9/11...and everything that followed.
9/11 is one of the most transformative days in United States history. It changed our relationship with the world, shifted our relationship with globalization in general, put in motion two wars, created new terrorist networks, polarized political parties, laid down seeds of mistrust in Democracy, cleared the path for nationalism, and made us a fearful people. So as the years pass and the more we know about how this day impacted us the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the day seems false and forced. We put on our patriotic hat to pause for those who died that day only to go back to our polarized camps of distrusting and undermining one another mere hours later.
So as much as I mourn for the death of almost 3,000 people that died there is so much more to this day than that. I mourn the men and women who gave their lives to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. I mourn for the ones who came back who have yet to fully gain the benefits they deserve. I mourn for the soldiers who are still fighting, as we are still at war, and they are giving up so much for us. I mourn for the creation of new terrorist networks such as ISIS and the lives around the world that they claimed. I mourn the muslims around the world who are victimized daily for their religious beliefs, because of scared ignorant people. I mourn the collective growing distrust of democracy and foreign partnership. I mourn the distrust and mistreatment of refugees and immigrants. I mourn the rising sense of white nationalism that is growing in Europe, the United States, and Australia. I mourn the victims of white nationalism both the ones killed and the ones who live in fear. I mourn the growing divide between right and left which has left our country weak. I mourn a lack of civility, empathy, community, integrity, trust, and unity that our current political climate holds.
9/11 was made by a series of choices and reactions. The day was not isolated. The world after 9/11 is a different world. 9/11 might stick in your memory, and it does, every minutes and feeling of it. But the feelings of 9/12/01 and all the days after... well that is our current reality. I feel those too. Everything is connected. We must reflect on that too.
I often wonder....what those 3,000 people that died that day would think about the world that exists today. Would they be proud? Would they be angry? Would they be sad? I have no answers.
So this 9/11, I took time to reflect on everything that has happened since the day. I think we learned the wrong lesson. America is afraid. Everything we do screams it.
So as much as I mourn for the death of almost 3,000 people that died there is so much more to this day than that. I mourn the men and women who gave their lives to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. I mourn for the ones who came back who have yet to fully gain the benefits they deserve. I mourn for the soldiers who are still fighting, as we are still at war, and they are giving up so much for us. I mourn for the creation of new terrorist networks such as ISIS and the lives around the world that they claimed. I mourn the muslims around the world who are victimized daily for their religious beliefs, because of scared ignorant people. I mourn the collective growing distrust of democracy and foreign partnership. I mourn the distrust and mistreatment of refugees and immigrants. I mourn the rising sense of white nationalism that is growing in Europe, the United States, and Australia. I mourn the victims of white nationalism both the ones killed and the ones who live in fear. I mourn the growing divide between right and left which has left our country weak. I mourn a lack of civility, empathy, community, integrity, trust, and unity that our current political climate holds.
9/11 was made by a series of choices and reactions. The day was not isolated. The world after 9/11 is a different world. 9/11 might stick in your memory, and it does, every minutes and feeling of it. But the feelings of 9/12/01 and all the days after... well that is our current reality. I feel those too. Everything is connected. We must reflect on that too.
I often wonder....what those 3,000 people that died that day would think about the world that exists today. Would they be proud? Would they be angry? Would they be sad? I have no answers.
So this 9/11, I took time to reflect on everything that has happened since the day. I think we learned the wrong lesson. America is afraid. Everything we do screams it.
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