The world changed that day indeed. Bin Laden won. He changed America. And not for the better. The act itself, while deplorable, was not what broke America. We have recovered from much worse. But our response as a country and as a people has been frightening. At first it was the erosion of freedoms and the increase in the police state due to the Patriot Act. More recently, the continued use of fear in politics has allowed the polarization of this country to really take hold. We have turned on not only those that are different, but even on each other.
I honestly think what we all need is some perspective. I think back to my 9/11 story; I had just started a new job the day before. It was 2nd shift at a warehouse. So I was sleeping in. I got up, watched with horror, but then I went to work. We had a short moment of silence, but then we did our jobs. The world continued to spin. It was just another day for many people.
Don't get me wrong, I feel immense sadness for those that lost loved ones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But people lose loved ones every day. We have to gain back our perspective and realize that nothing we could have done would bring those people back. Nothing was going to put those buildings back up. So while we try and honor the dead with vigils and internet memes, we are really showing they died in vain because we let the terrorists get to us. George W Bush received a lot of flak for his quip about Americans needing to go shopping, but he was kind of right. For 17 years we have been stuck at step 2 of the grieving process. We can't be angry forever.
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