The Film Archives– Premieres Jun 26, 2022
Among the Truthers: https://amzn.to/3xRFRlL
Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground is a 2011 book by Canadian journalist Jonathan Kay that examines the popularity of conspiracy theories in the United States. The book examines the history and psychology of conspiracy theories, particularly focusing on the 9/11 Truth movement. It received generally positive reviews, though some reviewers raised issues about the book’s focus and political claims. Though he concedes that history provides evidence of actual conspiracies, Kay argues that farfetched and paranoid conspiracies are gaining adherents at an increasing rate in the United States. In the book, he charts a history of 20th century conspiracy theories including groups such as the John Birch Society. Though much of the book focuses on the 9/11 Truth movement Kay also discusses conspiracy theories about the Bilderberg Group, vaccination, and Reptilians. Kay attempts to define the factors that cause people to believe in conspiracies. He attributes some of the popularity of conspiracy theories to the influence of postmodern academic theories, such as deconstruction. He also blames what he sees as the liberal belief that “society is divided into victims and oppressors”. In addition to political explanations, Kay also writes about psychological factors. He argues that many people prefer explanations for disasters which feature expansive conspiracies because it is more difficult to cope with the underlying incompetence or vulnerability at the root of such events. While writing the book, Kay interviewed several figures in the 9/11 Truth movement, such as Alex Jones and Michael Ruppert. Kay classifies promoters of conspiracy theories into different groups, including those he refers to as “cranks” and “firebrands”. He defines a “crank” as a person who seeks to expose conspiracies as an engrossing mission to fill one’s life. He claims this type of person is usually drawn to conspiracy theories after a mid-life crisis. He defines a “firebrand” as a person who uses conspiracy theories to promote radical political views and thus gain public attention. He claims this type of person is usually university-age when they begin promoting conspiracies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_t…
The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller, an internationalist[2] who sought to address the challenges posed by the growing economic and political interdependence between the U.S. and its allies in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. The Trilateral Commission is headed by an executive committee and three regional chairs representing Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, with headquarters in Paris, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, respectively. Meetings are held annually at locations that rotate among the three regions; regional and national meetings are held throughout the year. Most gatherings focus on discussing reports and debating strategy to meet the commission’s aims. Membership in the Trilateral Commission is highly selective and by invitation only; as of 2021, there were roughly 400 members, including leading figures in politics, business, media, and academia. Each country within the three regions is assigned a quota of members reflecting its relative political and economic strength. The organization represents influential commercial and political interests that share a commitment to private enterprise and trade, multilateralism, and global governance; this has subjected it to criticism for elitism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilate…
The 9/11 truth movement supports a conspiracy theory that disputes the general consensus of the September 11 attacks in 2001 that Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and crashed them into the Pentagon and the original World Trade Center Twin Towers, which consequently collapsed. The primary focus is on missed information that adherents allege is not adequately explained in the official National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report, such as the collapse of 7 World Trade Center. They suggest a cover-up and, at the least, complicity by insiders. They analyze evidence from the attacks, discuss different theories about how the attacks happened and call for a new investigation into the attacks. Some of the organizations assert that there is evidence that individuals within the United States government may have been either responsible for or knowingly complicit in the September 11 attacks. Motives suggested by the movement include the use of the attacks as a pretext to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to create opportunities to curtail American civil liberties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_tr…
Transition Studies 