Day Tripping: September 11
Twenty Years On, What Have We Learned?
There is nothing to be said about this day that won’t be said a hundred thousand times, and mostly for good reason. Senseless loss has no rational answer. But our response to it does.
The two external events that affected me most profoundly in my life both happened in September. The other was in 1972 when 11 Israelis were brutally murdered at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.
Both events were public displays for the ugliest side of human existence.
But, in the aftermath, the best of humanity shone through. Human decency emerged to ease the suffering.
Let’s hold on to the best!
Nothing matters about the perpetrators anymore. Evil is as evil does. They made their memory for a wasteland. Yet, they are neither rare nor unique.
Every culture is responsible for the creation of xenophobes in its own image. Every culture is culpable in permeating the disease.
Terrorism isn’t merely some war crime. It’s a stain on humanity that never washes off. That too is for a reason. To remember and learn. Nothing else is gained from hate by association.
But, more importantly, good people did rise to the circumstances at hand and made themselves beacons of hope.
They are the ones who should earn our focus, the ones to emulate. We desperately need more reminders of deeds that inspire.
Let’s hold on to the best in us!
This is what goodness looks like. When the United States was attacked, the aid of allies came from every corner of the world. Let’s exploit the kindness. Let’s honor the lost and their survivors as the possibility for so much better.
And we need reminders of love more now than ever before. The media spends far too much time dwelling on anger and rage.
Somehow, this world has become a very selfish place. Too often, we see hatred and selfishness outdueling love and understanding.
Is that the legacy innocent victims deserve?
Recent events like Washington last January should be a warning to us all. It’s a clear signal that our lives are out of balance. We should have read the tea leaves twenty years ago. Yet, still. Here we are.
Silence the blowhards before their voices rise again. In every case, the vitriol masks the desire for personal gain. And somehow, good people are duped again by false blather. False promises.
So before the world sinks further into self-interest and dispassionate acceptance for what is clearly wrong, let’s listen to the voices from these moments. The voices that plead for their deaths not to have been in vain.
This hate has to stop. Feeding hatred with anger fuels more hate.
Or it will stop us.
K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan
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