In 2001 when the planes hit the twin towers my sister began spouting about how evil Muslims were.

I asked her if I could send her an interview with Noam Chomsky about the underpinnings of the oppressive conditions that the west has unleashed on countries where Muslims are in the majority.

When I asked her what she thought of the interview she said: "It made sense." I presumed, incorrectly, that she would see the impending conflict with Iraq in a different light.

A week later she was talking the Bush party line about killing the Muslims before they all killed us. My sister is not stupid. But because she has lived her life in fear she has shallow ideas about strong men defending white Christian ideals and the USA without questioning the aims of foreign policy.

Stupidity arises from fear, wanting simple answers to complex problems, a refusal to embrace truths. Fear of change leads to falling back on a mythic past of white America.