I'm already sick of this day. Every time I turn on the T.V, my regularly scheduled program is being interrupted to show pictures of dead people. I don't care how selfish or insensitive that sounds, I'm sick of all this 9/11 shit. I'm not arguing this wasn't a huge major global event. It was! It just didn't have near the impact of either World War 2, or European colonization (I think I'd probably have a good chance at arguing that the essential elimination of several indigineous peoples qualifies as a more significant event than 10,000 people dying in the Trade Center.)
Why then is 9/11 such a big deal? Why the media frenzy? Why the endless reports, services, memorials?
Because *WE*got attacked!
Everyday you hear about some foreign atrocity. There's the mined fields of Cambodia. There's the starvation of millions living in impoverished third world countries. There's the oppression of forms of expression, speech, and other forms of civil liberties that we take for granted on a daily basis, and yet, we view all of these problems as distant, foreign, and essentially, none of our concerns.
Let me tell you right now, I bet Australia didn't get nearly as worked up as we did over the events of 9/11.
The point people seem to miss in their whole misguided, vengeful feelings towards Osama Bin Laden and the Al Quaeda is that by you getting mad and riled up, he's already accomplished his goal.
He got your fucking attention. He changed the way you live your life, and the way you view foreign policy and international terrorism forever.
In a video statement he released, he clearly points out that his goal in this is to get rid of the oblivious feeling of safety and invulnerability that Americans have.
Well, hijacking two airplanes and crashing them into the World Trade Center, pretty much accomplished that.
Guess what kids? You AREN'T safe. Whoopty Whoop. If it took a couple planes running headlong into the world trade center to get your attention, shatter those illusions and make you pay attention to world events, then maybe the events of 9/11 are actually a positive thing.
The typical reaction to this of course (and wonderfully aided by media hype) is to panic, get indignant that someone could have the NERVE to attack the MIGHTY AMERICAN NATION or harm it in any way, and proceed to "gather in unity" to launch some rockets right back at those goddamn camel-humping, sand-niggers. Oh, and since that's not enough, we'll go ahead and pass some laws to "make sure we're safe".
Oooh! Oooh! Here's a question for you: If you are an opportunistic government run by a conservative party in favor of censorship, increased military spending, and increased monitoring of citizens even if that requires directly violating their basic rights to privacy, what do you do with this particularly juicy situation?
If you said "Easy! Prey upon the general populace's fear of impersonal foreign violence to fuel my agendas by passing the Patriot Act!" (http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html), you win a gold star!
I guess I don't know where I really want to go with this, I could go on for ages in a disorganized fashion ranting about misinformed, easily manipulated US citizens, all of the inaccuracies of US anti-terrorism propaganda, and a slew of other subjects, but for now I'll just address all the people who called the events a "cowardly act":
Seems like it takes a lot more courage to sacrifice your life for what you believe in, than to push a button and launch a missile.
Why then is 9/11 such a big deal? Why the media frenzy? Why the endless reports, services, memorials?
Because *WE*got attacked!
Everyday you hear about some foreign atrocity. There's the mined fields of Cambodia. There's the starvation of millions living in impoverished third world countries. There's the oppression of forms of expression, speech, and other forms of civil liberties that we take for granted on a daily basis, and yet, we view all of these problems as distant, foreign, and essentially, none of our concerns.
Let me tell you right now, I bet Australia didn't get nearly as worked up as we did over the events of 9/11.
The point people seem to miss in their whole misguided, vengeful feelings towards Osama Bin Laden and the Al Quaeda is that by you getting mad and riled up, he's already accomplished his goal.
He got your fucking attention. He changed the way you live your life, and the way you view foreign policy and international terrorism forever.
In a video statement he released, he clearly points out that his goal in this is to get rid of the oblivious feeling of safety and invulnerability that Americans have.
Well, hijacking two airplanes and crashing them into the World Trade Center, pretty much accomplished that.
Guess what kids? You AREN'T safe. Whoopty Whoop. If it took a couple planes running headlong into the world trade center to get your attention, shatter those illusions and make you pay attention to world events, then maybe the events of 9/11 are actually a positive thing.
The typical reaction to this of course (and wonderfully aided by media hype) is to panic, get indignant that someone could have the NERVE to attack the MIGHTY AMERICAN NATION or harm it in any way, and proceed to "gather in unity" to launch some rockets right back at those goddamn camel-humping, sand-niggers. Oh, and since that's not enough, we'll go ahead and pass some laws to "make sure we're safe".
Oooh! Oooh! Here's a question for you: If you are an opportunistic government run by a conservative party in favor of censorship, increased military spending, and increased monitoring of citizens even if that requires directly violating their basic rights to privacy, what do you do with this particularly juicy situation?
If you said "Easy! Prey upon the general populace's fear of impersonal foreign violence to fuel my agendas by passing the Patriot Act!" (http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html), you win a gold star!
I guess I don't know where I really want to go with this, I could go on for ages in a disorganized fashion ranting about misinformed, easily manipulated US citizens, all of the inaccuracies of US anti-terrorism propaganda, and a slew of other subjects, but for now I'll just address all the people who called the events a "cowardly act":
Seems like it takes a lot more courage to sacrifice your life for what you believe in, than to push a button and launch a missile.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
binaryfiendsgone:
I personally look over all the media coverage as I do most media coverage of anything and take it for what I can. Which is historically this is a huge event because yes we had never had an attack on mainland US soil. Historically it is a major point. A do completely agree with you that there are atrocities happening all over the world that I feel require MUCH more attention but I don't think because of that this is something to be ignored. Do I agree with killing many innocent people so as to wash the blood out of the simple minds of most Americans? No. Do I agree with going after a scapegoat to fulfill that sense of vengeance? No. I am always one to try and create positive from negativity so I would say lets just try to make sure these sorts of things won't happen any more. If that means accepting that our governing body has done some horrible things that we the public have to deal with. I accept that and have always accepted that we live in a pretty fucked up country. Relative to other places it isnt so bad. I think this incident does touch us all in different ways though. My sister lives in New York. She is the most important thing to me in the world and I couldn't fathom the thought of losing her. Because of all this I fear for her. That doesnt mean that I will give up my privacy as I am a staunch civil libertarian. We must must must protect our civil rights and not let our fucked up governing body blind us with images of catastrophe.
binaryfiendsgone:
I love that you speak your mind so freely.... I admire that quality. I don't meet many people that are as blunt as myself and it is kinda frustrating cause you never really know if someone is just saying things to please present company or if they really mean it. 
