tp197.xml
Title
tp197.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-03-10
TomPaine Story: Story
Toward A More Perfect Union: Lessons Learned - Or Not - Since 9/11
Tragedy and Missed Opportunities
The tragedy of September 11th is not merely that airplanes were piloted into corporate eyesores, killing thousands, though that is certainly an aspect of it. More tragic and appalling has been the public and governmental reactions that have since ensued. Primarily nationalism and jingoism painting the physical and cultural landscape in the way of flags, sloganeering, and calling for equally violent acts of retribution. The public rather than taking the time to honestly explore why there are growing sentiments of aggression towards the US, have swallowed whole the incoherent and detrimental discourse of President Bush, who has eagerly exploited the opportunity to declare a war on terror.
The tragedy of 9/11 is the ignorance that continues to prosper within the general populace, who accept without protest the destruction of civilian populations and communities about the globe as a result of direct US intervention in the name of this inane war. 9/11 was a unique occasion for the US elite and middleclass, so unfamiliar with the experience of victimhood, to finally gain sympathy and understanding with those whose lives their passivity and ignorance has ended or harmed.
However, rather than sympathy, the majority has called for brutal retaliation, rather than understanding, racist and highly flawed explanations without discourse were adopted. 9/11 is yet another wasted opportunity for understanding, education, and mobilization to transpire. The aftermath of 9/11 has been incredibly informative for primarily the Government, who are now endowed with a greater sense of the extremes to which they may venture without outcry or accountability. The casualties are everywhere; beneath the rubble of fallen towers, shimmering between the stars and stripes of proudly waving flags, percolating in the minds of the vengeful and misinformed, and most ruinously, wrapping itself about the lives of Afghani, Palestinian, and Colombian children, women and men.
Tragedy and Missed Opportunities
The tragedy of September 11th is not merely that airplanes were piloted into corporate eyesores, killing thousands, though that is certainly an aspect of it. More tragic and appalling has been the public and governmental reactions that have since ensued. Primarily nationalism and jingoism painting the physical and cultural landscape in the way of flags, sloganeering, and calling for equally violent acts of retribution. The public rather than taking the time to honestly explore why there are growing sentiments of aggression towards the US, have swallowed whole the incoherent and detrimental discourse of President Bush, who has eagerly exploited the opportunity to declare a war on terror.
The tragedy of 9/11 is the ignorance that continues to prosper within the general populace, who accept without protest the destruction of civilian populations and communities about the globe as a result of direct US intervention in the name of this inane war. 9/11 was a unique occasion for the US elite and middleclass, so unfamiliar with the experience of victimhood, to finally gain sympathy and understanding with those whose lives their passivity and ignorance has ended or harmed.
However, rather than sympathy, the majority has called for brutal retaliation, rather than understanding, racist and highly flawed explanations without discourse were adopted. 9/11 is yet another wasted opportunity for understanding, education, and mobilization to transpire. The aftermath of 9/11 has been incredibly informative for primarily the Government, who are now endowed with a greater sense of the extremes to which they may venture without outcry or accountability. The casualties are everywhere; beneath the rubble of fallen towers, shimmering between the stars and stripes of proudly waving flags, percolating in the minds of the vengeful and misinformed, and most ruinously, wrapping itself about the lives of Afghani, Palestinian, and Colombian children, women and men.
Collection
Citation
“tp197.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed September 28, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/624.