Re: 9/11, I don't know how to say this without sounding like a bad person.

[RockyBalboa]

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed....Come see the violence inherited in the system!"

[non sequitur]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed....Come see the violence inherited in the system!"

I don't mean to be condescending, but I think the word you want to use is "inherent", not "inherited". Alright, I confess. I do mean to be a little condescending.

[Archaea]

I confess I have no idea what Rocky's talking about. That's not condescending, just a lack of comprehension on my part.

[RockyBalboa]

lol...thanks for the correction NS. I must confess I wasn't sure what word that was in the movie, so I just guessed.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

lol...thanks for the correction NS. I must confess I wasn't sure what word that was in the movie, so I just guessed.

OK, so 'splain it to us simpletons.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I'm not callous about the lives lost in 9/11. Really. I pored over those thousands of little profiles of the slain in the NYTimes and was extremely moved. The scenes of people jumping to their deaths, etc. were possibly the most disturbing things I've ever seen.

But I have to say, I'm now finding the coverage of the fifth anniversary event a little oppressive. Maybe it's because I have this nagging feeling that if it had happened in Kansas City there'd be a lot less to do about it. I can't really articulate why I feel uneasy about the current dialogue. People died in the Pentagon, didn't they? You never hear anything about that. This event to us is/has become kind of like 10+ million Russian dead in WWII to the Russian people. Maybe it's the combination of the way we (especially New Yorkers) think we're the center of the world, but really we're so removed from it. Our reaction to 9/11 seems to have become a metaphor for that. Maybe it's because I read too much of the NY Times and the New Yorker. I've been treated to every detail of planning for what they're going to do with the site to honor the dead, including the artistic, political and ego squabbles. I stopped reading long ago. I love memorials. The ones in D.C. are some of my favorite places, the way they encapsulate such important, really sacred events and concepts. But right now I feel no urge to go stand in huge lines to see whatever they're going to put at ground 0. Right now it seems kind of more about the living than the dead to me.

Maybe it's because Bush so callously and cynically used 9/11 to incite political support for his adventure in Iraq. Some Israeli folks have pointed out that Americans always expect more self-restraint from them but the Israelis have suffered so much more than we have from terrorism.

The event was horrific. It just seems it's being cast in a somewhat florid light right now. I can't really put my finger on the problem. Sorry if anyone thinks I'm a bad person. I don't mean to be insensitive. Sometimes I just believe less is more.

I think there is a disconnect between those who were touched more directly by it and those who saw it on TV. Everyone was appalled, but anyone living in or near New York or DC will always feel differently about it.

I have particularly wondered whether westerners, who are skeptical of easterners anyway, care deep down in thier guts. For example of San Fransico was the target, while we would all be devistated, I think those who feel that San Fran is full of undesirables would get over it more quickly.

I too think that we make too much spectical of tragedy in general. But, you can hardly expect the nation that was wrapped by Jon Benette and OJ Simpson and Natalee Holloway and any number of other train wrecks to stop staring at this one anytime soon. I'm just glad it hasn't happened again. Having only those events to focus on is a nice problem to have.

[8ballrollin]

9/11 affected me deeply.

And I’m a Westerner.

While in NYC in Oct 2001 I went to ground zero and it was still smoking - three weeks later. I'll never forget what it was like to stand there, in front of that hulking wreck that was six stories tall and three blocks wide.

That being said, I know what you are saying about the lack of coverage of those outside of NYC and the saturation in general.

On some of the anniversaries of D-Day I feel the same way. There are soo many books and movies about WWII in Europe. I have read many of the books and seen all of the movies. But on those days of fanfare and speeches, I think to the men who also died in the Pacific – a nameless man dieing the mud somewhere in Guadalcanal, the Philippines or a dusty atoll. Do we remember them too?

[Archaea]

Several factors figure into our cynicism toward 9/11.

First the victims were not the most sympathetic, lawyers and stockbrokers, not the salt of the earth, miners, farmers, school teachers and the like, that's why the media plays up the loss of life by firefighters to engender greater sympathy.

Second, some of the survivors of the victims, milked the publicity for all it's worth.

Third, the US compensated the victims richly, and we're still paying.

Fourth, life doesn't mean as much to us. We don't live life to the fullest as it is, and many of us are walking zombies, dead but alive. Plus, the inundation of death on the screen dulls our senses to it.

Fifth, we view it as inevitable. And sadly some of us are glad, it wasn't us.

Fourth, we know if it had been Austin, Salt Lake or Las Vegas, nobody would care, no rich compensation packages would be awarded and media coverage would have ceased a month or two later.

Fifth, NYC is a media center, and media is about self-love and adulation. The rest of us are not in love with the media. They satisfy themselves, so they don't need us.

Sixth, it is horrible, but we've come to expect horrible things. And we have short attention spans. We're waiting for the next, inevitable disaster and somebody to blame.

Seventh, we're casting as heroes, lawyers, somebody who just went to work and tragically died, not somebody fighting for a cause, a la D Day, where people went in facing death, knowing death was likely but did their jobs for our benefit. No noble causes, except for the firefighters can be said about most who died.

[Mormon Red Death]

Compare 9-11 with the oklahoma city bombing. They were both tragedies but hardly anyone remembers Oklahoma city.

Personally the media love of New york pisses me off. Remember the blackout of 2003. It was like the media only thought the black out happened in NYC. we were subjected to 10,000 human interest "hero" stories about New york and they didnt say a lick about the rest of the country. There will 50 million people affected by the blackouts but the only heroes were in new york?