Over the next week or so, the American people are going to gather in various places to pay homage to the events of September 11, 2001. There are candlelit vigils, parades, speaker events. There are articles about the "9/11 kids" (those 10,000 babes born on that day) or just how we should explain the meaning of THAT day to little children.
Me? I say Bah! Humbug!
These memorials and gatherings are surface polish that do not carry any real meaning. I see the list of upcoming events, and I see thousands of people wallowing in self-pity. I see just how much the terrorists WON.
* People remain afraid to fly. Security measures have become such that air ports employ body scanners and parents won't allow children to fly because perverts can get naked pictures of the kids. We end up buying shampoo, toothpaste, and body lotion because we can't bring our own on board. Hell, we can't even bring a factory-sealed bottle of WATER on board.
*People are afraid of immigrants and foreigners. What happened to the Land of Opportunity? Where is the "melting pot"? I have friends who have come to the US of A to learn, and they have shared their difficulties in finding housing because they are from Italy or Canada or Israel and have an accent. I know people who are afraid of visiting ME in my home because there are billboards printed in other languages.
*People are afraid of their neighbors. Every thing we do is on surveillance because we don't trust anyone. The crusade for democracy abroad, largely unsuccessful in its own right, has proven remarkably effective in building a technological template that could be just a few tweaks away from creating a domestic surveillance state -- with omnipresent cameras, deep data-mining, nano-second biometric identification, and drone aircraft patrolling "the homeland."
* People are afraid, and they are reminded often that there is reason to fear. The massacres in Norway, Tucson, AR, Fort Hood, TX, NIU, Virginia Tech, Seattle, WA, Madrid, Spain, London, England, and on and on. We are no safer today than we were ten years ago. Terrorists are adept at finding weak points and exploiting them. And they have succeeded in making us weak through isolation. The terrorists have won. We now live with the understand that there’s a level of danger even here.
So...what are you going to do to "memorialize" the tenth anniversary of 9/11?
If you think parading about with a candle is a great idea, think again. The lives lost on September 11, 2001 and those lost in the wars subsequent to that fateful day are a tragedy. I, too, have lost loved ones and I know that mourning goes on through the rest of your life. However, we do not have to allow the losses to cripple us. Instead of being sad or angry because of what has happened, reach out. I have some ideas for you.
* Plan a picnic in a park with your family.
* Start up a softball game at the corner lot.
* Knock on your neighbor's door and introduce yourself.
* Sign up to take a class about another language, culture, or religion.
* Give blood.
* Go to a museum, cultural center, or tour your neighborhood.
* Organize a creek clean-up.
* Make an old-fashioned apple pie.
* Visit someone in a nursing home and ask them their story.
* Unplug the fricken iPod, phone, computer and connect with an actual person!
These are the things that make a great people! It is our connections and our willingness to be open to each other that makes us strong! If everyone knew the names of every person on their block, how much stronger, how much MORE could we do?
