At the risk of being accused of being unpatriotic . . . i'm tired of hype over 9/11.
I just received a "pass this on to 11 of your closest friends" type email about 9/11.
Please believe me, i know it was a tragedy & a great shock to our Country.
However, we are enmeshed in conflicts in Afghanistan & Iraq (which i do not support) & our Country men & women are being killed & maimed there daily.
I think our obsession with 9/11 is similar to celebrity worship. Nine/eleven, like those famous in Hollywood get a lot of press & attention. The real heroes, men & women who work hard & dutifully to put food on the table & take care of their families, like the heroes who are putting their lives on the line for the choices our leaders have made, are being overlooked. Yes, once in a while i get an email honoring the folks who are "fighting for our freedom" but it seems to me that something is badly off with our priorities.
Just saying.
179
2 comments:
Maybe it is an East Coast thing and I was in DC on 9/11, but I don't think we are reminded of it enough - oh my, we disagree on something - eeek! But I hope that doesn't make you dislike me - I feel like we can disagree on things.
I believe we went into Afghanistan to find and destroy the terrorist nests used to plan and launch the cells that carried out the attacks.
I do agree that not enough credit goes to our service members. I think that is a concerted media effort to make sure we only see the worst of our armed forces. They are fighting for our freedom, in my opinion, as they disrupt the terrorists and have taken the fight to their land.
I know, I'm putting myself out here to write this, but I do believe it and I'm personally not embarrassed if someone disagrees with my comments.
Kathryn, while I think it is very important to remember our past, and honor those that have fallen, I do think we, in the U.S. look backwards too much when plotting our course forward.
Whether it is constantly referencing the Founding Fathers as some sort of infallible fount of wisdom to shore up a point, or talking about My Grandfather's Generation while discussing a contemporary problem, we draw from the past in the wrong ways.
It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It's such a famous quote, it's almost a cliche.
I think we revere history too much, without bothering to learn from it. I'm not sick of 9/11, exactly, I'm tired of it being used for a justification for so much. We don't honor the fallen as much as we use a tragedy as a cudgel.
As for those "Forward this to..." however many people emails? Most of my friends know not to ever send them to me. It's the surest way to break their chain. I click delete with a clear conscience figuring that whatever dire consequences are threatened, the best way to be a friend is to not impose them on anyone else.
I've yet to go blind, broke, have great misfortune within three days, be cursed with seven years of sadness, or blow up so I'm thinking I must be doing something right.
Post a Comment