Ah, conspiracy theories. The joy. The fun.
The best part is no one can prove anything and everyone can get properly worked up about it, so you can wind up with pointless passionate conversation... similar to bad religious debate.
I think there is a long-term theme of what "really happens"- the elite screw over the majority, then convince most of that majority to support the elite and be good sheeple. In the United States, this is mostly accomplished through crappy news shows that don't actually give any news ("Up next, learn what stupid antic Brittney Spears did last Thursday!"), public education systems that discourage critical thinking ("Just memorize that list of facts and regurgitate it on the next multiple-choice exam, Johnny."), and an economy that rests on people buying crap to make themselves feel better about life ("If you only drove a BMW, you'd feel great!") Basically, most Americans are manipulated and rather than question, they become full participants by furthering this crap- they gossip rather than really supporting people, they spend the bulk of their free time watching crummy TV shows, they are good consumers who give free advertising to companies by paything them to wearing large logos on themselves.
It's not anything new, really. Ever since people settled in one location and some guy could hoard something, there have been elites and commoners, and the elites seek to control, dominate, exploit, and manipulate the ordinary folks as much as they can get away with.
I don't for one second believe any president coming from old money has any of the ordinary Americans' lives as a priority. We're a bunch of expendable, exploitable assets.
Now, whether or not Bush was somehow involved in a great 9/11 hoopla or whether he just has horrifically managed everything since is not as great a concern to me as the fact that we happily spend money we don't have to have wars we don't need while 25% of our nation has no health care, half our nation's poor are children, and our public education system goes into the toilet making sure there are plenty of children "left behind."
I think it comes down to money. Critical thinkers are bad consumers. They are harder to manipulate. Harder to win loyalty. They criticize actions and question and probe. Easier to make money off the American people, both through retail and through war, if people just swallow the patriotic/capitalist line. I have no great conspiracy theories, but I also have no trust for the elite. I don't know anyone who has studied world history extensively and does, because it's the same old story over and over. Different nation/empire/whatever, different leaders... same old routine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Faithfulservant
In my neck of the woods... you would be called a nazi.
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I am not defending Tao, but I am curious... how is anything he's saying relevant to the Nazi party? Or in Texas does the word "Nazi" just mean "someone who is against the current leadership of the US"? I'm confused... In my neck of the woods, Nazi means a person in support of the anti-Semitic German-based political party that took over in the early part of the 1900s and led to WWII and the Holocaust. Not sure what Tao's comments or conspiracy theories have to do with that?