Marcelo Viera: Last Sunday, the History Channel showed a documentary on Sept. 11 conspiracy theories. For years, blogs, YouTube videos and even books have challenged the typical narrative. Movies like “Zeitgeist” and “Loose Change” try to prove the government, the military and financial corporations are behind the attacks. As offensive as these theories can seem, some of the facts about 9/11 were never really clarified, and that’s what these theories base themselves on. Daniel Morgan: I wouldn’t say there’s a mainstream phenomenon, but a subset of America is eager to indict the government in a conspiracy. It grows out of a healthy skepticism of power but portrays a government capable of accomplishing any sinister plan. I’m generally skeptical of such claims. Massive conspiracies require massive coordination, and there’s too much to gain from being a whistleblower for conspiracies to work. Nixon couldn’t pull off Watergate, and even the whistleblower who exposed the boring accounting conspiracy at Enron became a minor celebrity. I’m too skeptical of state power to be that skeptical of state power.Marcelo: Maybe the government couldn’t have pulled it off by itself, but — especially if you’re not American — it’s hard to doubt the power of the American government. We all saw the might of America when it overthrew the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. And that’s why people in other countries are more prone to believe such conspiracy theories. They judge America by its action movies — anything is possible. Especially when these theories say Sept. 11 justifies a profitable war on Iraq.Daniel: I think everyone is hungry for an explanation of why the war in Iraq happened, but I think it’s a shame curiosity is wasted on debunked conspiracies. “Popular Mechanics” has done a lot of convincing work, and Wikipedia’s “9/11 conspiracy theories” has a good summary of the arguments. For a more irreverent take, Google “David Wong 9/11.”Nineteen hijackers can kill 3,000 civilians, and one lone wolf can assassinate a president. That’s the stupid, random world we live in. If the conspiracy theories were true, we could just oppose the Rockefellers and live in utopia. In some ways, it’s a shame the “Loose Change” crowd is wrong. A conspiracy theory is an appealing fantasy.Marcelo: Conspiracy theories can definitely be a waste of time as much as debunking them. But Sept. 11 changed the world. In Brazil, for example, we don’t have the history of plane-hijacks and president killers, but some there think we have the same threats. Sept. 11 not only justified the war on Iraq, it sponsored a noxious export paranoia. The attacks on the towers, graphically broadcasted on live television, made the line between fantasy and reality almost imperceptible. Conspiracy theories and people trying to debunk them are profiting from this instability of what’s real and what’s fake.Daniel: That’s interesting. I know we export pop culture, but I didn’t know other countries imitate our paranoia.Marcelo: Yes, it’s true. I think there’s a wicked desire of being as cool and dangerous as America in Brazil and in a lot of other countries. But also, there’s a resentment that comes from this jealousy and a heavy critique on American capitalism as being wild and expansionist. We grow up watching American movies, especially action movies after Sept. 11.Daniel: Let’s hope in the future the action stays in the movies.Marcelo Vieira is a 32-year-old jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_marcelovieira. Daniel Morgan is a 21-year-old economics major from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter  @TDR_dmorgan.
 
 
 
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