Conspiracy theories anyone?

I think this blog is particularly interesting given the date today September 11, 2010, the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the WTC, the Pentagon and the ill-fated crash of flight 93 in Pennsylvania due to the heroic efforts of the everyday members of society who happened to be passengers on that doomed flight. Because of the anniversary date I've seen many postings among my friends on Facebook, the internet, cable channels such as History channel, Youtube ect. regarding different possible explanations of what happened on September 11, 2001. I'll start off by first and foremost saying that I don't buy into conspiracy theories concerning 9/11 just so we get that out of the way. I merely use this example of what I will detail in the following paragraphs. What is the purpose, place and reasoning for having conspiracy theories in society in the first place? Where do they come from? Why is there so much mistrust of the government, the military and others in power?

First off I partially viewed a documentary on Youtube that was posted to a friend of mine's wall on Facebook because I believe in trying to see both sides of an argument whether or not I think I'll end up agreeing with it's subject. I don't think we can make informed decisions about things without weighing things out as much as is possible. I wish that I could remember and cite all the sources I've read after 9/11 to explain my position but I can't. If you are interested here is the link to the conspiracy documentary that I refer to above and will cite throughout this blog: . First off who produced this "documentary" using the word loosely? How do we know these are in fact, facts? Where are the named scientists speaking on camera and what are their credentials? How do we know quotes used are complete and in context? To me, the viewer, it reminds me of the brilliance of the arrogant jerk known as Michael Moore whose facts are dubious and filming practices allow the viewer to infer things not shown and believe the smoke and mirrors he creates with his filming style. Not to mention his misrepresentation as fact things that he manufactured for dramatic effect on his so-called documentaries, but enough about Michael Moore, that ego-maniac gets enough attention.

I have yet to see one real shred of evidence leaning me toward some mass conspiracy/cover up by our government. Here we have former President Bush much talked about and vilified. He is described as stupid and incapable of speaking intelligently. I can't say how many times I've heard him referred to as having less than impressive intellectual abilities. Yet, we the people are supposed to believe he's pulled off one of the most impressive hoaxes in recorded history over an entire nation and several (hundreds? thousands?) well known and respected scientists around the globe? Is he an incredibly brilliant evil genius or is he moronic? C'mon people you can't really have it both ways!

And getting back to the whys and hows of conspiracy theories, here I will explain my very own conspiracy theory for your consumption. My belief is that people a lot of the time refuse to accept the simplest explanation for things that in their minds are incomprehensible, example: Elvis Presley is the king of rock and roll, he couldn't possibly die and if he did in fact die he couldn't be stupid enough to die by drug overdose! He must have been murdered, he was the KING no freaking way it was simple as that, a king does not die that way! I'm not saying people actually verbalize it like that but I think to some degree their interior dialog might go along those lines even if subconsciously. Granted, there are real conspiracies that have come to light throughout history. It makes people skeptical and question everything, which is in and of itself good as it makes people think but when it's spoon fed to us repeatedly in the media, it becomes the norm rather than the exception and I just don't believe that is the case. The last piece of the puzzle I believe is the media and movies. Bad things done by the government (yes absolutely news worthy) are hyped up much bigger than the good stuff, just like hearing about a car crash rather than a kitten rescue.

Think about how many examples are available in Hollywood to bolster my point about subtle almost subliminal messages given by directors and writers in that industry. Let's see the following is a list of movies and my examples:

Transformers: The military vehicles turn out to be Decepticons which are the villains.

The Mist: Government experiment gone awry releasing monsters from another dimension

American Beauty: The killer ends up being a homophobic, abusive, racist, former Marine.

E.T.: The Government is out to get, kill and experiment on the alien.

Starman: Same as above

High Crimes: Military and government involvement in massacre of innocent civilians, one of the main characters goes around killing people to keep the conspiracy from coming to light.

Star Wars: The Empire is the ruling government and is both corrupt and evil.

Wag the Dog: A president creates a fictional war to deflect the public's attention from a personal scandal.

I think that there are so many examples of this in movies that I can't even come up with more for my list but seriously think about it. Think about the stereotypical military type from movies (not war movies or about specific war heroes) they are generally portrayed as stupid, hick, racist, abusive, unable to hack civilian life, crazy, homeless, dirty, violent...ect. Also consider how many movie plots are based on government experiments gone wrong, specially created troops, monsters, viral weapons ect.

There are clear examples of real conspiracies throughout history and yes governments including our own have conducted testing and such on our troops and even everyday citizens, but I believe, perhaps erroneously that it is a lot harder with the advent of the internet, cellphones and just the direct connect people have all over the world for these things to be likely of happening today without someone coming forward and blowing the whistle on the whole thing.

It's okay to ask questions, I encourage that, but do not allow your cynicism to make you unable to see the truth just because it's not exciting enough for you.