I meant to write this on 9/11
Sep. 12th, 2006 12:17 am"Life, if it's like anything at all, is like an avalanche. To blame the little ball of snow that starts it all, to say it is the cause, is as true as it is meaningless."
-James Goldman, the Lion in Winter
By that statement I don't mean to condone terrorism or imply that the terrorist acts committed on that day were not to a certain degree preventable, that certain security measures should have been in place to detect threats and disseminate that intelligence so that the American government could have enacted countermeasures. It is not my intention to belittle the sacrifice and tragedy that took place on that day or in many other parts of the world that suffer from other terrorists' actions. No matter how many stories I hear I can't even imagine what it was like to live through such an experience, and I don't think I ever will.
What I really meant to say is that five years later we all have some understanding of the forces at play in motivating and sustaining terrorism but relatively little idea of how to create a more peaceful and just society for all, and it seems that such a utopian distance is far off in the future at best.
-James Goldman, the Lion in Winter
By that statement I don't mean to condone terrorism or imply that the terrorist acts committed on that day were not to a certain degree preventable, that certain security measures should have been in place to detect threats and disseminate that intelligence so that the American government could have enacted countermeasures. It is not my intention to belittle the sacrifice and tragedy that took place on that day or in many other parts of the world that suffer from other terrorists' actions. No matter how many stories I hear I can't even imagine what it was like to live through such an experience, and I don't think I ever will.
What I really meant to say is that five years later we all have some understanding of the forces at play in motivating and sustaining terrorism but relatively little idea of how to create a more peaceful and just society for all, and it seems that such a utopian distance is far off in the future at best.