There are many Americans who keep urging people not to forget September 11th, as if any of us who lived through that day ever could. So much of what followed since were essentially the result of September 11th, not least of all the two wars. But there was also the "Global War on Terror," the concentration camps (not on American soil), and the increased surveillance of the American people by their government, which started during the Bush years, but has been apparently ramped up during the Obama years.
While I agree that we should not forget September 11th, I also think that we should not focus on it as exclusively as some people seem to think that we should. The pitfalls from focusing on it as much as we did was that we collectively lost any sense of fairness or balance, and managed to squander the advantage of having the sympathy of the entire world following the attacks, by mindlessly pursuing and collectively supporting a knee-jerk reaction invasion of a sovereign nation that we had a troubled history with.
Also, and this is a biggie, the emphasis by elected officials (some might suggest that they are public servants, but there seems to be little evidence that this is how they viewed themselves) of the government on restricting the freedoms of Americans, rather than on protecting those freedoms. It was not just the government, but corporate America, which had been prominent before in ruling over the American people, but really went to town in this regard after the attacks.
Here is a case in point, just to serve as illustration. Clear Channel had a recommended list of songs that should not be played after September 11th.
As Marah Eakin, the author of this particular article (see link below) suggests, this should serve as a solid "reminder of both how dangerous instantaneous reactions can be and how absolutely horrible Clear Channel is and has been for years."
Some of us remember this, too, and know just how dangerous it is to give human beings this kind of power over the American people. I mean, look at some of the songs on this list. Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" is one of the songs that was essentially on the do not play list. Really? Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to heaven" or the Beatles "Ticket to Ride?"
Just unbelievable. And the unfortunate thing is that some people simply accepted it. I remember hearing about this list of songs not to be played in the immediate aftermath of September 11th, and I thought it was an overreaction then. So, this should serve as a reminder of the dangers of allowing some powerful entities to do the thinking for us, because it most certainly is not for our benefit, and also not fair or right.
September 11th was a tragedy, and there were plenty enough victims on that day. But the traditions of American civil liberties and freedoms also started to be threatened, and we should always guard against those who would seek to take advantage of any situation in order to limit our freedoms while simultaneously granting more power to themselves and their powerful friends. That is not democracy. That is dictatorship, and we were edging uncomfortably close to that. That was the beginning of the feeling that I got, personally, that this was not the same country that I remembered growing up in.
Here is the link to the article, and I do hope that you take a look:
Every single song Clear Channel suggested its stations skip post-9/11 By Marah Eakin, Sep 11, 2015:
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