If you try hard enough (maybe not that hard), every manifesto or tirade penned by some of the world's most vile humans to ever exist can be considered inspiring.
Case in point, the sudden admiration for the words of Osama Bin Laden. I am not on TikTok, and have no plans to join anytime soon (my social media consumption is depressing enough these days), but I am well aware of the reactions people are having to this letter.
Based on what they are saying, you would think these teens and 20-somethings have discovered plutonium by accident. But, unlike lucking into a threesome as per the famous Seinfeld episode, these young folk feel like they are now the holders of some new, enlightening information.
I thought, maybe I need to read this letter to see if perhaps they have a point. I think Bin Laden was a horrible human who orchestrated the worst attack on American civilians in history, but that doesn’t mean the words in that particular letter were wrong. I thought, maybe if I read it, I would understand why so many felt so taken by its message.
And, there right in the beginning of the letter were these words:
“Your former president warned you previously about the devastating Jewish control of capital and about a day that it would come to enslave you; it has happened.”
Like other Antisemites before him, Bin Laden pointed out existing issues and blamed them on the Jewish people. To be fair, he also blamed them on Israel, but per his above line, I am pretty sure he wouldn’t say, “I’m not Antisemitic, I’m just Anti-Zionist.”
As The Forward points out, there are plenty of noteworthy critiques of America that weren't written by a religious extremist who despised homosexuality, believed women should be subjugated and blamed everything on the Jews.
The fact that so many in Gen Z are drawn to Bin Laden’s Letter to America speaks volumes not only to the appeal of Antisemitism, but also to an acceptance of intellectual laziness and a failure to teach critical thinking and proper research skills.
When TikTok is considered a legitimate news source, we are in trouble.
Video Transcript:
So, I'm watching these videos, reading all these comments from all these Gen Zers who think they are getting their education on TikTok. And I am thinking that we need to start teaching our young people, our kids, whatever you want to call them, our Dewey Decimal system. Get them using that card catalog again. And, you know, how we used to do. Maybe teach them how to look for proper citation and sources. And, uh, yeah, learn how to do actual research. Because, apparently it's not happening anymore, and it needs to be fixed.
I fear that our most woke generation may be the ones to oversee the next Holocaust. I know that sounds bleak, but eventually the old people running the U.S. will move on and give way to a new generation of politicians who have become so radicalized and dogmatic in their thinking.
Still, I am encouraged by the Gen Z voices who attempt to rise above the noise and try to speak reason and sense. They give me hope as do conversations with my own 11-year-old who already possesses the ability to engage in productive debate and could teach some of these Bin Laden stans a thing or two.