succeeding in growing a healthy and better America. I heard today that more people are questioning global climate change, more are supporting tough abortion restrictions or elimination of abortion all together, and the mood in the country is shifting to a more conservative way of thinking. When the last president was re-elected a major newspaper in England headlined something like "How can 50,000,000 Americans be so dumb?"Well it looks to me like they are alive and well. Maybe the terrible legacy we are passing on to the future generations isn't what I thought it is. I thought that the degrading of the environment and the collapse of the biosphere was it. Seems like it is an increasingly conservative electorate electing an increasingly conservative government. This will just hasten the real legacy as mentioned above. It is like denying that the sun will come up in the morning. Deny all you want, but you know what? It comes up anyway. I really hoped that the Obama wave was a real change in direction. I am beginning to wonder.
Photo and article on the "conspiracy": myworldthebest.com/lk/wp-content/uploads/2009...
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2 comments:
I don't know that the mood in the country is necessarily shifting toward a "conservative" way of thinking, as conservative thought -- at its core -- has a useful, even crucial, role to play in public discourse. Conservative thought, at its best, resists capricious or "faddish" change: the impulse to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Conservative thought combines a deep understanding of present and past to challenge our progressive impulses, and requires us to move forward in a thoughtful and ethical way.
The current popular "conservative" trend in this country (and in some others... see the rise in Swiss nationalism for a good example) is more of a knee-jerk reaction to things that certain folks find uncomfortable. If you take oligarchs, desperate to hold on to (or increase their hold on) power, and let them manipulate the basest fears and prejudices of an ill-informed majority... that results in the sort of thoughtless, complacent, and ultimately destructive conservatism that we're seeing now.
As always, the solution is to call bullshit where it needs to be called, point out that emperor has no clothes, and strive on in the face of rampant ignorance.
Matt. You know about "denialism" and Michael Specter? check him out.
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