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LESSONS OF SEPTEMBER 11TH
09/11/2007
We are a fractured nation, and the divide threatens to tear us apart and change forever the great democratic experiment we have been engaged in for over two hundred years.
We are reminded of this as once again we commemorate the anniversary of the attacks of September 11th and ponder how that day changed us and what it taught us about ourselves and our place in the world.
September 11th taught us first and foremost that oceans do not keep us safe, and that if people want to hurt us, they can. It also taught us that our nation's foreign policy has consequences that can be enormously dangerous and deadly to its own citizens.
September 11th also taught us that when tragedy strikes, people react in a variety of ways. Six years ago, many Americans reacted selflessly and generously, lining up to donate blood or sending money to the Red Cross and other organizations set up to help the victims. A majority of Americans displayed flags on their front lawns, cars, and lapels to show solidarity with both victims and rescue workers. Some wanted to know how and even why this had happened so they could work to prevent more violence. A number of brave Americans enlisted in the military to help defend the country against future attacks.
Other Americans were paralyzed with fear, then turned that fear into anger and eventually into hate and a desire for revenge. Many called for an attack on Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden. Eventually, that call was answered and America went to war. Although there were some who opposed the war in Afghanistan, the American people were still largely united when the troops rolled into Kabul and Khandajar.
September 11th also taught us, however, that even when a tragedy initially brings all of us together, it isn't long before we allow the trauma and the resulting fear to once again divide us. We've learned that since September 11th we have less tolerance for differences of opinion, and that our differing values, points of view and politics have left us shouting at each other across a great chasm.
On the one side are those who believed we should have educated ourselves after 9/11, learned the long term causes of the attacks, proceeded with caution and wisdom, and united with our allies (which immediately after 9/11 included almost every nation on the planet) to neutralize the threat of terrorism.
On the other side are those who aren't interested in the "why" of 9/11, but simply see its planners as evil men who must be exterminated. They were anxious to believe anything their leaders told them, and condemned and slandered anyone who didn't join with them as their leaders planned a second war, this time against Iraq, a country that was not involved in the attacks of 9/11.
We also learned that American politicians and ideologues were capable of exploiting the tragic events of six years ago to press their agendas. The Washington neoconservatives used 9/11 to call for their long desired war against Saddam Hussein, and George W. Bush was all too willing to become a "war president" at least partly to propel himself to a grand legacy.
We observed after 9/11 that when people are afraid they can believe foolish things, give up their ability to think for themselves, and blindly follow leaders. We observed that even our so-called free and independent press did this. We learned how much incompetence, ignorance, and hubris people will tolerate in a leader who promises to protect them. In short, we learned how easy it is to manipulate millions of people with fear and an appeal to national pride. Had we paid attention to history, we would already have learned that lesson from the reaction of the Germans to Adolf Hitler, but Americans don't spend much time on history.
September 11th taught us that elections matter, and that having a wise person, surrounded by wise advisors, in the White House is more important than we ever imagined. We learned that unwise leaders in the grip of ideology can make disastrous decisions that end up killing far more people, and damaging their nation in even greater ways than the original terror attacks that prompted those decisions. We learned that fear can cause citizens of a nation to follow their president to war against another nation that was not a threat.
We learned that the American people, once divided by fear and the jingoism that is invoked as an antidote to that fear, will also turn on each other in cruel and ugly ways. We've learned that even those citizens who claim to be patriotic Americans will slander and verbally attack good and decent fellow citizens just for exercising their first amendment rights.
We've learned how easy it is to lose the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, and how fear compels some to relinquish these rights, thus throwing away the very things the nation's founders fought to secure for all citizens.
We've learned that a democratic nation can survive both cold and hot wars, rising to the challenge posed by large and powerful armies and states but that it can be brought to its knees when its leaders and citizens give in to fear, over-react by starting a foolish war, and spend their treasure and spill their blood in the impossible quest for absolute security.
We've learned that we haven't really learned, that we are repeating the same mistakes in a war today that we made in a war that began forty years ago.
As a nation we have not reconciled major ideological differences that have endured throughout our history. The divide at our founding between those who envisioned a strong federal government and those who called for a loose federation of independent states still exists. The fracture created by the Civil War remains, manifesting itself in the current red-state, blue-state divide and the ongoing fight for civil rights. And now the fear created by 9/11, and the attempt on the part of our leaders to exploit that fear for political gain, threatens to widen the divide between those who support the war and believe in the divinely ordained supremacy of America, and those who oppose the war and want America to abide by international law.
September 11th, with all of its tragic memories, can provide us with many lessons about our country and our national character, if only we take the time to study them. It isn't enough to simply dismiss the attacks as the acts of evildoers, and not see how America's foreign policy can prompt such a violent response. Likewise, it is too much to see the day as the first salvo in a battle of civilizations that will last for generations. September 11th taught us that America has enemies, but our reaction after September 11th taught us that we have not been the watchful and conscientious citizens our founders wanted us to be. We have given too much power to our leaders, given up too many of our precious rights, spent too much time at the mall, and not given enough careful thought to the kind of nation we want to be. And in our fear and frustration, our helplessness and confusion, our guilt and grief, we have turned on each other.
We can't bring back those who died on that terrible day, but we can overcome our fear so that we don't see our fellow citizens as enemies or rush off to wage more disastrous and wrong-headed wars. While we can never be completely safe, we can be safer if only we approach the world with a little more open-mindedness, a bit more courage, and a realization that we are all in this together.
-Ellen Terich
All content © 2005 outragedcitizen.com
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