I’m not being sarcastic. Nicholas Powers, writing in New York’s free Indymedia paper, takes apart the warped psychology fueling 9/11 conspiracy theories. With droll, idiosyncratic references to “Airplane,” “Fahrenheit 9/11” and even “Scooby-Doo,” Powers asserts that conspiracy nuts fall back on “the repeated hope that power can rescue us from random chance and human error.” Money quotes (the piece seems not to be online):
Repeating rumors on conspiracy web-sites reinforces a flawed notion of the infallibility of power….
If [conspiracy theorists] want the comfort of knowing someone is in control we should examine the images of that secret control. Often it shows a racist thread, in that whether the conspirators are the Elders of Zion or the CIA or the Freemasons, what is silently assumed is the inability of people of color to be historical agents. Only the superior, if shadowy intelligence of the West can be the cause of change.
Powers calls this deluded belief in governmental omnipotence “reverse patriotism.”
I was once creeped out in the extreme by some of Indymedia’s unmoderated cyber discussions. But if the NYC sheet is publishing fresh, interesting critics like Powers, it’s worth a closer look.
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