Well
yesterday the western world apparently celebrated the attack on the
twin towers.
While
some will baulk at the word celebrate and jerk their knee in disgust
at my using of it, tell me what other word is apt?
There was
the usual communal outpouring of empty grief from people who think
that sharing a picture on facebook somehow matters.
Most
probably didn't give much of a shit on the day it happened, will
rarely consider why it happened, and neither will the ramifications
of it keep them awake at night.
Even if
some do, the majority certainly wont on any other day other than the
anniversary, and many of them wont give it any more thought than the
seconds it takes to click share on said anniversary either.
Reposting
an image apparently replaces real compassion and empathy now.
Similar
to how asking people to repost a picture of a bald headed girl with
cancer doesn't do anything practical apart from salve the conscience
of those who post the image the wave of similar 9/11 ones serve no
real purpose either.
Social
media was literally ablaze with remembrance memes.
When I
see the words' never forget' I take it to mean that we should never
forget the atrocity, and therefore collectively work towards
ensuring that we never see such a horror repeated.
Others
apparently consider it a mental note to never forgive, never give any
quarter, and in some strange way as permission to wage war
on.........well on anyone they want basically.
I seen a
few posts from people who were respectfully putting across the point
that violent deaths were an affront to us all as human beings
regardless of where and when they happen, and to who they happen to,
and that maybe we should try to be more inclusive in how we remember
9/11.
No one I
seen said anything along the lines of it not mattering in the face of
all the tragic violent deaths anywhere.
People
were respectful to a fault, but the reaction to their posts were
brutally repugnant.
People
screaming in block capitals that 'it's not a fuckin' competition' as
if anyone had said it was.
No matter
how it was explained that the original intent was to highlight that
all deaths are individually as important it just wouldn't sink in.
The
aggression shown against anyone that dare utter anything about us
learning from the terrible crime that was visited upon the US was
frankly disgusting.
A
disrespectful affront to the memories of those who did die, and the
families that will carry the burden of grief forever.
Every
single victim on that day was the mother, father, brother, sister,
daughter or son of someone, and the impact on how they left this
world will haunt those who loved them forever, but no more so than
the impact of any other person who has lost a dear one to a violent
death.
If we
can't say that then what are we really saying?
Are we
saying that the lives of those who died in New York are more
important than that of any one else?
We can't
do that.
We must
not do that.
All life
is precious.
Everyone
matters to someone.
So who is
really respecting the memory of the victims.
Those who
will oppose the violence to all, or those who feel offended at those
who strive for global peace?
Some would claim 9/12 to be an analogy for 9/11. I say what is 9/11? Does it mean a terrorist attack, or does it mean the numerous readings people may interpret a terrorist attack as meaning. I wonder.
ReplyDeleteNo offence intended, but i have no idea what you mean.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly I was over in the US three months after the atrocities that went on on NY and PA that year...and whilst the majority of the workmates were in a gung ho , let's phucking nuke 'em attitude, I had a very in depth conversation with a manager who just so happened to me an ex-Marine.
ReplyDeleteHe did ask how we in the UK had dealt the the Provo / Republican atrocities over the previous 20-30 years and how the UK government had dealt with that....and coming from a guy who lived in one of the can collecting areas for the PIRA (Boston,MA) I found his opinion to be very understanding.
Whilst the very public - no concessions to terrorism persona was in place, there had been negotiations going on in the background for years on this side....he much preferred that to the scattergun approach taken by Bush and Blair. But I guess him being ex-military he knew what the probable outcome was going to be....too many lives were going to be lost for no other reason an ass whipping.
And to be honest that same measured approach seemed to be prevalent from any US citizens I met over the following years with a military background....they all knew that there should have been retribution, but only to those who perpetrated the acts....not the hundreds of thousands of innocents of foreigners and thousands of military from the "Allied" forces.
I would agree with that.
ReplyDeleteMost US citizens are exactly as you describe them.
I just wish more of them would make the effort to provide a balance to the fundamentalists from all over.
Dip into the 'net and the majority shouting loudest appear to be the ones with the least grip on the matter at hand.
Without delving into the murky waters of conspiracy theories and lending any sort of credence to claims of lizard men running the world, it does deserve mentioning that globally very few people are supporters of acts of terrorism to acts of genocide.
ReplyDeleteRational human beings shy away from the ugliness of the actions of what are a minority.
So I suppose the question is why do we, the majority, allow these acts to happen, and why do those who represent us fail spectacularly to support the majority?
I can see the point of the initial outrage given the severity of the atrocities of 9/11...with just over 3,000 people losing their lives the feeling , certainly amongst those people I met at the time, was for revenge and retribution.
ReplyDeleteBut as I say those who knew where I came from were aware of what had gone on over here for the previous 30 odd years and were willing to learn from that.
I suppose one of the best things to come out of it was the drying up of funding for PIRA/Sinn Fein on the Eastern seaboard....so much so that Sinn Fein had to change their tack and eventually denounce the violence that would lead to a shared government in NI.
However the times I visited over the next 8 years the majority of Americans were as pissed off as the many millions over here at the ongoing activities in Afghanistan and Iraq....they knew it was just sabre rattling that was still ultimately costing US lives. The only really got closure when Bin Laden was finally executed
The initial outrage was completely justified.
ReplyDeletePeople need to vent.
They need time to get to grips with the horror of the situation and initially the very first thing that most of us would want to do is lash out.
That's natural.
Sickeningly that urge to vent was manipulated to suit those in power though.
I'm not sure if there was much closure when Bin Laden was killed though.
Certainly he was the bogeyman figure, but his demise hasn't apparently mattered at all in the grand scheme of things.
I do believe the Obama administration is doing the right thing and removing the troops from over there...that was one of his tickets for getting in..and he at least has stuck to his promise.
ReplyDeleteJust hope to feck Romney gets nowhere near the red button as he is the bastard love child of mad Reagan and Dubeeya!!! He will go after anyone who dares look at the starsn'stripes in the wrong way!!
Romney is a scary proposition for the world.
ReplyDeleteThankfully he seems to have made a major mistake with his comments on the embassy incident.
Even his own supporters have stepped away from that clusterfuck.
You would think that his reluctance to provide clear records of his finances and his background in asset stripping would tell people that this is a man who has no morals.
That the republicans can name him as their candidate is frightening.
Is this the best they have got?