Generation Z has seen many of its conservatives plant themselves on the extreme end of the spectrum. And that takes form in their rejection of the 9/11 tragedy.
Many conservatives have pointed out how Gen Z is more conservative than any other generation at this point in their lives. Most point to the causation being the strict, yet totally unnecessary, rules forced on them during COIVD. But Gen Z’s conservatism is more extreme than ever, many are taking bold and unproven stances.
And many of these young conservatives don’t know what they’re talking about. From antisemitism, to the rejection of women’s rights, to the admiration of Stalin and Russia; Fuentes Fanboys and their adjacent “black pilled” conservatives reject so many realities. One of those being the tragedy of 9/11, and that it is an “inside job” by the US Government.
Likely the presentation of facts will never change their mind, but nevertheless, here are the counters to the arguments they present often
How could these attacks happen in some of the most protected airspaces? Firstly, Presidential defense was focused on W Bush ,who was in Sarasota, Florida, not DC. Meaning that yes DC is heavily monitored but not as much as it’s peak. Furthermore, New York’s airspace is so busy identifying the erratic flight pattern was only possible very close to the attacks. Secondly, US Air Marshals and any of the US military was not aware of any threats until after the 2nd tower was hit at 9:03 AM. Until that point most thought of the attack as a freak accident. Lastly, there were other planes in the air throughout the nation, US airspace was not cleared until 9:45 AM after the 3rd and final strike. This made every plane in the sky a possible threat.
Adjacent to the previous argument, many 9/11 deniers question why the planes were not shot down. When the second plane hit the South Tower many people were instantly on high alert. But the US airspace was too crowded to identify any other terrorist planes as mentioned before. Furthermore, an attack like this had never happened before. To expect US military to identify and possible shoot down a plane full of civilians that may or may not have terrorist on it was an absurd idea. Not only at the time, but also looking back on the situation with hindsight.
People also question how could men with box cutters hijack a plane? This is often used to ascribe improbability to any explanation of 9/11, since the attack could not happen without hijacks. But this throwaway point is easily refuted. Have you ever been stabbed? No? Do you want to be stabbed? No? Then most likely box cutters would be a very effective tool for hijacking any plane. And without the nation being aware of such types of terrorist attacks a fight to the death was not an immediate idea of any staff or passengers on board.
Deniers also debate Osama Bin Laden’s involvement in the attack. But there’s a problem, he’s directly tied to terrorism against the towers from before 2001. The 1993 bombing of the North Tower has direct ties to Bin laden through the attack’s mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, who is directly linked to Al Qaeda. This highlights Bin Laden’s desire to commit mass acts of terror as well as specificly target the World Trade Center. Furthermore, Bin Laden must have been paid off very well if he was not actually involved, because we have video evidence of him being shot. But I suppose a powerful man like that could have been paid off by the US Government to lie, claim responsibility, fight a war for years, watch his loved ones and supporters die, and be shot while begging for his life to Navy SEALs with HK416 assault rifles.
Extremists who believe in the inside job also claim that the US Government was just looking for excuses to abuse their power. The first proposed motivation to fake the attack is the invasion in the middle east in search of oil, but of course there’s a catch with that. The US military already had the right to invade Afghanistan, as Bin Laden had been charged with acts of terrorism and crimes against humanity. Staging Afghanistan as the first place to conquer in search of oil is a bad idea considering they have some of the worst oil in the region and one of the smallest supplies. The second proposed motivation to fake the attack is the US Government also wanted to invade everyone’s privacy with the PATRIOT Act. But before the PATRIOT Act the government was allowed to do almost the same exact things through FISA Warrants. Yes, the PATRIOT Act did make it easier to keep tabs on threats to US safety, but there were already paths to do so if desired. The PATRIOT Act simply made it easier and quicker.
But there aren’t only refutations to the 9/11 deniers, You can also go on the offensive in an argument. My go to point to bring up is the fact that secret secrets are no fun. At a minimum hundreds of people (likely thousands) would have to be involved in a plot this large. The idea that no whistle blower would come out is impossible. Four administrations have had their hands on any files related to this alleged inside job, yet no original conspirators or later individual involved in a cover up ever spoke up. W. Bush was (and kind of is) a hated man, sometimes compared to Hitler. Yet not a single liberal ever found out about his government’s evil plan to kill thousands of US Citizens and reported it to the public. And not a single patriot wanted to reveal the truth of 9/11 after 25 years now. I doubt it.
But This article isn’t just for refutation, let’s get back to Gen Z
Why do so many young conservatives cling to this conspiracy theory? It seems to be because so many young conservatives have forgotten to “trust but verify” (or likely have never learned that philosophy). As long as a short form video or clip is in 4K and the person presenting facts is confidently they must be presenting truths. Right? Candace Owens cares about her followers and she has so many great sources behind the scenes. Right? I must be as smart as a building engineer, I’ve watch a few videos on youtube from random people, I know how a skyscraper would really fall. Right? One must have full trust in people who present facts and full confidence in what they believe. This is most certainly true as young people continue to be more and more stead fast in their beliefs and become increasingly divided.
The people who push the false flag or inside job conspiracies are pillars of black pilled conservatism. Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Nick Fuentes to name a few are prominant figures who push these ideas. The problem with these people is that they are motivated by money. There isn’t money, retention, engagement, or outrage in the status quo. So these leaders of extremist conservatives guide their followers toward farther extremes, towards continuously harder to believe conspiracies.
But for young conservatives like me, we stand out. Those who are are not antisemitic, who are consumers of political insight not pageantry, and who believe 9/11 was a tragedy and not an inside job. AI has highlighted the fact that many Gen Zers don’t want to think things through, they just spout what they are told to spout. So the young conservatives who think things through and don’t have an extreme confirmation bias seem to be few and far between. With time hopefully my generation will turn away from extreme biases and embrace thought. But until then you’ll sadly never change the mind of someone who ignores reality.
