Osama Bin Hiding With Gen Z
The most dangerous social media trend yet
The most dangerous social media trend — arguably in history — happened this week. Even more dangerous than tide pods. Many TikTok creators, primarily in the Gen Z age group, decided to praise or at least sympathize with Osama Bin Laden’s Letter to America.
They thought he made some good points. American imperialism. Free Palestine. Blame Jews.
It didn’t bother many of these creators that Bin Laden wrote this letter approximately one year after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. You know, the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.
The logic falls in line with recent disturbing behavior from some of these same (generally far left) groups to excuse Hamas’ actions of killing innocent Israelis or accusing Israel of genocide without fully appreciating the meaning and consequences of that word.
What has happened to critical thinking in America?
Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” might as well be Mein Kampf
Anyone reading Letter to America must do so in its appropriate context. It’s a propaganda piece, just as Mein Kampf was for Adolf Hitler. It was written by the leader of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for killing many innocent civilians, not only in America but around the world. Remember, Bin Laden even murdered many Muslims.
So while some may nod their heads in agreement with certain points made within the letter - for America is certainly not perfect - none of those minor points of validity excuse the bloodshed and devastation Al-Qaeda (and Bin Laden specifically) wrought.
They also don’t excuse the denigration and subjugation of gays, women, and any non-Muslims by a madman who wanted to impose Shari’a Law on the world through violent global jihad.
Sympathizing to any degree with someone broadcasting these motivations is beyond disturbing. It’s despicable.
This worldview — which Bin Laden never tried to hide — is a reflection of a deranged mindset that propagated violence and terror as a means to an end, just as Hamas did recently (which funny enough, many of the same people excused or justified).
Don’t believe me?
Here’s a young woman saying, “Like, everything he said was valid”, referring to Bin Laden. Thankfully, the second part of the video is a wiser young woman highlighting the flaws in the first woman’s thinking.
Here’s a young man defending others who have sympathized with Bin Laden, trying to paint them in the best light possible. Not to mention conveniently leaving out the crucial context I highlighted above.
Finding valid critiques about America from Bin Laden’s Letter to America is like finding valid critiques about the Jews from Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Both madmen wanted to exterminate their targets.
Plenty of constructive American critiques already exist
Plenty! Here are my top three authors and scholars for anyone who would like to dive deeper into thoughtful critiques about American imperialism and hegemony. None of them are named Osama Bin Laden.
Noam Chomsky — this guy has written extensively on American foreign policy and imperialism. Start with Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media and then dive into Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance. Both offer solid critiques of U.S. actions in global affairs (although I don’t fully agree with either).
Howard Zinn — Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, may be my favorite history book of all time. Told from the perspective of the people (it’s democracy after all!), it’s a compelling narrative about America’s marginalized classes. It does an excellent job pinpointing the problems in the American system, and how we can work to fix them.
Edward Said — this guy’s claim to fame is his work on Orientalism, but he also explores how the West (and specifically America) has historically perceived and misrepresented the East.
There are many other great critiques on America, but these three are top of mind.
Gen Z: put down “Letter to America” and check these guys out.
Americans need better critical thinking skills
The Osama Bin Laden TikTok trend has highlighted a broader concern: the need for better critical thinking skills in America. While I’m happy whenever anyone wants to engage in good faith discussions about geopolitics and global affairs, this must be done with a critical eye.
Context matters. History is always relevant. The stated aims of the person being cited, in addition to how they act, are paramount.
Not all sources are credible. In the social media age, it’s easy to retweet (or is it repost now?) or share content from random people without much thought.
We all must S..L..O…W down. Scrutinize where the information is coming from. Why it’s likely coming from that source and what their ultimate goal might be.
We all have to be our own editors, for better or worse.
And if we cannot think critically about Osama Bin Laden, wait for the next wave of artificial intelligence to hit with mass deepfakes and subliminal manipulation.
That’s precisely why I started this newsletter: to make critical thinking cool again.
I’m not saying I have all the right answers - I certainly don’t. But I try my best to go through the process on an issue-by-issue basis.
Unsubscribe from political party orthodoxy. Assess facts. Test substantiated evidence. Determine whether premises logically flow into conclusions.
I’ll leave you with this fact: democracy scores have declined alongside declines in higher education funding.
To thwart anti-democratic movements, the citizenry must be informed. They need a basic understanding of civics and history. Without it, anti-democratic messaging can become very enticing and appealing. The steady decline of America’s democracy score alongside its drop in higher education funding is not a coincidence.
We don’t all need fancy diplomas from prestigious institutions of higher education. What we do need is an insatiable curiosity and a willingness to develop critical thinking skills to combat the realities of the 21st century.
Osama Bin Laden being promoted by Gen Z is just the start.
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Thanks for reading, as always.
I remember studying Bin Laden's letter to America in my political science class. I never imagined that in a few years, the document would become a kind of political fetish for the extremely-online far left.
It's rather incredible that young Western kids would glorify this hateful screed. They don't seem to grasp that bin Laden wanted them dead, much like protesters clutching signs "LGBTQ for Hamas."