Time to move on after 9/11
September 13th 2006 06:13
Time to move on after 9/11
It has been five years since 9/11 and we are still being shown pictures of the event at regular occasions. The whole ethos of today is framed around the post 9/11 mentality. Often you will hear politicians say that the world changed after 9/11 and that we can no do this or that. As each anniversary comes there is a new ceremony and spectacular monument to the occasion. Ground Zero in New York has some very spectacular water fall and blazing light for the night. There is no shortage of television specials to remember the occasion and documentaries that cover even the most trivial aspect of that day. The man that fell from the building; the ‘flag or bag’ photograph; messages from the UN all add to the special atmosphere of the day. Perhaps one day to remember is fair enough but there are also constant reminder of the 9/11 attack. New security laws; two major films at the cinema and a range of television dramas focus on terrorism. This goes on all year as if to force everyone to remember the event whether they wish to or not.
I know 9/11 was a monumental and tragic event but is it time for the rest of us to move on? Are we trapped in a time warp of a single day and need to break away and start heading for the future?
The constant watching of the twin towers collapsing over and over again could be seen as morbid. There may be an unwillingness to stop watching what makes us angry incase we stop being angry. Perhaps we want to be reminded of our anger and our desire for revenge. If we begin to question the invasion of Iraq then all we have to do is watch the video to reinvigorate our anger. If we are shown Abu Ghraib pictures we can go back and watch the plumes of smoke engulfing the terrified people of New York. If there is any questions then refer to the videos and still pictures that we have ready. Is this to reiterate the belief that ‘They Drew First Blood’? Do we need anger and hate to continue? Is the hate legitimate or is it self destructive?
Stalin certainly used hate against Trotsky and found him a useful scapegoat for the failings of his own policies. ‘Agents of Trotsky are everywhere’ and threaten the motherland. Are agents of Bin Laden everywhere or is our judgment clouded with the desire for revenge? The question is just a relevant to national intelligence agencies that somehow got it wrong in just about every justification for the war in Iraq. No WMD’s, or WMD programs, no links with Bin Laden and no link to the 9/11 attack.
The sense of outrage may also be out of proportion with the damage. We are told that 3000 people were killed on that day but how does that compare to the response. Did we count the civilian dead in Afghanistan? We have estimates of between 30,000 to 100,000 civilians in the invasion of Iraq. Even if you accept the lower number the retaliation was at least 10 to 1. Perhaps they were children of a lesser god and this ending just tragic.
There is no doubt that untimely death causes a huge emotional response and grief. Few people would advise anyone to wallow in grief for five years. Five years is a very long time to be in a state of constant rage about a death. Are we merely feeding our own self-destructive hate because it has become part of our comfort zone. Is it time to start thinking about the future and move on? If so how do we begin to move on?
It has been five years since 9/11 and we are still being shown pictures of the event at regular occasions. The whole ethos of today is framed around the post 9/11 mentality. Often you will hear politicians say that the world changed after 9/11 and that we can no do this or that. As each anniversary comes there is a new ceremony and spectacular monument to the occasion. Ground Zero in New York has some very spectacular water fall and blazing light for the night. There is no shortage of television specials to remember the occasion and documentaries that cover even the most trivial aspect of that day. The man that fell from the building; the ‘flag or bag’ photograph; messages from the UN all add to the special atmosphere of the day. Perhaps one day to remember is fair enough but there are also constant reminder of the 9/11 attack. New security laws; two major films at the cinema and a range of television dramas focus on terrorism. This goes on all year as if to force everyone to remember the event whether they wish to or not.
I know 9/11 was a monumental and tragic event but is it time for the rest of us to move on? Are we trapped in a time warp of a single day and need to break away and start heading for the future?
The constant watching of the twin towers collapsing over and over again could be seen as morbid. There may be an unwillingness to stop watching what makes us angry incase we stop being angry. Perhaps we want to be reminded of our anger and our desire for revenge. If we begin to question the invasion of Iraq then all we have to do is watch the video to reinvigorate our anger. If we are shown Abu Ghraib pictures we can go back and watch the plumes of smoke engulfing the terrified people of New York. If there is any questions then refer to the videos and still pictures that we have ready. Is this to reiterate the belief that ‘They Drew First Blood’? Do we need anger and hate to continue? Is the hate legitimate or is it self destructive?
Stalin certainly used hate against Trotsky and found him a useful scapegoat for the failings of his own policies. ‘Agents of Trotsky are everywhere’ and threaten the motherland. Are agents of Bin Laden everywhere or is our judgment clouded with the desire for revenge? The question is just a relevant to national intelligence agencies that somehow got it wrong in just about every justification for the war in Iraq. No WMD’s, or WMD programs, no links with Bin Laden and no link to the 9/11 attack.
The sense of outrage may also be out of proportion with the damage. We are told that 3000 people were killed on that day but how does that compare to the response. Did we count the civilian dead in Afghanistan? We have estimates of between 30,000 to 100,000 civilians in the invasion of Iraq. Even if you accept the lower number the retaliation was at least 10 to 1. Perhaps they were children of a lesser god and this ending just tragic.
There is no doubt that untimely death causes a huge emotional response and grief. Few people would advise anyone to wallow in grief for five years. Five years is a very long time to be in a state of constant rage about a death. Are we merely feeding our own self-destructive hate because it has become part of our comfort zone. Is it time to start thinking about the future and move on? If so how do we begin to move on?
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
"The constant watching of the twin towers collapsing over and over again could be seen as morbid."
I think there's something psychological interesting here. Sort of like a cultural obsessive compulsion.
I'm inclined to think, regarding 9/11 in general, that of course the world will move on. I don't know if people will really remember it in 200 years, or a 1000.
I don't know if the process can be much speeded up though. People are moved to obsess for a reason. -- That is, I wonder if the situation is something like grief. I don't think one can hurry grief.
Comment by Chantal
I think the World Towers movie is just too much! In all honesty, I think it's detracting from the grief and compassion we felt.
There was a collective groan through the audience at the cinema when this trailer was shown and I think that people are starting to feel enough is enough but it's at the detriment of those original feelings. It was a tragedy, a lot of lives were lost and are still being lost but we need to put it to bed and work towards peace.
Comment by Jas
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Comment by Chantal
Comment by Pete
Millennium Watch
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The media hounds will grind it for all it's worth. It is time to move on.
Cheers,
Pete
Comment by Hope
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Comment by Ashish
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Comment by Manjula
Am glad you are writing about moving on because most TV networks and major newspapers seem to keep refueling our memories of 9/11 again and again with their pictures and injecting a sense of despair back into our lives
What we need to move on and get on with life is to rebuild the towers and have TV stop showing pictures of the twin towers blowing up
Regards,
Manjula
Comment by Ashish
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I have started a forum on orble.
Check it out click here
Comment by MelissaA
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Comment by Bo Parrish
As I wrote an Uni essay on 'Muslim terrorism and 9/11', I'll just 'quote' some part.
The legacy of September 11 was the ‘war on terror’ and the demonisation of the Islam. The old Cold War frame was used, to accommodate the ‘New Terrorist Other’. After September 11, the Islam world became the ‘evil other’ against which the Western society must wage war in order to ‘rid the world of evildoers’ (Bush, quoted on CNN, 2001).
The fall of the ‘Evil Empire’ (the Soviet block) left a vacuum, which needed to be filled as the Western society, as any entity, ‘cannot exist without an “other” against which it defines itself’ (Padgett & Allen, 2003, p.38). The new ‘other’ was found initially in ‘internal’ enemies (the narco-mafia, drug-addicts, dole- bludgers, etc). With September 11, the focus of the public was again shifted to the ‘external’ other. The concept of the terrorist, already used to define the Russian ‘other’, was now used for the Islamic terrorist, and ‘the global war, previously scripted as that between capitalism and communism, is being reconstructed as that between the Christian and Muslim societies’ (Karim, 1997, p. 279).
Bush sees himself as a new crusade restoring the American myth of a ‘superhero’ who must fight the ‘axis of evil’, ‘smoke them out and get them run’:
Tomorrow, when you get back to work, work hard like you always have. But you’ve been warned. You’ve been warned there are evil people in this world. We’ve been warned so vividly. And we’ll be alert. Your government is alert. The governors and mayors are alert that evil lurk out there. As I said yesterday, people have declared war on America and they have made a terrible mistake. My administration has a job to do and we’re going to do it. We will rid the world of the evildoers (CNN, 2001).
According to Paul Roberts, a Canadian journalist, “war on terrorism” is just a ‘war to end all wars by establishing an American global empire over which George Bush, the son, though he will never crown himself emperor, would nonetheless ever preside in spirit as founding father’ .
To answer to your statement about moving on, as it's obvious from the essay (hopefully), as long as there is war going on in Iraq (and Afghanistan), there will be a need to remind the auditorium about the cause (excuse) for it - 9/11.
Bo
Comment by D. Armenta
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
You have to remember the public only pays attention to things that happened five minutes ago...if the media stopped reminding us of what happened then the public would move on...then how would we get our oil
The hypocrisy of retaliation is also a great one that is not discussed enough....it seems that as long as people who dont speak english are killed it is not tragic, just neccessary.
Comment by Sheree
Cliche Murder
This is one of the most frustrating things about where the world is headed in terms of the fear factor and the so called 'war on terror'.
They orchestrate a crisis as big as this one and people will do and believe anything from then onwards!
but I really admire you for the following point:
'The sense of outrage may also be out of proportion with the damage. We are told that 3000 people were killed on that day but how does that compare to the response. Did we count the civilian dead in Afghanistan? We have estimates of between 30,000 to 100,000 civilians in the invasion of Iraq. Even if you accept the lower number the retaliation was at least 10 to 1. Perhaps they were children of a lesser god and this ending just tragic.'
---
3000 is a lot.
but no one bats an eyelash over Iraq, let alone Lebanon, Afghanistan, Palestine.
and then skip over the continent to Africa, darfur...
Why?
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
It is customary to grieve and move after on after a tragedy has happened either in one's personal life or in the case of 9/11.
Some aspects of the mass media are intent to exploit tragic circumstances for political gain and money , Unfortunately bad news always sells and it seems certian media outlets are not keen in making one forget as it serves the propergander makers and spin doctors of this world "justifcation" for thier political actions. we should be remain mindful of what happened but it is time to move on.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
the only thing that I am still waiting for, is an independant and detailed exammination of the day's events, because a lot of what is shown and the reasons for it given, are not supported by science and its laws, besides a lot of evidence that has been conveniently ignored.
but it seems everyone is content to let it all drift..now look at what we have happening in the world today!
cheers
fog