| Why I Dread September 11th Every Year |
| Thursday, 11 September 2008 | |
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Before I begin, I just wanted to state that this is simply my personal opinion and is not meant to inflame, upset, offend, or otherwise provoke anyone. If it does, I'm extremely sorry and I hope that you can forgive me, even though our opinions may differ.
It's September 11th again, or as it's come to be known, the infamous "9/11". When do we, as a country, devote ourselves towards the cause of peace and the healing of past wounds, rather than dredge up all the pain and hatred and sadness every year like some kind of parade of self-pity and sorrow? When do we stop using 9/11 as some kind of political math: "When [INSERT NAME OF GROUP] are allowed to [INSERT ACTION] we get 9/11."? When will politicians stop playing on our collective fears and pain, just to further their political future? It happened, it was horrible. Why would you evoke those images again and again in the cause of inspiring people to vote for you? More importantly, why would people vote for someone who was willing to evoke those images in defense of his cause? Has 9/11 become our Reichstag Fire? Have Americans become so forgetful that we can't remember something that happened 7 years ago? Do we really need to be reminded again and again and over and over on every channel by every pundit and every politician what happened on the morning of September 11th, 2001? I know I don't need to be reminded. I remember quite clearly what happened that day. To suggest that I, or anyone for that matter, could have forgotten it in such a short time is insulting. I may never fully understand the variables behind it (why it happened, whether we provoked it or not, whether it could have been avoided...) but I understand the result: one of the darkest days in our country's history. I debated even writing this today, as I'm aware of the blatant hypocrisy behind using 9/11 to make a point about people using 9/11, but I'm here, I'm writing this as my final word on the matter. Or rather, my final two words on the matter. Two words that can sum up my feelings about our current geopolitical reputation. Two words that can explain my feelings about our current political candidates. Two words that can hopefully inspire more people to take the hard stance against this kind of subtle hate-mongering, and self-aggrandizing psuedo-patriotism. Two words that should be on the lips of every living victim of that day and every victim of that day's choices. Two words. "No More."
Comments (3)
  Selah wrote...
Well spoken.
|| September 12, 2008
 GeekEpic wrote...
I don't mind remembering 9/11 so much on a national level as I do "how" it is done. It just seems to be yet another thing that can be exploited for ratings. Is it me or is the media getting more and more sensationalistic each day? SwineFlu? Seriously? How much was that blown out of proportion? It seems every year the news media has to dig up some kind of potential medical catastrophe to elicit the public's love of doom and gloom. I sometimes wonder if any of them are upset that it didn't turn into a major pandemic.
I know this is a little off topic, but it is the first thing that I started thinking of when you brought up the subject.
http://geekepic.com || June 01, 2009
 Peter wrote...
No, GeekEpic - you got the point precisely. The media has changed it from a solemn occasion to a nationalist frenzy. It's gone so far past simple patriotism now it's sad.
Haha, Swine Flu. How silly was that? It's the same story with Bird Flu (remember Bird Flu?) and SARS. I sometimes worry that we'll get hit with an actual pandemic one of these days and no one will do anything about it because they'll think it's just another hyped up media story. :)
http://www.bleepingeek.com || June 01, 2009
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