Pop the Left #3: The Conspiracy Conspiracy
C Derick Varn and Douglas Lain return for the third episode of Pop the Left, a podcast dedicated to moving beyond the impasse in Left politics. This week we take a look at conspiracy theories, the psychology behind them, and the Left’s inability to cope with the prevalence of this approach to politics. Does the bourgeois left benefit from conspiracy thinking? Can we get beyond our own tendency to blame conspiracies for our ideological and political failures? Was 9/11 an inside Job? Did we ever land on the moon? What about entryism?
Three years out of the Zero years and the attendant Bush administration, are we finally ready to face up to the how the Left turned over radical politics to the likes of Alex Jones and David Icke?
Click to listen.
Posted on February 27, 2013, in Podcasts, Pop the Left Podcast and tagged 9/11 Truth, alex jones, cointelpro, conspiracy, ideology. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Arya Moghadam
douglain
ernest ambrus
gavrilo2
El Mono Liso
paratelos
radicalprogress
Ross Wolfe
Jonathan Cobb
stalinwasarobot
The ironic thing is all of this left paranoia was running wild during the Bush years, but then was pretty much silenced on a mass level with Obama, even though Obama pretty openly has a kill list and makes no secret of being able to kill whoever, wherever if there is “sufficient reason”, whatever that is. Take what passed for leftist discourse c. 2006 and what passes for it today, and it would seem that someone has been passing out coupons for 2 for 1 lobotomies. I can’t quite count how many people I saw last election on Facebook talking about, “I don’t care about the drones, at least he is going to give my kid healthcare!”, but it was a significant number. It reminds me of the passage from the Gospel of Luke where Dives tells God to send someone to tell his brothers to be nice to the Lazaruses of the world, and God responding that there was no point: if they can’t see what’s in front of their noses, no amount of signs and wonders would convince anyone of anything. The open conspiracy is right in front of their faces, and they simply don’t care.
Only Nixon can go to China, only Clinton can sign NAFTA, and only Obama can accelerate the war on terror. Funny how that works.
Near the beginning of this podcast you state, “When I hear anyone talking about ‘controlled demolition,’ my eyes just glaze over.” Well, when I hear you say that, my eyes just glaze over.
How does a 47-story, steel-framed structure (WTC 7) fall in less than ten seconds, in perfect symmetry, accelerating toward the earth at a rate indistinguishable from free fall? Open your eyes.
Who would have access to the advanced thermitic material that is PRESENT IN ALL WTC DUST SAMPLES? Sure can’t get that shit at Home Despot.
http://www.benthamscience.com/open/tocpj/articles/V002/7TOCPJ.htm
I predicted this was coming. I will give you the common answer: “The WTC towers were tubular steel structures covered with an aluminum facade. Construction on the towers began in 1966. Given that by 2001 the structures were 34 years old it’s reasonable to conclude that some degree of oxidation was present in the steel tubes that made up the buildings super-structure. Given that oxidation of iron based materials such as steel can result in blistering and the ejection of minute metal particles during periods when there are significant levels of heat build-up (such as you might get in a giant steel tube on a 90+ degree day in Manhattan) and the fact that the tiny metal particles described in the study were “smaller than the width of a human hair” and consistent with the size of particles which might be expelled from a rust blister on a hot summer day, it’s reasonable to conclude that minute particles of iron dust that originated from the buildings pillars had collected on the aluminum shell on the building (not unlikely given the propensity for moisture and other semi-adhesive residue buildup on internal structure walls of a large building) the findings of aluminum and iron oxide particles in WTC dust is unremarkable.” (which I got from here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110915190005AAdc2Js that I frist saw two years ago).
Given that I have no interest in rehashing this debate, just take it as knowing your claims and not caring because of a basic scientific literacy.