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Diaryland
When our World Turned Upside Down 2004-09-11 @ 9:07 a.m.
Three years ago today, I was in the middle of a very liminal period of my life. At the beginning of that summer, I had graduated from Redmond High School, which was scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a new building over the next two years. My family had sold our wonderful home in Washington and we had packed up and moved down to California so my dad could work at a company in Fremont. I was scheduled to begin college at Oregon State University in a couple of weeks. We were staying at my Uncle Michael's house in Blackhawk, in a sort of apartment underneath the main house, accessible only from the outside of the house or by walking across the swimming pool room.
My mind oscillated back and forth a lot around that time. Sometimes I would eagerly anticipate starting school and would go over elaborate plans in my imagination. Other times, I just couldn't believe that Washington was now behind me, when it had been part of my life for so long. My brother and I hung out a lot while we stayed there - my parents were busy looking for a house to buy, although my dad had settled into his new job before we even left Washington. We watched the Video Music Awards on MTV and groaned repeatedly - I swore silently never to watch another waste of time awards show again. At night, I would stay up and watch 'Insomniac Music Theater' on VH1. Not only were the music videos commercial and commentary free, but there is just something wonderful and magical about watching music videos late at night in the dark. It gives you the feeling of having someone else's dream. Five for Fighting's "Superman" was still high on the charts, although it had been out for awhile. I had also been frequently listening to "Under You" on MP3 by the one hit wonder band Trickside. My brother and I slept on a big, peach semicircle couch, in front of my Uncle's big screen tv, with exercise equipment and spare tables around the rest of the room.
I woke up pretty early on the morning of the eleventh. It was before seven am pacific time. My dad had already been up getting ready for work and had the radio on. I heard a lot of people and radio noise from the bedroom he and my mom were using. I turned on the big screen tv and saw one of the towers burning. A minute later, I watched a second plane slam into the other tower.
A lot of people remarked that day that the whole event seemed like something out of Hollywood, as if we had accidentally tuned in to some action flick with lots of explosions. The whole thing was very unreal, and while we didn't panic, the full force of what had happened took awhile to sink in. The media was acting like a little child, completely confused, babbling senselessly, and calling up Tom Clancy for his professional opinion on the incident. The World Trade Center was something I knew about but couldn't recognize on sight. I didn't know how many people worked there. I didn't know how many firefighters went in to try and save them. I did watch both the towers collapse knowing they were nowhere near evacuated. I had to explain what happened to my older cousin Andrea, who woke up to a hysterical radio.
Everyone around me was completely numb for the next two days. When my mom and I went out to the grocery store, there was an eerie quiet all over the place, with televisions on continually. Then, not long afterwards, the patriotic fervor began. At first, I was touched and inspired. It seemed like all Americans were putting aside their differences and uniting in solidarity. Even the politicians seemed strangely cooperative. But within a week, it all began to turn downhill.
You might think I've got a creative memory, but the truth is that in my international realtions class in high schoool, I had done a report on Afghanistan and predicted trouble if we didn't take some sort of a stand. That was back when the Taliban blew up a six hundred year old priceless statue of the Buddha that was over a hundred feet tall, etched into a rock wall. They considered it an idol. I informed my class about the harsh government, the treatment of women, and how Eastern Afghanistan had become a protected training grounds for terrorists, including Al Qaeda, the group that had blown up the USS Cole, and their leader Osama Bin Laden. In the week after the eleventh, I knew what would happen. I knew Americans would vent their fury on Afghanistan, and that many civilians who had no role in the events whatsoever would die. I prayed that the Taliban leadership would submit to the US demands, but I knew it was unlikely. Most people cheered the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan, but for me, there was nothing great about it. Bin Laden escaped, and countless people are dead.
If the new war wasn't bad enough, I was sickened about how American corporations were taking advantage of this tragedy to make money. They pressured the FAA to get the planes flying quickly again, and filled the newspapers and shops with pseudo-patriotic slogans and posters. Wave a flag, make a buck. America - open for business. It was amazing how fast people started making money off of 9/11. Selling flags of all shapes and sizes, memorial candles, eagles, iron sculptures. Three thousand dead Americans had become an unprecented advertising oppertunity.
Those corporations are still making money off of their deaths, our sorrows and our fears. We've declared war on a concept, and as our history has shown us, from the depression to Vietnam, that can mean only trouble. Yesterday, the body count of American soldiers dead in Iraq after Bush declared major combat operations over in his ridiculous Top Gun takeoff has climbed over a thousand. Over thirty seven thousand Iraqis have died since the war in Iraq began. Every day, our troops crack down harder, and every day, more Iraqis lose their patience and take up arms.
Tens of thousands of people are dead and many more will be dying in the next few weeks. The America we knew before 9/11 and what prosperity and peace of mind we had is gone forever. These wars will go on indefinately if they are not forced to end. Our rights are slowly slipping away as our democracy is traded for the illusion of security. If Bush gets elected this Novemeber, Syria and/or Iran will be invaded next.
How many more people have to die?
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
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