Well, I did a search and didn't see anything specific on this subject, so thought I'd toss it out to see what sort of ripples it might make. Truth is, I likely wouldn't even be aware of this anniversary if not for all the TV hoopla. I mean, Dec. 7, 1941, is still a day that lives in infamy in my memory although it happened a little more than 2 years before I was born. But it took the US into the biggest world war ever. Whereas more people died in the 9/11 attacks than the death count at Pearl Harbor (although fewer than the total deaths caused by the Axis powers around the world on Dec. 7, 1941), it doesn't seem to me to be the start or end of anything.
I expect that to elicit all sorts of howls, but I'm not trying to flame anyone or belittle the deaths of any of those people--not even the terrorists themselves. I'm way past the point in my life that I would take anyone's death lightly. But although I, like millions of others, saw on TV the second plane hit the twin towers, I've never felt a personal connection to 9/11. I can connect with The Wall (Vietnam monument) because my generation fought that war, and I can connect with Pearl Harbor because my dad fought in that war. But what is the ultimate historic meaning of 9/11? Do you feel any safer or more threatened today than you did on Sept. 10, 2001? I don't--I was scheduled to fly to a conference later that day (9/11) and wouldn't have hesitated a second to step aboard an aircraft for a flight because flying--especially outside of general Northeast US and even there after the 4 highjacked planes were down--was no more risky statistically than flying anywhere on any other day. I still do not fear a terrorist attack from either a foreign or a domestic enemy. The National Guard walking around with automatic weapons in US airports seemed a greater danger to me than the phantom terrorists they were supposed to be keeping at bay.
I avoid flying today not because of fear of some unknown bumbling terrorists but because National Security has made flying so damn unpleasant with nothing to show for it. Polticians eager to be seen to "do something" have crippled commercial air transportation more than the terrorists ever hoped to. And to what purpose?
I expect that to elicit all sorts of howls, but I'm not trying to flame anyone or belittle the deaths of any of those people--not even the terrorists themselves. I'm way past the point in my life that I would take anyone's death lightly. But although I, like millions of others, saw on TV the second plane hit the twin towers, I've never felt a personal connection to 9/11. I can connect with The Wall (Vietnam monument) because my generation fought that war, and I can connect with Pearl Harbor because my dad fought in that war. But what is the ultimate historic meaning of 9/11? Do you feel any safer or more threatened today than you did on Sept. 10, 2001? I don't--I was scheduled to fly to a conference later that day (9/11) and wouldn't have hesitated a second to step aboard an aircraft for a flight because flying--especially outside of general Northeast US and even there after the 4 highjacked planes were down--was no more risky statistically than flying anywhere on any other day. I still do not fear a terrorist attack from either a foreign or a domestic enemy. The National Guard walking around with automatic weapons in US airports seemed a greater danger to me than the phantom terrorists they were supposed to be keeping at bay.
I avoid flying today not because of fear of some unknown bumbling terrorists but because National Security has made flying so damn unpleasant with nothing to show for it. Polticians eager to be seen to "do something" have crippled commercial air transportation more than the terrorists ever hoped to. And to what purpose?
Last edited by rufnek; 09-10-11 at 05:31 PM.