9/11

[girliejones]

I tend to avoid 9/11 memorials - it's not really my event to be constantly commemorating and for me, I dunno, but not enough time has passed for the emotion to have abaited. I just for some unknown reason played the video on Boing Boing that streams together pretty much all the TV channels that covered the event live - and in each case, there's

Comments

I don't see that the world changed

[ed_rex]

In the abstract, I think I understand why you (and many others) are so upset by 9/11, but I don't see it as world-changing, except in the sense that it showed those of us in the West (I use the term in the sense that includes Australia and Japan) that we, too, are vulnerable to terrorism.

I grew up in the 70s, when the Americans were murdering 3,000,000 southeast Asians for no good reason, and 80s, when they moved on to Latin America and preceded to terrorize an entire continent for a generation.

As I see it, the only things that were exceptional about the attack on the World Trade Center was that it was caught on videa and that it happened to "us". There was nothing more (or less) horrible about it than the last wedding party in Afghanistan destroyed from the air than the number of victims at one time and the media coverage it received.

Re: I don't see that the world changed

[girliejones]

What about the fact that 5 guys can just decide to do something like that? That massive, grand war can now be wreaked by 5 guys and a plan?

And I'll tell ya what - have you travelled lately internationally? Or tried to post a letter overseas? These are things in my everyday life that have changed and are more than inconvenient.

Re: I don't see that the world changed

[ed_rex]

What about the fact that 5 guys can just decide to do something like that? That massive, grand war can now be wreaked by 5 guys and a plan?

20 guys (plus whoever was backing them), but I take your point - and need to think about it some more.

As for international travel, you're quite right that that has changed. And I know nothing about sending mail overseas - I'm guessing you mean packages need to be opened and inspected prior to shipping? (I hadn't heard anything about that.)

Re: I don't see that the world changed

[girliejones]

Yeah I guess for me, this really showed that war had moved to a new and much more terrifying place. Now, anyone who disagrees with a govt can wage war and make hell to pay. ANd countries are unable to go to war against people. It confused and changed the whole way defense, and then offense worked.

I HATE having to take my shoes off going in and out of airpoirt security because of one guy you FAILED to set his shoes on fire on a plane.

BUt as for mail, if I want to send a book overseas in a parcel, happens a lot for me, I have to fill in a customs form and have my ID checked before the parcel can go. It's just a pain. And like ... doesn't really seem the thing that we are trying to stop.

Re: I don't see that the world changed

[ed_rex]

I mis-read the intent of your original post. In my defence, I've recently had the unhappy experience, in an LJ discussion group, of conversing with a rather intelligent and actually civil right-winger (American, 'natch - sorry, knee-jerk prejudice raises its ugly head) who started talking about clashes of civilizations and how torture and killing innocents is okay so long as "we" are doing the killing.

Knowing your positions on any number of other issues I ought to have known better, or at least asked for clarification before jumping in with both feet. Living next door to the Imperial centre, I tend to hear the phrase The world changed that day and presume the worst.

My apologies.

Re: I don't see that the world changed

[girliejones]

It's all cool.