I normally don't write about this kind of stuff on here, but I guess I've had this on my mind for a while.
Nine years ago, the worst attack on our nation’s soil took place. A lot has happened between now and then, but where do we all stand now? What ways has the United States changed? In what ways have we stayed the same?
Nine years ago, the worst attack on our nation’s soil took place. A lot has happened between now and then, but where do we all stand now? What ways has the United States changed? In what ways have we stayed the same?
In many ways it has been business as usual. Economic bubbles burst. Before 9/11, it was the dot-com bubble that burst. Companies like Enron were exposed for bad accounting practices, tanking and contributing to a weak economic state. Some seven years after 9/11 the housing bubble burst. Companies like AIG were exposed with bad and misleading investment into so-called “toxic” assets. So we got one thing straight, there will be some type of investment that will bubble up and burst, and there will always be big corporation types that will try to game the system to profit.
There are some negative changes that have gripped America. More and more the country seems more divided. Red states and blue states. Xenophobia. People arguing about “what is right” for America. In the aftermath of 9/11, it was “United We Stand.” Everyone had their American flags out. New York and DC shirts and hats were sported by everyone all over the country. A country captivated…ready to take on the challenges---together. But now we see everyone has to take a side. For or against the war in Afghanistan. For or against corporate bailouts. For or against health care reform. For or against immigration reform. For or against “don’t ask, don’t tell.” For or against building a mosque/community center a few blocks away from the World Trade Center site. The more issues we have to deal with, the more people seem more divided.
Also, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but the media seems to have become a news maker instead of a news source. It is WAY more opinion-driven “news” that has propagated into mainstream media to attempt to compete. Something for everyone really. If you are a conservative, tune to Fox News. A liberal? MSNBC is for you. CNN will lean liberal but they are now leaning heavily on their iReport/blog aspects online to grab the kids that like that social online aspect.
But the way news outlets are now shaped are for a different time to discuss. The main point I was trying to make was how divided we are now. Nine years after one of the most difficult, traumatic, confusing, trying events in the recent history of this country, you would think that something like that would have us on a more united front to get this country straightened out. Not that I am an expert, but I would assume the country came together pretty united when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor or when the Soviets launched Sputnik.
Maybe I’m an idealist. Or maybe I’m too naïve to realize that it’s hard to get 300 million people on the same page. I’m not saying we all should have the same opinion. I’m just saying that we all should have a more open mind. An open mind to take go out on a limb a little bit to try to get this economy back rolling the way it was in the 1990s, the way FDR tried different things during the Great Depression. An open mind to think about the things that will drive the future of the country like green technologies and a broadband internet infrastructure. Things internally that this country can focus on to get the ball rolling.
Instead we are stuck debating about what to do with someone in this country who illegally immigrated even if they are a productive member of our society. Instead we pour so much attention to the Muslim community center they are trying to build blocks away from Ground Zero, casting “Islamophobia” across the US. But why are we focused on these things when the unemployment rate is still floating around 10%? Why are we so concerned about whether or not gays can be open about their orientation when they and other American troops are still heavily deployed in Afghanistan?
I say we fix the problems instead of causing misdirection and making us afraid of immigrants, afraid of Muslims, afraid of gays. Yes, the border is important. But what is more important: deciding what to do with 10 million illegal immigrants or trying to get 10 million Americans jobs? Which is more important: finishing the job in Afghanistan or making sure that they don’t build a church near Ground Zero (and yes, a mosque is a Muslim church, NOT a terrorist factory as some people would like you to believe)?
We need a rally. A "United We Stand"-like rally going into the next decade. Otherwise famous words of Abe Lincoln may come to be.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
I’ll stop my rant now. To all those who have lost someone in 9/11 and thereafter to protect this country, I thank you for your sacrifice. Those who are deployed in harm’s way, I thank you for your service. And to all those souls lost that fateful day, I will never forget what happened that day and how it has impacted the world I live in today.
9/11: Never Forget.
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