Sunday night
Last time, I was proud, knowing the extraordinary cost. I hated the individual who had died, though I have nothing to show that this individual ever wronged me. I resented those who condemned my hatred; and so I lashed out by celebrating brazenly, aiming to offend most those who had spoken the loudest. Maybe I felt a need to justify the cost, ( Read more... )
It has nothing to do with the fact that it's another life lost, or how much the guy has or has not wronged any individual, or how much we should be glad he's gone. By all means I think it's a good thing bin Laden is dead.
I think this explanation: http://isawyou.mit.edu/post.php?id=4486 (skip the trolling and go down to Comment 17, paragraph 2) is probably largely accurate, but also unnerving. After only 9 years, something in how people feel about 9/11 has already been distilled away.
It's because if bin Laden had been found and killed the day after 9/11, nobody would be mobbing and cheering, and I don't think time should change the reason why, no matter how hard that reason is to describe with words.
It could also be that I'm weird -- I feel no less guilty about stupid things I did as a stupid eight year old now than I did 10 years ago, so maybe whatever's supposed to happen normally to memories of emotions is broken in my brain. *shrug*
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I think there's a lot of truth to the explanation you pointed out. And it's more than just something having been lost about how people feel about 9/11, isn't it? It's more than people forgetting the gravity of it or ceasing to think about triggering painful memories. It's also the buildup of hate over time--the protracted chase that elevated bin Laden to boast-worthy status; and the defiant nationalism that grew from a resolve to recover, possibly amplified by there still being an identifiable enemy to defy. That's what I see in the commenter's phrasing of it as "He's evil. Get him. Never Forget. Never Forgive."
I suspect there'd still be people who'd want to mob and cheer but would exercise restraint out of respect for those still visibly trying to recover; and maybe there'd be a lot less of that want without the nationalism and without the inflation of bin Laden's status.
"Whatever's supposed to happen normally to memories of emotions"... well, I don't know what that is. All that really has to happen is that people gradually learn to keep the memories from interfering with life. I think it helps that in some cases life doesn't provide a lot of reminders; but when the reminders come daily, like they did about 9/11 (and for many people, still do), a little numbness may be unavoidable after a while.
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