"What have you bought into and how much will it cost to buy you out?" - Saul Williams
This past Sunday was the 10th anniversary of 9/11. You know that one time...with the planes, and the buildings and the terrorists, and stuff. Well, yeah. Nationally, we've been reflecting on how the events of that morning changed our lives both personally and collectively.
I, for one, remember being ...well, skeptical. I couldn't believe that people living in caves on the other side of the world "hated our freedom" so much would take their own lives & others to prove it.
I still don't really believe it.
Not that I'm in shock. Not that I don't believe people could hate us. That seems pretty obvious. I don't believe that we know what actually happened that morning. If the powers in our government did not have a direct hand in the event, they at least chose to turn a blind eye.
Sorry, just couldn't help myself. Carrying on..
Anyone with any sort of political background knows that you only need one catastrophic attack to rally a population to nationalism and revenge.
And as expected, in the months after 9/11 American patriotism was hotter than ever. Flags were flying off the shelf like they were going out of style. We were scared, confused & on gaurd. Perhaps if we wrapped our bodies and our psyches in the good ol' red white and blue, we would be able to protect ourselves from the judging eyes of the world.
Ripe for the pickin'. Indeed. Perfect climate to start a war. Send those well-meaning American boys & girls to someone else's backyard to "fight for our freedom." Right. Sure. In the decade since 9/11 we used the event as a rallying cry for war & separation, a political poker chip for idealogical ends--invoking the tragedy as a reason to hate and fear others. It's too bad really.
Fast forward to early 2009, the new body politic chose to rebrand September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Not a bad idea, right? Communitiy organization were challenged to create service opportunites to engage people on or near September 11th. I know. I was one of those "challenged organizations."
They told us that, "service activities should honor those who died and those who have served because of the tragedies of 9/11, and include a time of reflection and remembrance." Oh please. I don't need to go into my issues with connecting 9/11 to our series of endless wars. That's not the point.
The point is, I'm going to have to call their bluff on this whole "service day" thing too. While I definitely support a day of service in lieu of another goddamn Patriot Day, this one is just some pro-military yea-America circle jerk. Uh, did I just say that outloud? uh-oh. Yup.
Anyway, I'd like to argue that on this particular day, we should be focusing on global unity and understanding. Therefore I'd like to call (as if I have any power) for yet another rebranding of 9/11.
September 11th: International Day of Service, Peace & Understanding
IDSPU? hmm. OK. open to other name ideas, but you get the idea.
Boom. 2012.
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