Listening Post: What have we learned?
The tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks is on my mind, like most everyone. Hard not to think about it when it seems to be on every channel. It’s still hard to get the head around, and it is still an active trauma for the millions who had direct experience of the attacks, or who have dealt with the decade of consequences that have followed. And it’s still traumatic to those who, like me, have been fortunate enough to have lived out of the way of the worst, who have been little more than witnesses.
Since we can hardly help but remember, the question that comes to my mind is “What should we do with this remembrance?” Besides mourning the fallen, of course, and celebrating the remarkable few who run toward danger when all others are running away. The day is ten years gone now and will only recede deeper into time. So what do we bring with us into the future—what have we learned?
I tried this question out around the station and saw that responses divided into two categories: lessons learned on the day itself and in the immediate aftermath, and the lessons that have evolved over the long haul. One said the day itself reminded her of earlier shocks, the assassinations of Kennedy and King. In one jaw-dropping moment, that which was taken for granted was all overturned. Another said the day taught him that there were still many people who would run toward danger, a thing he thought might have been lost in America. And he learned that he and his family were fragile, youthful notions of invulnerability to the contrary.
About the long haul, I heard about learning the importance of paying attention to and appreciating the differences between people of different cultures. And that long-term stress and anxiety cannot be left unaddressed. And other bits of lore and wisdom pertinent to the day and the times.
Myself, I wonder about the nature of change. Did 9-11 really change everything, the way enough rock and soil will divert a river to a permanent new channel? Or was it more like a whack to a spinning top, which skitters and wobbles a while and then rights itself.
What is your takeaway lesson from 9-11? From the decade since? Let us know in a comment below.
Probably nothing except for how to give away our freedoms in the false hope of staying safe.
Nice post, Dale, thanks.
I blogged about 9/11 events in Canada because that seemed necessary, this week.
What strikes me is how little I want to go there, again. It wasn’t fun 10 years ago and it remains profoundly disturbing even now.
To some extent, the pure shock has abated. And there’s a real need to not lose sight of civil rights issues and to seek sensible border policies. (Oh, and figure out if the two wars made sense.)
But apart from the uplifting selflessness of those who responded, it was a dark, bad place that many would rather not re-visit.
Is it healthier to back off? Not to be an ostrich, but what’s a reasonable balance?
I know NCPR has no desire to sensationalize the trauma of that day. But could the relatively few comments on various In Box and All In 9/11 posts so far mean readers are also loathe to re-open those wounds?
Just wondering.
I learned that the scum that run this country will make money on anything and kill anybody they want to do it. and that National Public Radio will help all they can.
Lucy,
I think two things are happening here in regard to your question in the final sentence.
One – In the face of death of the one or the many, you can only shed so many tears before you need to move on.
Two – I think many people are tired of reading and listening to people in the media talk about 9/11/2001. We are to the point where we are not sure what their point is. Are they trying to impress us with how much they care?
It has always been true and it will always remain true that we care most when we lose a loved one.
Looking at the big picture now and over the years, so many people throughout the Earth have suffered more. Need I mention those who died and those who lost loved ones as a result of our atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
I don’t mean to be crude or diminish the tragedy of 9/11. I only mean to put it into perspective of what has been happening now and in the past, all over the Earth.
We can say “Never again” as often as we wish while knowing “never again” will happen to someone, somewhere over and over again.