It is fortuitous that the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks would come at such a time in our country’s history.
Lack of Knowledge Leads to Tragedy
We are not only a year and a half into a shock and awe campaign against our most elemental freedoms, but similarly to the events two decades ago, few people understand what really happened.
In addition to that, there was an event earlier this year that has been compared to 9/11 since the initial reports came in. Once again, it’s something that no one really understands and the truth of the matter will be lost to history. If racists attacked our democracy in the form of an armed militia, then people in a country that never attacked us are responsible for 9/11 “because we’re free.” Accept the common consensus on those things if you want to, but it will leave your grasp on reality lacking.
Learn How the State Operates
It takes a long time to learn how the government works—not just the U.S., but every government by nature—but once you’ve lived enough, read enough, experienced enough disappointment, and possibly enough tyranny from the hands of the state, you can look at any situation and be able to see what’s really happening.
Unfortunately, some who lived through the times of 9/11 and the burgeoning wars which resulted from it didn’t hone this skill enough. 2020 came along and most people were vulnerable to be taken advantage of the same way they were in 2001.
In the thickest fog of irony I’ve ever witness, George Bush was on television this year and said he was sick to his stomach seeing the Capitol “stormed by hostile forces.” Yes, George, it is sickening to see hostile forces like that. No layers to peel back at all there.
We Have to Do Better
Here we sit on the twentieth anniversary of the excuse that led to several wars, the TSA, Homeland Security, the Patriot Act, and worst of all the deaths of many, many people. What do we take from this? What can we learn? Well, this morning I read Harry Browne’s essay from September 12, 2001. I was surprised by the bravery it took to write something like that in the miasma he did. You can read that essay here. It reminded me that we have to be bold enough to say the unpopular thing as long as it’s true, and we need to be better informed about the things happening around us. If more people had spoken out like Harry Browne, some of this may never have happened. Reading the tweets of your favorite celebrities does not qualify as being medically informed. We have to do better, and we have to start today.
Excuses to subjugate the masses come and go every single day, and that’s the harsh reality of it. But every time we acquiesce to them we are making this a much worse place for tomorrow. If we can’t avoid tragedies, then I can at least ask that we learn from them. Maybe if we do we’ll avoid others.