How do I turn the 911 conspiracy theory into a social issue?

[Dorothy]

I'm going to conclude that you didn't word your question very well, that you were given a more open-ended problem like, "Choose a social issue that concerns you deeply and comment on how it affects all Americans." That your problem is not that you believe there was a conspiracy around the attacks of 9/11 so much as that you think the people who believe there was a conspiracy around 9/11 are exhibiting symptoms of derangement that undoubtedly make them unfit to live outside of a mental hospital, yes?

So the theme of your paper should be on the toxicity of conspiracy theorists in society, and why conspiracy theories are so appealing to the weak-minded.

"Sociologists refer to conspiracy theories as a form of collective behavior, something that we engage in together that gains traction as it appeals to many people. Similar to urban legends, rumors, and panics, sociologists seek to understand how and why groups create meaning through claiming that conspiracies have taken place."(1)

Why do conspiracy theories abound? The most common theory holds that it is a response to power imbalance. Consider this: what we readily see is that powerful groups can do untold damage to the un-powerful, while the un-powerful are not capable of doing much. The conspiracy theory gives the little people a chance to attack their visibly-powerful leaders and claim that evil is being done by them. It gives them a chance to rationalize their pitiful lives, and to seize however briefly a little power from the people they believe are making them even more pitiful than they would be on their own, or than they would be if they had benevolent leaders who want to take care of them. If you can't be powerful, be loved and cared for. Also consider that they never ever attack the leaders of their own faction, no matter how convincing the story of the conspiracy theorists.

You could start from there, do a net search using terms such as "the sociology of conspiracy theories" or "power and conspiracy theories" and learn more about it.

Good luck with your paper.

Oh, by the way, if I'm wrong and your teacher or professor actually assigned you to research 9/11 and the conspiracy behind it, your teacher should be fired immediately. Talk to the head of the English department and complain about the lunatic who's running your class.