A call for growth

By Joseph Gauger
Collegian Editor
September 12, 2007

The 9/11 attacks had such gravity and emotional impact that they are permanently incorporated into ideas about ourselves and our country. In the days following those attacks, I first thought seriously about myself as an American citizen and about America’s place in the world. Americans came together to grieve and celebrate what we love about our country: our prosperity, the liberty and openness of our society, the bravery of our heroes. Patriotic imagery was everywhere, and the very real pain we shared was palpable in our public discourse and our daily lives.

Six years after the attacks, there are usually only two conditions under which we are reminded of them: on their anniversary, and on occasions when politicians see fit to remind us of our pain and fear on that day. Americans moved from profound sadness and righteous anger back to numb complacency. Distance has not delivered perspective, merely disinterest. For the vast majority of Americans, 9/11 commemoration is only a short but obligatory exercise in pageantry. When our annual dues have been paid, our attention shifts back to other concerns. This perfunctory tribute is of no benefit to us as a nation, nor to us as individuals.

We should recall the most striking lesson of that day—namely that our nation’s wealth and international primacy do make us invincible. The crisis of 9/11 forced maturity onto us, and we briefly understood the very real possibility that our comfortable and insulated lifestyle could be interrupted by malevolent forces. To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald, we have retreated into our money and our vast carelessness. Embarrassing celebrity gossip and consumer electronics product launches have reclaimed their dominant place at the expense of this lesson.

We should acknowledge, as many Americans never have, that our country is fallible and our nation’s actions are not justified merely by our status as Americans. Far too few have understood that foreigners have legitimate grievances against us. The factors leading to the attacks were complex and numerous; the contribution of America’s past actions in the Middle East should not be unduly excluded from the list of such factors. By continuing its pattern of indiscriminate intervention, our government has discarded another vital lesson of 9/11.

We should labor to protect the most beautiful and unique aspect of our American identity: the civil liberties enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. In response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, political rhetoric in the U.S. bore abundant praise for our dearest national principles: freedom of speech, religious liberty, respect for life and due process of law. These values are antithetical to those of the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks. Yet we have been quick to sacrifice them in the name of security. The tone of our self-examination has shifted to celebration of our wealth and power. But military and financial supremacy pale in comparison to the value of our Bill of Rights. The latter is truly worth defending.

The grisly images we all carry with us can change us for the better, in fitting tribute to the lives destroyed on 9/11. They need not slide annually deeper into irrelevance.

gaugerj1@lasalle.edu