dojN001984.xml

dojN001984.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-01-18

Friday, January 18, 2002 11:37 AM
a NYer's comment

I am glad to know that I can post my comment here since it would be fruitless to express a dissent through my Congressional delegatio--Maloney, Clinton and Schumer.

I am a New York resident/voter who was witness to the attack. Three friends of my family were killed. My local fire house lost 9 firemen. My city bears open wounds. I saved the NYT's two-page photo spread of the lost firemen and look at it every night before bed to remind myself that souls, not numbers, are remembered.

I also feel that the victims' families' complaints are entirely inappropriate, if not greedy. As others have noted, other victims of recent terrorist attacks have not received the incessant publicity or compensation they have. (And the Pentagon dead are completely forgotten in this mess.) I worry that the legislation behind your fund will set a unattainable standard for compensation awards for all future victims. Just to give an example, how will the government compensate the victims of a biological attack, or other large-scale disaster?

There is no way on earth that we citizens can ever fully compensate the victims' families. Their loss is unimaginable, but there must be limits on monetary damages.

The generosity of this nation has been one of the most remarkable aftereffects of this tragedy. I myself have contributed blood, money, personal counseling, participation in fund-raising efforts, and patronage of small businesses in the financial district. I am not unique in these efforts. But I am tapped out, especially for sympathy, with this saga of "victimhood."

I have not yet seen a comprehensive account of the total monies available to survivors. I believe that your fund does not include public and private efforts to compensate firemen, police or Port Authority officials, or private efforts by affected firms to compensate their employees' families. If this is correct, you would provide a public service by noting this. Perhaps a news service will follow up.

I think you will find that increasing numbers of Americans share my fed-up feelings. The families have become just another special interest group and politicians are pandering to them, as usual. Disapproval is not a politically correct opinion among other thought-leaders, so few are willing to express this viewpoint publicly. Nonetheless and regrettably, dissent is growing among individuals with no spokesmen It's a very sour closure for a great national and personal tragedy.

I'm very glad to know your web site has provided a forum to express my opinion. Thank you for your efforts to do the best you can, for all of us.

Individual Comment

Manhattan

2002-01-18