AWVP

To paraphrase the argument in The Great Derangement, there are three major explanations for the popularity of such opinions. First, Americans are stupid and, in contradiction of everything known about the relationship between wealth and education in the history of civilization, getting stupider. Second, conspiracies about shocking, unbelievable events have always been popular because we can’t accept boring explanations for traumatic events. Third, the post-Watergate public is so jaded to governmental malfeasance that even the most idiotic claims seem downright plausible. So many things that we would have considered implausible have actually happened that in order to stay one step ahead of the real news coming out of Washington our imaginations have had to delve into the truly ridiculous.

That we are nearing the eighth anniversary of the events in question and the conspiracy theories are only getting more popular is more depressing than it is alarming. Are our lives really so fucking dreary that we’ve resorted en masse to this kind of delusion as a preferred alternative to reality?

But natural skepticism based on our political system’s tendency to withhold information is a far cry from swallowing theories about controlled demolitions, “inside jobs”, computer-generated planes, and all of the other horseshit these people believe.