this was originally in response to c. hayes' "Is 9/11 Paranoia Bad for the Country?", but since it was getting long and was touching more on general topics i though i'd post a blog entry instead

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though the article is better than many of the other hit pieces we've seen, i am still amazed at how the myth that 9/11 truthers are pessimistic, cynical, anti-government, and anti-progressive individuals persists.

to the contrary, most truthers i know and most of what has been written has been by far the most hopeful and constructive approach to America's future i have seen. one of the most important aspects of the 9/11 truth movement are 1) its pluralism, and 2) the fact that everyone has had to grapple with the question "what is truth"? We have some commonly shared principles (mostly about human rights and the constitution), some commonly shared attitudes (criticality about the media and how the interests of those in authority affect what they say), and some commonly shared methods (do your research), but from there everything diverges. I think this is a good thing.

Counter to what some people argue, I think the variety of approaches is a strength. I have met people who have found Loose Change to be mindblowingly compelling, while others are turned off. I have met people who find 9/11 Press for Truth to hit home for them, while C.D. is, at least for now, off the table. What I personally believe should have little effect on what I think will be effective in getting others to look at the evidence themselves and start the ball rolling--different pieces of evidence are compelling for different people. The important step to take with people is when someone moves from a position of believing that what one perceives to be true, or what seems to the gut true, to admitting the possibility that how something seems to you has really nothing to do with whether it is true or not.

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2007 and the future: to me, there are two important things for 9/11 activism this year.

1) we need to keep getting the word out in the right ways. have a friend who is already suspicious? maybe LC2 is the way to go. talking to a soccer mom with a few kids and a job? try 911 Press for Truth. political science professor who has time to read books? try Nafeez Ahmed's War on Truth. we have lots of weapons for lots of different situations. it is amazing how many different levels of presentation the movement has taken on.

2) we need to combat the character assassination of the 9/11 truth movement. it is hard to start a conversation with someone if they view you as a crazy 9/11 conspiracy theorist. this is simply a fact. obviously it is generally not the case that a truther is crazy, and that she can give a strong argument against why conspiracy theories are actually quite commonplace and not at all scary, but these facts have nothing to do with the public's initial perception of a truther. i hope to get involved with a project soon (as soon as i finish everything else on the table) to combat this directly, but everyone should start thinking about this. we can't afford to just show evidence to people anymore, we also need to, yes, market ourselves. they play with public perceptions, while we try to stick to truth. that will not continue to work. we must shape our own image while continuing to show evidence. otherwise the evidence will reach closed eyes and ears.

the future

everyone should take some time to think carefully about what they want out of their own activism. i recently had the bad experience of reading some serious analyses of what peak oil means for society, and it was something of a downer. what good would an independent investigation of 9/11 be if the collapse of the modern economy looms around the corner? what good would it be to bring a cabal of men and women to justice for the deaths of a few thousand if billions of lives are on the line right now?

take some time to think about this. what is the big picture for your involvement? after some thought, hopefully you will agree with me that peak oil, ecological disaster, or whatever may come makes no real difference in what we are doing. a community that believes in truth and justice today will be a community that believes in truth and justice after an economic collapse. a community that hold sustainability and equality as values today will be a community that holds those values tomorrow. in fact, after peak oil or climate change those values will be ever more important to our survival. keep the big picture in mind, because it will keep you from getting hung up over trying to convince your friend of some specific point. is she onto truth? is she onto justice? good. she will figure out the rest in good time.