In 2001, I was a student in Milwaukee. On the evening of September 11th, for the first time in my life, I saw people weap for their country, on a bench near a flag that was flapping calmly at half mast. I had always taken that calm flag for granted. I realized that night, that it and those who protect it, had failed many of my fellow Americans.
Last year, here in D.C., I went downtown. I did not to partake in any of the annoying and misguided protests or triumphant warhawking patriotic rallies for Mother LIberty, but to try to understand better what had happened.
I toured the U.S. Capital, a tour which has become a waste of time. The people's house is now just another government hideout. You get a short introduction to the rotunda, the old Senate meeting room with statues from each state, the old supreme court room, and a short walk to the crypt and just about nothing else. It used to be the case that anyone could just walk through the door and sit down and listen to congress in session.
I also went to the Corcoran Art Gallery, a block from the White House, to visit an exhibit of photographs related to September 11th, 2001. The photos were mostly of people suffering. Others visiting were weeping, unable to stand, looking for something in the photographs that they would not find - comfort. The images from that day discover within each of us a fear we can't really deal with.
I found that patriotism is becoming synonymous with fear. 'Freedom from fear' was not only attacked on 11 September, 2001, it was basically destroyed. The government explanations for this are hopeless. Many things people want to know can be known if they're willing to accept them. Other things ought to be known by all, which are not.
What may become "Patriots' Day" could very easily be called "Fear Day." Sept. 11th is a reminder that we are fragile. Thomas Hobbes claimed every one entity is vulnerable, because it must sleep. Our administration and those who we trust to protect us were sleeping, we all paid and still pay the price for this. A Japanese Admiral said after the attack on Pearl Harbor, "perhaps we have just awakened a sleeping tiger." It is a shame that that tiger was again sleeping.
There's really no basis on paper for the actions of those who sounded the alarm. The closest thing is the Charter of Hamas and "Death to America" videos. These are people who make statements with the loudest possible voice, through violence. Because, as the Charter says, "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." As a pacifist, I find this very difficult to understand. Though what we all need to understand is Islam and the Arab World. I don't remember learning anything at all (besides the 1991 Gulf War, when I was in 2nd grade) about the area until my freshman year of college. Multicultural studies should be a high school requirement.
Though I must say, I too thought I was invulnerable. Any reminder of our mortality is difficult to deal with, like today's top headline on netscape.com: "U.S. Says 'Major Terror Attack' May Come Today" (CNN article). History should view this day as a day when fear became the dominant force in American political culture.
Posted by mbare at September 11, 2003 12:20 PM