20th Anniversary of 9/11
Sep. 12th, 2021 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerYesterday was the 20th anniversary of 9/11. On 11 September 2001 nineteen terrorists commandeered 4 passenger aircraft and flew them into New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon outside of Washington, DC. One of the aircraft crashed in an empty field outside the small town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers aboard heard news of the mass murder-suicide attacks and tried to overpower the hijackers. In all nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed in the attacks.
"NEVER FORGET," demands the popular slogan. Indeed, we Americans who were alive on that day, even those of us who live 2,500 miles away from where the attacks occurred, will never forget what happened on 9/11. But while we, collectively, remember, it's like we have selective memory. While we remember this, what else are we forgetting? Or choosing not to acknowledge?
One thing that many people overlook, or minimize, in talking about 9/11 is the cost of the War on Terror we spawned in reaction to it. In efforts to punish the perpetrators and prevent subsequent attacks like it, we have spent nearly $6 trillion already— with another $2 trillion more needed in health care and disability coverage for veterans in decades to come. This war effort has resulted in nearly 900,000 deaths worldwide and at least 38 million people displaced. I read these figures in a fascinating article at Vox.com yesterday (11 Sep 2021).
Another thing many of us forget— or find easy to overlook— is how life has changed since 9/11. In the aftermath of the attacks safety became an all-consuming goal. Americans accepted, or were forced to accept, unprecedented government intrusion into their private lives. Surveillance became such a norm most of us forgot about it. And where people didn't forget it, their reminders were often met with eye rolls as if to call it churlish to mention. Plus, merely being surveilled is a majority privilege. People who are Muslim, or look or sound like they might be Muslim or from a Muslim country, are frequently stopped by authorities in the normal course of their lives because someone thinks they "look suspicious".
Yet another thing often forgotten, or failed to be acknowledged, is how 9/11 compares to other things. On 9/11 we lost nearly 3,000 people to a terrorist attack. 20 years later we've spent trillions of dollars, invaded multiple countries, killed almost a million people, and trampled on Constitutional liberties, all for those 3,000 deaths. Meanwhile, at various times in the past year, more people in the US died from Coronavirus in one day than were killed on 9/11.
Overall 660,000 people in the US have died from Coronavirus in the past year and a half. Though the death toll is no longer surpassing 9/11 every single day it's still terrifyingly high at a recent average of 1,666 daily— more than half 9/11's death toll. Source: New York Times, "Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count", retrieved 12 Sep 2021.
All the more terrifying about Coronavirus's high death toll is that these deaths are now largely preventable— and have been for months. We know how greatly reduce transmissions, infections, and hospitalizations. It starts with the vaccine, which has been free and freely available in the US for months now. Next common simple, common sense measures such as masking and social distancing. If we could get high compliance with these three things we could have Coronavirus nearly eradicated in the US by now.
Instead we've got half the country's political leaders minimizing the dangers of Coronavirus and arguing that all these mitigation measures are pointless and/or unconstitutional trampling of civil liberties. Ironically this is the same political party that carried most of the water for the post-9/11 surveillance state. They argued as an article of faith, "The president's main job is to keep us safe." ...Actually, no, it's literally to uphold the laws and the Constitution— but don't let things like what's literally in the Constitution get in the way of your arguments. Oh, and BTW, this is also the party that argues for strict, literal interpretation of the Constitution— though obviously only when it suits their ideological goals.
So yeah, never forget 9/11. But don't let it blind you to terrible things going on today that we can stop.
"NEVER FORGET," demands the popular slogan. Indeed, we Americans who were alive on that day, even those of us who live 2,500 miles away from where the attacks occurred, will never forget what happened on 9/11. But while we, collectively, remember, it's like we have selective memory. While we remember this, what else are we forgetting? Or choosing not to acknowledge?One thing that many people overlook, or minimize, in talking about 9/11 is the cost of the War on Terror we spawned in reaction to it. In efforts to punish the perpetrators and prevent subsequent attacks like it, we have spent nearly $6 trillion already— with another $2 trillion more needed in health care and disability coverage for veterans in decades to come. This war effort has resulted in nearly 900,000 deaths worldwide and at least 38 million people displaced. I read these figures in a fascinating article at Vox.com yesterday (11 Sep 2021).
Another thing many of us forget— or find easy to overlook— is how life has changed since 9/11. In the aftermath of the attacks safety became an all-consuming goal. Americans accepted, or were forced to accept, unprecedented government intrusion into their private lives. Surveillance became such a norm most of us forgot about it. And where people didn't forget it, their reminders were often met with eye rolls as if to call it churlish to mention. Plus, merely being surveilled is a majority privilege. People who are Muslim, or look or sound like they might be Muslim or from a Muslim country, are frequently stopped by authorities in the normal course of their lives because someone thinks they "look suspicious".
Yet another thing often forgotten, or failed to be acknowledged, is how 9/11 compares to other things. On 9/11 we lost nearly 3,000 people to a terrorist attack. 20 years later we've spent trillions of dollars, invaded multiple countries, killed almost a million people, and trampled on Constitutional liberties, all for those 3,000 deaths. Meanwhile, at various times in the past year, more people in the US died from Coronavirus in one day than were killed on 9/11.
Overall 660,000 people in the US have died from Coronavirus in the past year and a half. Though the death toll is no longer surpassing 9/11 every single day it's still terrifyingly high at a recent average of 1,666 daily— more than half 9/11's death toll. Source: New York Times, "Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count", retrieved 12 Sep 2021.All the more terrifying about Coronavirus's high death toll is that these deaths are now largely preventable— and have been for months. We know how greatly reduce transmissions, infections, and hospitalizations. It starts with the vaccine, which has been free and freely available in the US for months now. Next common simple, common sense measures such as masking and social distancing. If we could get high compliance with these three things we could have Coronavirus nearly eradicated in the US by now.
Instead we've got half the country's political leaders minimizing the dangers of Coronavirus and arguing that all these mitigation measures are pointless and/or unconstitutional trampling of civil liberties. Ironically this is the same political party that carried most of the water for the post-9/11 surveillance state. They argued as an article of faith, "The president's main job is to keep us safe." ...Actually, no, it's literally to uphold the laws and the Constitution— but don't let things like what's literally in the Constitution get in the way of your arguments. Oh, and BTW, this is also the party that argues for strict, literal interpretation of the Constitution— though obviously only when it suits their ideological goals.
So yeah, never forget 9/11. But don't let it blind you to terrible things going on today that we can stop.
