In Memoriam: Ten Years Since 9/11
I can’t believe it’s been ten years since the the September 11th attacks. It’s hard not to look back over the last decade and feel a bit sad. Not just for the fallen, but in how we as a civilization have responded to such tragedy.
I can’t help but think that the the 3,000 people who lost their lives in the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania hijackings are looking down at us from above and saying “what on Earth are you doing?”
The memorial built at Ground Zero is a fitting tribute to the victims and the heroes of that day. But we’ve also honored them with the subsequent loss of 4,442 troops in Iraq and another 1,584 in Afghanistan, along with 919,967 civilian casualties in both countries. This is not the way the victims and rescue workers of 9/11 deserve to be honored. They would not have wanted their service and sacrifice paid in the blood of innocents.
Mahatma Gandhi famously said that “an eye for an eye makes the world go blind,” and we have indeed become blinded. This is not a day of patriotism. This is not a day to wave the American flag. There is no room for jingoism and politics on a day like today. Today is about reflection, of how casually we treat human life in the name of ideology. We had an opportunity to reflect the day after on 9/12 ten years ago, and we failed. We failed miserably. We thought the best way to honor the fallen was to not seek justice, but rather vengeance. “A boot in yer ass” is not the American way, but we were sold that idea and we foolishly bought it.
So let us properly honor the fallen by making a promise to each other, to never again abuse the inherent good of the human spirit. Our soldiers, police, firemen and servicemen put their lives on the line on a daily basis so that we can live in peace and harmony, and let us honor them by never putting them in harm’s way when they need not be.
Seeing the Ground Zero memorial also tells me that we must do one more vitally important thing today, and that is to move on. September 11th should no longer be a day of paralysis, death and fear, it should be about getting back to doing what we used to do so very well in America: building the future and making the world a more beautiful place to live.
So let’s hit the books, the pavement, and the long road to recovery. No need for us to be scared; I’m there for you, and you’re there for me. As and long as we’ve got that, there’s nothing we can’t do, and that is the greatest tribute we can pay to the fallen of September 11th. God bless.
