This is a 9/11 post. I'm just going to state up front that it is not my intention to provoke, incite, or offend anyone whose opinions differ from my own. The following is purely my analysis. My only purpose for writing this post is to ask any potential readers to THINK about their experiences concerning 9/11. That is all.
In the middle of the 21st century, American society was enraptured by the concept of equal rights due to the civil rights movement. The obsession with fairness has now become such a part of American society that we don't really question its derivative actions. It gives reinforcement to the term "politically correct".
Suffice to say, we'd like to think we could live in fairness.
But do we die in fairness?
9/11 has started a decade long tradition of national mourning that has been repeated every year by a media circus. A large and fitting memorial has been built over the ruins of the World Trade Center, a symbol of American perseverance and honor. We grieve the victims and heroes of that fateful day.
But what makes those particular victims special? Don't get me wrong, we should not forget those who lost their lives. But here's the simple fact:
People die. As the world turns around and you read this sentence, people die. They die from old age, heart attacks, car accidents, war, tragic attacks, etc.
People die. The only reason it has any depth, any importance worth remembering, is what the person did or died for. We can frame a martyr's death for a single event that defines and overrides the importance of any detail in their lives. We know Martin Luther King Jr. died for civil rights, but how many people know where he was born, or can say the name of his wife?
The death of a person is so particularly common that we can only remember those closest to us with emotional meaning. We hold a funeral for the death of loved ones, have a eulogy, and put flowers on their grave. Funerals happen every day, and the death of one person cannot be distinguished from the death of another unless we know the name, the life, and the cause of death.
So what makes the victims of 9/11 so special? What makes their deaths worth putting on TV once a year for an entire decade?
We mourn people because we want to remember them and come to turns with their departure. The more they were vital to your life, the more you grieve. It's easy to say that we grieve a person to honor their memory and for what they did while they were alive.
But the more you think about mourning, the more you realize how selfish it really is. The dead person is no longer here to give any input upon your suffering, so it can only benefit the people who mourn. To be frank, we mourn because it makes us feel better. It gives us emotional release and allows us to get over the grief. If it helps the dead person, we can't know.
So when the media circus descends on the 9/11 memorial, I'm surprised there isn't a rolling sidebar listing the names of the victims. What makes them more important than my brother? Why doesn't he get a memorial every single year?
The obnoxious truth is that remembering 9/11 is convenient. We need it to remind us of the reasoning behind the seemingly hopeless wars in the middle east, the destruction of the American economy, and put faith into our government and military servicemen. We need every reason to feel bad about what has transpired over the past decade. We need to force tears into our eyes to feel American.
Isn't it funny that we always expect the patriot to say he would die for his country, but not live for it?
Death is America's best obsession, and the wars it has gone through are sad, tragic affairs that become field days for the media circus. So why don't we have this kind of 9/11 coverage for the World Wars, Korea, or Vietnam? How many MILLIONS died in those conflicts? Why don't we have special spin coverage of the Gulf of Tonkin incident? How come nobody knows anything about the American military campaigns in the Middle East?
Time supposedly heals all wounds, but this media coverage is telling me that's just not going to happen. Let the families of the victims mourn without cameras in their faces. What I do not want is the same continuous coverage a decade or five after the event.
I thought the point of the memorial was to mourn and move on from the deaths. But if mourning 9/11 means not letting go, to have deaths shoved in everyone's faces constantly, then it's not helping anyone.
It's clear that this entire issue is very controversial, but the only thing I don't want is to continuously worship the death of innocent victims to be a continuous sign of patriotism. In my opinion, it's a morbid and disgusting addiction that cheapens the dead. This exploitation is a cheap and painful way to garner attention.
We should not be supporting martyrdom. It only encourages delusion in people with bad intentions. And frankly, it's a basis for encouraging terrorists to smash themselves into buildings and take innocent lives along with them.
An America that supports terrorism is not one I will live for. It sure is hell not one I'm going to die for.
The cycle needs to STOP.
No comments:
Post a Comment