tp204.xml
Title
tp204.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-03-10
TomPaine Story: Story
Toward a More Perfect Union
We should take a deep breath and admit that the shock of September 11 left us behaving like idiots. Like others I was shocked, but on reflection not really surprised.
Finally, to get some perspective I pretended that commuter passenger planes had plowed into 2 office buildings in my home town, Great Falls, Montana, killing some people and taking out 10% of our office space.
So, I divided 3,000 by 8,000,000 (9/11 deaths and New York population) and then multiplied that by the Great Falls' population of 54,000. Thus equivalent deaths locally would have been 20.
The first thing that struck me was that between life and other insurance that most people carry and local churches/charities/social service agencies we could have taken care of 20 families ourselves. Certainly the whole of Montana could have taken care of these families.
Yet, after September 11 various groups, organizations, and individuals here in Montana--and elsewhere--went hysteric raising money and goods for New York. Why?
I guess we do so because we were dumbfounded that someone/anyone could dare attack us. We felt we had to do something.
However, upon sober reflection the only thing we really had to do was to demand a change in our belligerent foreign policy. The sad irony is that our foreign policy has gotten more bellicose. And, as a pathetic footnote, Congress has gleefully joined the Administration in shredding the Bill of Rights. Shame on us.
We should take a deep breath and admit that the shock of September 11 left us behaving like idiots. Like others I was shocked, but on reflection not really surprised.
Finally, to get some perspective I pretended that commuter passenger planes had plowed into 2 office buildings in my home town, Great Falls, Montana, killing some people and taking out 10% of our office space.
So, I divided 3,000 by 8,000,000 (9/11 deaths and New York population) and then multiplied that by the Great Falls' population of 54,000. Thus equivalent deaths locally would have been 20.
The first thing that struck me was that between life and other insurance that most people carry and local churches/charities/social service agencies we could have taken care of 20 families ourselves. Certainly the whole of Montana could have taken care of these families.
Yet, after September 11 various groups, organizations, and individuals here in Montana--and elsewhere--went hysteric raising money and goods for New York. Why?
I guess we do so because we were dumbfounded that someone/anyone could dare attack us. We felt we had to do something.
However, upon sober reflection the only thing we really had to do was to demand a change in our belligerent foreign policy. The sad irony is that our foreign policy has gotten more bellicose. And, as a pathetic footnote, Congress has gleefully joined the Administration in shredding the Bill of Rights. Shame on us.
Collection
Citation
“tp204.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed October 7, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/643.