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September 12, 2006
Five years later, little has changed
By the time this editorial goes to print, the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will have come and gone.
9/11 shaped this generation, whether or not it’s readily apparent. Five years to our generation feels like a lifetime because, well, it more or less is. Our formative years took place under the towering smoke of the crumbled towers. High school dances, graduations and first steps on Hamline’s campus were all post-9/11čwhat some would call the post-American century. It is easy to forget what life was like before color-coded threat levels and news crawls littered TV screens. War seems to be a fact of life now.
As idealistic as this sounds, we as a generation need to own this time. This is our world and we can’t stand idly by. In five years, we have seen the rise of a strange form of patriotism that is blind, uncritical, and at its worst, ignorant. Of course, as a nation we have unprecedented security concerns, and at the Oracle we understand that these are valid needs. Our call is for this generation to develop a critical eye. At no time in history have humans had more information at our fingertips, and Americans, from our privileged perch in the world, need to utilize this vast storehold of information.
We know this has all been said. In fact, it borders on clichÄ from time to time. There are no simple answers, even with the world at our keyboards and on our TV screens. We don’t have the answers, just a call to action.
Be critical.
Be critical of the government, be critical of the terrorists, and most importantly be critical of those who filter the vast sea of information at our fingerprints. With the world growing ever-so-small, seek out your peers from around the world. Use and draw on the technology that makes this period of history unique.
Most of all, be critical of the dehumanization of the data that passes over our screens. In your own way remember the 3,000 killed five years ago, but don’t forget the faceless dead in Iraq and elsewhere. Remember why they are faceless; why they are so easily forgotten.
All of this, admittedly, is intangible and even obtuse, but five years later, little has changed.
The world is still home to the hungry, the sick, the dying and the marginalized. Let us not forget the plight of the living as we mourn the passing of the dead. Instead, let us learn from the terrifying and needless death that was wreaked upon this world by those who were willing to make their voices heard. Let us be a voice for the voiceless. Let us speak for the dead.
Own this time.
Posted by dwright at September 12, 2006 04:53 PM
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