It seems to me like in this modern day, memes and other captioned photos have taken the place of genuine feeling. Why do I bring this up? Memes are imitations, mock-ups, of human behavior and passed between one person and another through social mediums so often that they clog up our news feeds. Memes, emoticons, and text-talk such as omg and lol have taken the place of even how writers display written feelings. Without a smilie or an lol on things that can be construed as serious, readers might take something the wrong way.
But today, of all days, pictures of the twin towers captioned in "Remember 9/11" or "Never forget 9/11" float around the internet because for one day out of the year, we as Americans are reminded of what happened on 9/11/2001. Sort-of.
But what are we trying to indicate with the trail of 9/11 photos that we post or share because - oh, someone else shared it, and well, I don't want to be the only one not to share it too as if I don't remember what happened. What are we saying we should remember? What do we want others not to forget? What is 9/11/2001?
It has been 13 years today since 9/11 happened which means there is already a generation of young adults who spread these photos around and yet, there is no guarantee they truly understand what it means. I can't claim to know either, and I was fifteen when the first plane hit the North tower.
There's a saying that you won't ever forget what you're doing when something so awful occurs. I was in history class with Mr. Owens when the first plane hit the twin towers and we watched it hit the tower again, and again, and again on the news for the remainder of the day in every single class.
No one understood why it was happening... How could we? We were a bunch of fifteen year olds barely able to contain ourselves as we watched the South tower collapse on television, and then the North tower. For the first time in American flight history, every flight was grounded or detoured away from the United States.
9/11 is a time in American history when four Boeing 757 airplanes were hijacked and three of these planes were flown into high-target areas. The fourth plane, Flight 93, was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to re-take the plane. Of the other three, Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Flight 11 crashed into the North tower, and Flight 175 hit the South tower of the World Trade Center.
TV Drama shows depict America under attack many times, with the bad guy's plot always being thwarted by the main character - Gibbs from NCIS, or Jack Bauer from 24, or whichever show you might be watching. Does this desensitize us from the occurrence of terrorism? It might. Or it might not. But when 9/11 occurred, it struck fear into the hearts of not just Americans, but people all over the world. It left scars, because of the fear we felt.
What is 9/11? It is a subject of debate. It is a very controversial topic. It is a ghost spoken of in hushed tones, for fear of it returning. And 9/11 is a divide in the American people now, which is why it became so controversial, like speaking of politics or religion in America. We are so torn by what happened and the truth of it as we see it, that we are separated.
The very fear of what happened that day managed to unite America and its allies in a fight that seemed impossible to win, yet we were incapable of ignoring. Soldiers were sent to fight a war on terror and when enough time had passed for some of these wounds from the attacks on 9/11 to heal, we became a divided people again.
Some claimed it was a conspiracy formulated by the government, and that the war on terror was completely fabricated. On the other side, people believed that it wasn't a government conspiracy and that the war on terror was exactly what it was called.
While the war waged on, politics used it for their advantage to get into power, or retain their power. The deaths of those on 9/11 became trodden on in the aftermath of politics, and eventually, our soldiers would suffer as the people they served in the military for would turn their backs on them. While our politicians sit in cushioned seats, serving their extended terms at hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, those soldiers got paid pittances to get shot at and fight the war on terror we sent them to fight. And so many Americans decided to stop supporting the troops because that would end the war faster, wouldn't it? Except it didn't. Soldiers can't exactly decide, Oh, sorry, person-trying-to-shoot-me, but can we call a truce? Only, those people back home changed their minds about supporting me. Care for a lemon drop?
And of course the enemy would reply, Oh, sure. Lovely day, isn't it? Thanks for the lemon drop. You know, they used to make these so much better when I was a kid.
It doesn't work that way. So, finally, what did happen to 9/11?
9/11 shook the world, not just America. 9/11 sent a message to everyone in the world that said You aren't safe. That is why fear gripped us and the war on terror was born. We wanted to make the world safer. Our good intentions may or may not have been well-executed, but this is how I view 9/11. A nightmare struck down upon humanity, not just America. Many things were born out of that nightmare.
But how will we know what we're supposed to remember... when the topic of discussion itself is so controversial that no one will speak openly of it for fear of having a different viewpoint?
I welcome any discussions, alternative viewpoints, recollections, regarding this matter in the comments below. I know that all of this is a bit rambling. Please feel free to share this or any of my blog posts.
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