Has it really been 7 years since 9/11? Such a cornerstone in American history and despite the fact that it was such a horrible incident, part of me is glad that I was alive for it. For my generation it is our Pearl Harbor or JFK assassination. It is something that will be remembered for centuries and it is somewhat weird that I am only 25, yet I am part of American history. When I have kids, they will ask me about 9/11 the same way I asked my father about the moon landing. Just like him, I will always remember exactly where I was and what I was thinking when it all went down. Sadly, my story concerning 9/11 is pretty lame because I slept through most of it. I was on the west coast, it was the tail end of summer, I had stayed up late and nobody cared to disturb me, oh well. My time to appreciate this event and learn from it came much later. So considering the historic and emotional nature of today (forgive me, I wanted to get this up Thursday but it didn't happen), I thought I would offer up some reflections and thoughts.
A few times on this blog I have talked about how I was a late bloomer and my experience with 9/11 definitely falls under this category. When I was at the tender age of 17 I really didn't care much for politics. I was a science nerd that liked to do HW and I was set to go to UCSD and begin the college thing. Politics didn't really interest me much, not because I thought they were boring, but just that they didn't really resonate with me. I didn't really understand the impact of something like this or something like a Presidential election (2000). At that age, I figured, Bush, Gore, same shit. My life won't be affected....I was wrong.
I suppose the impact of 9/11 didn't really influence me until almost 2 years later. I was working as a technician in a lab in La Jolla and I was going about my business one day in late July. I worked for this little lab since October of my freshman year and I had developed a nice little home there. My boss, Todd Braciak, had taught me everything I knew about lab techniques and I felt a certain closeness to the people around me. However, on this fateful day, my boss came into the lab and informed me that the grant he was hoping for didn't go through and that he was going to have to lay me off. Because the government had shifted their monetary focus, money that had been devoted to internal institutions like the NIH, had been taken away and given to things like the war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, I have my weird connections to people involved in 9/11, but my life wasn't really affected by it until this very moment. I didn't (and still don't) know much about warfare or politics but I understood the concept of "you've got till the end of the month".
This was a really painful day for me, not in the sense that I had lost my job, but because I had lost faith in my profession. I was but a lowly lab technician who could find another job (and I did) but I knew one day, I was going to be a PhD scientist and I was going to have to deal with things like NIH funding and the political sphere. I grew up really fast that day and I began to look at the world a bit differently. Ironically, that week I was at the grocery store and when I was checking out, the woman behind the counter asked me if I would like to donate a $1 to prostate cancer research. As luck would have it, I had been doing prostate cancer research and given the fact that I had just lost my job because money like this didn't make it to me, I declined.
So a year later I began to think about politics a little more because we were electing a new president. I didn't exactly know much about the whole process or what the major issues in government were, but I did know that I didn't want the war to continue. I know some people will talk about how we need a stable situation in the middle east and what not, but I need a job. I need money to be invested in my field and that matters a whole lot more to me than a conflict that is 6,000 miles away. So with that in mind, I casted my vote for a democrat that could perhaps get us out of the war in Iraq, a war that still has me scratching my head. However, as we all know, Kerry was not successful and we got another 4 years of GW.
But every cloud has a silver lining and here is what I have come up with. You have to suffer. Things have to suck for awhile because if they did not, then you would not be motivated to improve your situation. You would just be content with your life. After 4 more years of Bush, I not only realized how much it sucks to have a war driven republican in office, but I began to see other spheres of life that are affected by politics. I recently read an article about how executives from oil companies were engaging in intercourse with employees of foreign companies as favors for contracts. This was extremely repulsive as was the federal investment in Wal-Mart at the expense of small American business man articulated in the documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. But they equate "passion" with "fire" for a reason, we need pain and suffering to motivate us.
I had a conversation with my father awhile back and he was telling me that he always voted republican because he was against "big government". I remember him talking about this when I was a kid and so I went along with it. However, what I have realized is that democrats don't want big government, they just want to use the money they get from taxes on their constituents, where as the republicans seem to have invested that money in places that do 1 of 2 things (and sometimes both), 1) War and 2) Big Business. 10 Billion dollars a month on a winless war and it sure sounds like a ton of spending which is funny considering that the Republican ticket seems to criticize Democrats for wanting to invest in people that are actually American. After watching both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican one, I have come to realize that democrats appeal to the mind and republicans appeal to the heart. In politics it is easier to appeal to the later because it doesn't involve any thinking, and this has me really scared. Never underestimate the power of lesser minds and I begin to wonder what will win out in November.
So why do I discuss this on September 11th? Not only is it important to remember the suffering and pain that we have gone through, but we must also have the wisdom to utilize it. The real problem associated with 9/11 was not the 3,000 people that died or even the fear that it instilled in all of us concerning terrorism. The real problem was that we lost faith in who we are as Americans. We were relegated to "watchers" as opposed to "doers". This entire nation was converted to a bunch of little kids under blankets watching CNN in fear. And whats worse is that our government kept that fear alive. By waging war after war, the current administration perpetuated an image of weakness and pain, rather than strength and perseverance. I would imagine that if the victims of 9/11 could see us today, they would be disgusted with what we've done the last 7 years. Fighting wars and "avenging deaths" is not exactly an intelligent strategy. Killing Sadaam or Bin Laden will not bring anyone back.
However, something that I believe strongly in and this is something Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech at the DNC, is that American is great because of the "power of our example not the example of our power". In the light of 9/11, rather than focus on our emotions and our pain, we should have focused on our strength and our ingenuity. Dumping money into a worthless war is nothing compared to the countless scientist and innovator's that were put out of jobs because of fund divergence. In my opinion, showing that we were undeterred and unfettered by such an act of violence would have been a better exercise of power. Progress in stem cell research, space exploration and global warming were all things that could have happened in the last 7 years, but they took a back seat to a war that few understood and many died for.
In my opinion, this nation is great because of what is between our ears, driven by what is in our chest. Our decision making relies on the educational system we have solidified as the best world wide, not the weapons we have wasted our money on. An enlightened nation we are not and considering the fact that we allow emotions to govern our decision making just makes things worse. The Republicans perpetuate war stories and suffering as if it carries some sort of value in the government sphere. Yes, McCain is a fantastic example of a man that served his country, but what does this say about his judgement? His vice presidential nomination is one that very few political analysts would have picked and the reason their opinion matters is because they make a living thinking about our country's government. Maybe he uses Alaska's governor to play on people's emotions, but emotions mean jack shit, sorry.
In the end, we need to remember why America is great, not simply that it is great. We need to use our heads, not our hearts when making our decisions. Our hearts are good to keep us motivated and to prevent us from quitting but when push comes to shove, a well thought out game plan is infinitely better than a decision made on a whim. The rest of the world despises us and rather than write off their opinion as irrelevant we should focus on implementing a political establishment that utilizes intelligence, not fears it. The educated minds in this world are seen as elitist by the right wing conservatives and this could not be further from the truth. What did you think was going to happen when you sent your kids to college? They were going to get an education and you can't simply stuff their opinion in a drawer when they come back with ideas you don't like. The republicans seem to be small minded thinkers that want our nation to be what it was in the '50s, but guess what, we aren't in the fucking '50s! In the 21st century, we need 21st century leadership and waging war is not the way to do it. The information age has made the whole world smarter and why fight it? Why question those that know or think more than you? What do you have to lose? What do you think the "scary" experts are going to do? They make a living thinking about ways to make our civilization better. They aren't sacrificing the American working class by subsidizing Wal-Mart. They aren't selling their souls for an outdated energy source. They aren't living in the past, but in the future. The progressive minds of America's past still live in the minds of those today, they simply have different strategies. Sorry, the world isn't about winning and losing wars nowadays.
Bottom line, the victims of 9/11 would have wanted America to remain strong, not fearful. Fighting hate with hate is not a strategy that works. Our government should exercise strength in judgment not force. In the wake of 9/11 we should have stressed the economic, social, and technoligical development of our country not our fear. However, fear tactics work, if you let them. Fear media sells, if you let it. Fear scares people into submission, if you let it. But intelligence overcomes. The most difficult problems in this world are overcome not out of love or fear or hate, but out of thought. We got to the moon because we used our heads, not our hearts. We will succeed as a nation only if we return to the decision making abilities of leaders long since gone. Our generation is better than what we have become and only when we use our heads will things change. We need a government that instills hope and optimism in our people not fear and hate.
Pick whoever you want this November, but please USE YOUR HEAD, NOT YOUR HEART when you cast that ballot.
just my thoughts
match unleaded
So why do I discuss this on September 11th? Not only is it important to remember the suffering and pain that we have gone through, but we must also have the wisdom to utilize it. The real problem associated with 9/11 was not the 3,000 people that died or even the fear that it instilled in all of us concerning terrorism. The real problem was that we lost faith in who we are as Americans. We were relegated to "watchers" as opposed to "doers". This entire nation was converted to a bunch of little kids under blankets watching CNN in fear. And whats worse is that our government kept that fear alive. By waging war after war, the current administration perpetuated an image of weakness and pain, rather than strength and perseverance. I would imagine that if the victims of 9/11 could see us today, they would be disgusted with what we've done the last 7 years. Fighting wars and "avenging deaths" is not exactly an intelligent strategy. Killing Sadaam or Bin Laden will not bring anyone back.
However, something that I believe strongly in and this is something Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech at the DNC, is that American is great because of the "power of our example not the example of our power". In the light of 9/11, rather than focus on our emotions and our pain, we should have focused on our strength and our ingenuity. Dumping money into a worthless war is nothing compared to the countless scientist and innovator's that were put out of jobs because of fund divergence. In my opinion, showing that we were undeterred and unfettered by such an act of violence would have been a better exercise of power. Progress in stem cell research, space exploration and global warming were all things that could have happened in the last 7 years, but they took a back seat to a war that few understood and many died for.
In my opinion, this nation is great because of what is between our ears, driven by what is in our chest. Our decision making relies on the educational system we have solidified as the best world wide, not the weapons we have wasted our money on. An enlightened nation we are not and considering the fact that we allow emotions to govern our decision making just makes things worse. The Republicans perpetuate war stories and suffering as if it carries some sort of value in the government sphere. Yes, McCain is a fantastic example of a man that served his country, but what does this say about his judgement? His vice presidential nomination is one that very few political analysts would have picked and the reason their opinion matters is because they make a living thinking about our country's government. Maybe he uses Alaska's governor to play on people's emotions, but emotions mean jack shit, sorry.
In the end, we need to remember why America is great, not simply that it is great. We need to use our heads, not our hearts when making our decisions. Our hearts are good to keep us motivated and to prevent us from quitting but when push comes to shove, a well thought out game plan is infinitely better than a decision made on a whim. The rest of the world despises us and rather than write off their opinion as irrelevant we should focus on implementing a political establishment that utilizes intelligence, not fears it. The educated minds in this world are seen as elitist by the right wing conservatives and this could not be further from the truth. What did you think was going to happen when you sent your kids to college? They were going to get an education and you can't simply stuff their opinion in a drawer when they come back with ideas you don't like. The republicans seem to be small minded thinkers that want our nation to be what it was in the '50s, but guess what, we aren't in the fucking '50s! In the 21st century, we need 21st century leadership and waging war is not the way to do it. The information age has made the whole world smarter and why fight it? Why question those that know or think more than you? What do you have to lose? What do you think the "scary" experts are going to do? They make a living thinking about ways to make our civilization better. They aren't sacrificing the American working class by subsidizing Wal-Mart. They aren't selling their souls for an outdated energy source. They aren't living in the past, but in the future. The progressive minds of America's past still live in the minds of those today, they simply have different strategies. Sorry, the world isn't about winning and losing wars nowadays.
Bottom line, the victims of 9/11 would have wanted America to remain strong, not fearful. Fighting hate with hate is not a strategy that works. Our government should exercise strength in judgment not force. In the wake of 9/11 we should have stressed the economic, social, and technoligical development of our country not our fear. However, fear tactics work, if you let them. Fear media sells, if you let it. Fear scares people into submission, if you let it. But intelligence overcomes. The most difficult problems in this world are overcome not out of love or fear or hate, but out of thought. We got to the moon because we used our heads, not our hearts. We will succeed as a nation only if we return to the decision making abilities of leaders long since gone. Our generation is better than what we have become and only when we use our heads will things change. We need a government that instills hope and optimism in our people not fear and hate.
Pick whoever you want this November, but please USE YOUR HEAD, NOT YOUR HEART when you cast that ballot.
just my thoughts
match unleaded
1 comments:
I was there, less than a mile away. I lost people close to me.
And, it doesn't happen often, but I agree with you here Match. This was well done.
-Handy
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