We focus so much today on the role of social media and digital disinformation when it comes to our fractured sense of reality and the rise of conspiratorial thinking. In contrast, Trump and the party he controls simply made up, whole cloth, a fictional reality for its own loyal audience. A Big Lie is a rallying cry. Some of the most trusted Americans in public life, such as Colin Powell, were used to present wildly exaggerated and false claims to the public.
When democratic institutions are revealed to have misled the public as badly as they did, what results in a crisis of legitimacy. In such a crisis, people look for a charismatic leader in whom they can place their faith. It is not just the decline in public trust that paved the way for the flourishing of what can rightly be called fascist politics. Fascist politics thrives when democratic institutions can be painted as corrupt and untrustworthy.
It thrives when a population is taught to fear a supposed enemy that is both foreign and yet insidiously domestic—be they Muslims, Jews as in Nazi Germany or another minority group. Social media and online influence operations provided platforms and fuel for conspiratorial thinking to proliferate.
It was fire that caused this. And the fire is believed to have come from the burning of remaining aircraft fuel. According to the FEMA report, fire within the buildings caused thermal expansion of the floors in a horizontal and outwards direction, pushing against the rigid steel columns — which deflected to an extent but resisted further movement.
With the columns resisting movement, there was nowhere else for the concrete floors to expand to. This led to an increased buildup of stress in the sagging floors, until the floor framing and connections gave in.
The collapsing floors then fell on more floors below, leading to a progressive collapse. It is understood the South Tower collapsed sooner because it suffered more damage from the initial aircraft impact, which also dislodged more fireproofing material. While there are different theories regarding how the progressive collapse of Building 7 was initiated, there is consensus among investigators fire was the primary cause of failure.
Both official reports made a range of fire safety recommendations for other high-rise buildings, including to improve evacuation and emergency response. In , the National Institute of Standards and Technology also published a best practice guide recommending solutions to reduce risk of progressive collapse.
There have since been changes to building codes and standards on improving the structural performance of buildings on fire, as well as opportunities to escape such as added stairwell requirements. At the same time, the collapse of the twin towers demonstrated the very real dangers of fire in high-rise buildings. But aviation officials had requested the jet inspect the area, which it did, reporting back evidence of a big hole in the ground with smoke coming out of it.
Vice-President Dick Cheney later revealed in his autobiography that following the attack on the Twin Towers, he had ordered the shooting down of any commercial airliner believed to have been hijacked.
Another theory falsely claims no Jewish people were killed in the attacks because 4, Jewish employees at the World Trade Center had received advance notice not to turn up for work. Believers conclude the Israeli government mounted the attacks to goad the US into attacking its regional enemies or responsibility lies with powerful Jewish elites who control world events from the shadows. That would constitute 9.
And some estimate up to Jewish people might have died that day. Similar theories surround other states, including Iraq and Iran, but no evidence of their direct involvement has ever been found. Image source, Getty Images. Online conspiracy-theory platforms continue to push claims of US involvement in the attacks.
Uncontrolled fires. Footage of 7 World Trade Center vertically collapsing on itself is cited as evidence of a controlled demolition. Go viral.
0コメント