From an interview (2000?) with Eric Darton, author of Divided We Stand, a book about the WTC

[azurelunatic]

"But the most frightening aspect of these men is that they appear incapable of connecting their actions with real world consequences for other living, breathing human beings. To them, people are insubstantial - the plan is what is real. When you think like this, whether on is a futurist or a fundamentalist, it becomes possible - even desirable - to push aside whomever and whatever gets in your way. One can justify yourself without ever falling prey to doubt, or guilt. One comes to believe that one actually knows what is best. One grants oneself a monopoly on truth, and no amount of reality-checking can challenge it."

You're right, spacemummy. Irony doesn't even begin to cover it.