There is no 9/11 conspiracy, and the Illuminati does not exist.

Also, you should quit working on that manifesto.  Contrary to popular belief, it will not get you laid.

Some of you, if you know me personally, might be surprised to see me writing a diatribe against conspiracy theories.  After all, over the years I have made (I think very good) arguments for the Flat Earth Theory, that the moon landing was faked, and against the idea that we live in a heliocentric solar system (in favor of the idea that we live in an egocentric universe at which I am the center).  So why the sudden reversal?

Actually I am not arguing that certain <ahem> conspiracies exist, just that there is no unified coalition of individuals who are running the world.  If there is such a coalition, they are doing a really shitty job of it, eh?  Eh?

My professor in Modern African History* at BU once said something to the effect that in politics, "there are no permanent alliances, only permanent interests."  You can point to the fact that wow, a lot of very powerful companies have incestuous overlap on their boards of directors, and that they all have ties to political power players.  But do you really, truly believe that there is some group, whose interests all line up perfectly all the time?  It seems a bit preposterous.

A conspiracy becomes undetectable when you involve at least 5 principals.  See The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea for a better summary, which I have not been able to find in a few minutes of searching on the internet.  Read the book anyway, it is worth it. 

But if you have 4 parties there are only 24 (4x3x2x1) possible coalitions form; with 5 parties there are 120 (5x4x3x2x1) which makes it too hard to keep track.  So there is no denying that there are certain coalitions who join forces in their own interests in particular situations, but it is unlikely that any five people's interests align all the time.  Why do you think group marriage isn't popular?

A final word, about 9/11.  This was clearly not a conspiracy in the traditional sense -- that is to say, the event itself was not organized by the US government, for example -- it was the logical outcome of US foreign policy.  One way or another, it was coming, and if it hadn't been airplanes it might have been bombs, or something far worse.  Indeed, I think that we will find far worse in store for us in years to come...

* Did mentioning that class make you wonder about my racial identity and/or why would I be taking it?  Oops, you're racist!