Finn d'Abuzz wrote:dlowan wrote:Oh god! Not that thing again.
I do remember, and I find that drivel an absolute insult both to me and to the people who died.
I find this reaction puzzling.
In what way is the message stupid or senseless?
Why do you feel insulted by it, and more importantly why do you think it insults the people who died?
I feel insulted, Finn, because I find it devastatingly irking that the likes of the people who made that thing, and, it seems, Xena, think that unless one is baying for revenge and supporting the war in Iraq then one is a stupid, unfeeling ostrich.
I watched those awful events, as so many did, and I actually still cannot think of it without becoming tearful. I very much want to return to New York ( a city I love) to spend some time thinking of those people where so many of them died.
At the same time, I was thinking of all the other victims of terror in the world - including those who were victims of American and other western nations sponsored terror, and a part of me was torn, because I knew that THESE (9/11) victims would have a status and importance denied to so many others, who also died horrifically far from the media spotlight - and from our thoughts or regard, here in our rich countries.
The thing I feared most was a visceral, unexamined American response - and I was cheered that such did not seem to be forthcoming.
You see, we are, are we not, a primitive species, much given to being driven by our most basic urges, with but a veneer of rationality and civilisation? It is SO easy, it seems, for us to be manipulated either by our natural reactions, or by the carefully researched strings of mass manipulation - and for us to dress up these basic urges in the language of "defending freedom", or "fighting for the one true god", or "avenging the fallen" or "the stab in the back" or "the dictatorship of the proletariat".
I therefore enormously value clear and complex thought about the issues facing us. (Though I by no means always achieve it myself!)
The piece we are all discussing is, I believe, made to eclipse thought and encourage the very mindless emotionalism I most fear - in all countries and groups - and which we can see operating all the time.
I find that using the very real suffering and horror experienced by all killed, injured, or bereaved in 9/11 as a mawkish call to abandon thought and genuine emotion and engage in a self-indulgent emotional trip to be appalling.
As is the notion that, if we refuse to do so,we are stupid, unfeeling dolts, who would not lift a finger to defend ourselves, or our country, when this is really required.
Actually, I found the end bit, which calls us to remember the sacrifices of those who died defending our liberties, and live in a way that makes their sacrifice meaningful, the best part. For me, this includes using my brain and refusing to be sucked into the sort of emotive propaganda morasses that allow our governments to do terrible things, or us to become involved in unspeakable acts of murder because we think we are threatened and are defending ourselves against the damn infidel, or whatever group has been demonized. It is a moveable feast, is it not, this demonization?
I wonder what ever gave them that idea. 
