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Posted
those terrorists hold a grudge.

 

Compared the general US population, where a few months after 9/11 we were annoyed with how this "interruption" had impacted our daily routine and wanted to be bothered with nothing more than watching American Idol and discussing Britney's tragic attempt at motherhood. Cripes! madgo_ron.gif

 

On the other hand, if we could get the terrorists to buy into our superficial, consumer-driven, attention deficit mentality ("Is that a Louis Vitton shoulder strap on your AK?" "What... this old thing?"), the world may be a better? (no. that's not the right word) place.

 

Sorry for the rant. Here's to safe travels for your mom.

Posted
those terrorists hold a grudge.

 

Compared the general US population, where a few months after 9/11 we were annoyed with how this "interruption" had impacted our daily routine and wanted to be bothered with nothing more than watching American Idol and discussing Britney's tragic attempt at motherhood. Cripes! madgo_ron.gif

 

I am not too sure what you are trying to say in this fragment. What are you comparing? Are you comparing a terrorist's grudge with an American's attention span?

Posted

I think he is trying to say that Americans quickly forgot about 9-11 and are back to the regularly scheduled program of sipping on diet cokes, eating big macs, and watching TV and that sort of shit. Personally I think that is a pretty asinine statement since most Americans I've talked to consider 9-11 to be a life changing moment. I know it was for me. Maybe he's being sarcastic and actually saying the opposite? wazzup.gif

 

The only comparable event for me was the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, but I was a little kid in love with space at that time (and my dad was in the astronaut program) so it probably meant a little more to me than most.

 

I think most Americans are still shocked by the events of 9-11 and the subsequent fear, anger, etc, will last as long as the memories of the people who were alive at the time.

Posted
. . .most Americans I've talked to consider 9-11 to be a life changing moment.

 

I'm not going to debate the attitude of the people you have talked to, but my observation is that most people's lives haven't changed a bit. Taking off your shoes to fly in airplanes doesn't count. Speaking for myself and most people I know, 9/11 hasn't affected the overwhelming majority of our daily activities with the exception of our political griping. We do the same work, we engage in the same leisure activities, we spend our money the same way. Really, the only people that I know whose lives are substantially different are those who are in the military and their families, and they are a very small fraction of this country.

Posted
. . .most Americans I've talked to consider 9-11 to be a life changing moment.

 

I'm not going to debate the attitude of the people you have talked to, but my observation is that most people's lives haven't changed a bit. Taking off your shoes to fly in airplanes doesn't count. Speaking for myself and most people I know, 9/11 hasn't affected the overwhelming majority of our daily activities with the exception of our political griping. We do the same work, we engage in the same leisure activities, we spend our money the same way. Really, the only people that I know whose lives are substantially different are those who are in the military and their families, and they are a very small fraction of this country.

 

Excellent. Isn't the point of the terrorists to change our lives? If we haven't done so, they have failed.

Posted

if people started acting rationally in this country, the economic system would collapse. the stock market remains aloft mainly because of irrational consumerism. Nevermind the war, go about your lives as normal. Shop. Be happy. The comforts you once demanded are now mandatory. How did you change your life after 9-11? What can you do? Well, whatever you do, don't stopped shopping and spending money of the stock market, which is increasely supporting retirement funding, will go into the shitter. Could you imagine that average bloated American in the Great Depression? One day a real rain is going to wash all th e scum off the streets.

Posted
...9/11 hasn't affected the overwhelming majority of our daily activities ...

 

Activities are not what I was talking about. I was talking about the "umwelt" of being an American post 9/11. Sure, the same TV programs are still on, our diets haven't changed, but something sure feels different to me.

Posted

For me, 9-11 was life changing. The company that recruited me here to Seattle had to lay me off(as well as a huge % of the folks who had my same job responsibility in the global corporation). The team of people I had been working with in our NY branch (they were in the tower, flr 86) were dead. It was a shock.

 

I can't say I do anything differently, and I do still sip Diet Coke, but I sure think differently. I feel differently about the world around me and the people in it. I don't know if my personal shift is considered a victory for terrorists, but it is what it is and I cannot deny that I am changed as a result of that day.

 

I also saw Americans for who they are. After that event, more people gave more money and more blood and more time to help others than I have ever seen in my life. To me, this is the soul of how Americans truly are. All that other shit we say about people being fat, stupid, or lazy may also be true. But hey, we all have our weak points. When the shit hits the fan, the true character of people shows. Bitching about people wanting to return to their normal lives five years later doesn't change the fact that folks act in extraordinary ways when the circumstances call for it.

Posted

Excellent. Isn't the point of the terrorists to change our lives? If we haven't done so, they have failed.

 

Are you saying that if we did change our lives, or perhaps rethink our foreign policy in the Middle East, the terrorists would have won?

 

My guess is that is not quite what you are saying, but we've heard statements along these lines...

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