Disclaimer for this post: I know that many people who read my blog will disagree with my opinion on this topic. That's okay - that's why they're opinions. We can still be friends - I'm not attacking you, and I am sure that personally, you have a specific reason for doing what you're doing. I just have a different perspective. K?
I don't care about 9/11.
This doesn't mean that it wasn't a tragedy. It was. But I think that the approximately 3,000 US killed and 100,000 Iraqi deaths in the invasion and occupation of Iraq since then is a much larger tragedy. I think that the 230,000 people killed by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean is a much larger tragedy. But do a single one of you remember the date that happened? (It's December 26, 2004). I think it's a bigger tragedy when our own citizens commit murder against each other, whether it's through a terrorist act, a race-inspired crime, or just plain old homicide.
I'm not un-American. But I'm also aware that we're one country out of 243. And the tragedies that befall people in the at least 220 out of those 243 on a daily basis make 9/11 look like nothing.
Additionally, I hate what America has become since 9/11. "Nine Eleven" has become an excuse for racism, discrimination, stripping our civil liberties, and has caused more hatred for Americans and the US than existed prior to the attacks. George Bush, who has blundered and stumbled through the presidency, has started events that affect us all in the name of "fighting terrorism". Have we seen any good effect from this? No. Will we ever? I seriously doubt it.
When I think of 9/11, I don't think of the people who died on that day. I think of all the negative things that have happened since then. I think of TSA scrambling to make flying a bigger hassle without providing any additional sense of security or faith in their ability to prevent a damned thing. I think of the President listening to the conversations of millions of Americans. I think of a conservative shift of this nation that alienates significant percentages of our population. I think about moving to Canada.
I don't get weepy on 9/11. I don't feel a twinge in my heart when I think about the towers coming down. I can watch the two films capitalizing on the attacks without getting the slightest bit emotional. I have never once felt teary or upset or the slightest bit concerned about what happened. I'm not happy that this happened, either - don't misread my intentions as joy about the attacks. They were despicable acts, but they happened, and we reacted poorly and rashly, without thoughts to the consequences.
If you had a friend whose wife died in a senseless car accident caused by a drunk driver, how would you suggest that person cope? Would you suggest that they start killing every drunk driver, every person who is drinking and might possibly be driving, and every bar for selling alcohol? Would you want them to hold vigils every year where she died and keep their lives stagnant, mourning forever? Or would you want them to have a grieving period and move on? Enjoy the fact that they are alive and healthy and live their lives to the fullest?
Most people in the US are sheep. Stupid, aimless sheep who need someone to lead them. These are the types of people who think "According to Jim" is funny, who forward emails that say Target is a French company who hates Americans, who hop on bandwagons as fast as the media can feed them reasons to get frenzied about something, whether it's Myspace or video games or obscenity or abortion. 9/11 is something for sheep to follow, and I think that people who sit down and actually think about it - really stop following the hype and hysteria and rhetoric - will realize that our goal should be prevention of another 9/11 in the future. Not through warmongering and oil chasing. Not through spying on our own country. Not through quasi-fascist govermental actions, far right religious pundits, far left liberal political correctness, or blind ignorance. But through understanding, acceptance of all religions, orientations, races, and cultures, and embracing the idea that the US cannot and should not capitalize on a tragedy and shit on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In conclusion:
Fuck 9/11. Fuck the president. Fuck the senseless deaths from the war on Iraq. And fuck you.
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