Millions of people around the world have convinced themselves that the actual perpetrators of 9/11 were not al-Qaeda terrorists but elements within the U.S. government seeking a pretext to launch wars abroad and enact draconian laws at home. These “9/11 Truthers” are not alone. They are part of a vast conspiracist subculture that is spreading like wildfire and beginning to influence mainstream politics. For two years, Canadian journalist Jonathan Kay has been researching the underground world of conspiracy theorists by immersing himself in their ranks. He has attended their conventions, infiltrated their Internet discussion boards, become a connoisseur of their propaganda videos, and engaged them in in-depth, revealing interviews. While many individual conspiracy theories seem harmless, even amusing, the phenomenon is doing real damage to the unity and health of North American society.

Since the JFK assassination, conspiracy thinking has proliferated, and the Internet has fostered the growth of numerous alternate conceptual worlds in which traditional media and academia have no authority. 9/11 was a death blow to the older consensual view of reality, and as a result, North Americans no longer inhabit one cognitive universe. What this means for the future of politics, and for our society at large, is at the heart of Among the Truthers.

JONATHAN KAY is a managing editor, columnist and blogger at Canada's National Post newspaper. His freelance articles have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's, Commentary magazine, Salon, Reader's Digest and Newsweek. He is a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. His first book, The Volunteer, co-authored with Michael Ross, became a top-ten bestseller in 2007.

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