Post #114069 by tikibars on Sun, Sep 12, 2004 6:17 PM

I think the important thing to think about here is that although there are two very different attitudes being expressed in this thread, they're BOTH right.

Posts by Bong and Kha_o pointing out the complacency, ignorance, and greed that characterize Americans (from the point of view of many people around the world) seem very negative and out of place in a thread that was started as a memorial to those that tragically died on September 11, 2001.

Those that died in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania on that day were not soldiers or politicians, they were civilians.

The suffering of those people, their families, and all the rest of us is not to be forgotten and cannot be understated.

Some of the memorials and annecdotes here are powerful, and should be cherished.

HOWEVER, the reason that these terrorists hate Americans so much are reasons that are somewhat valid (though terrorism, of course, is not the answer). In other words - we asked for it, to a degree.

In order to prevent further attrocities, we need to consider some of the points made by some of the more cynical posters to this thread - while also remembering the tragedy and sacrifice of those who died - and change the way we treat the rest of the world.

Look at it this way: if there's a family picnic, and your cousin goes and whacks a bee hive with a stick, and it pisses off the bees, and some of your other family members get stung when the bees go crazy defending their nest, well, we will help and heal those stung as best we can. But we can't blame the bees if it was members of our own family who whacked their home with a stick. Killing all the bees isn't the answer - it's that rowdy cousin who we need to reprimand, family member or not.

If we leave the bees alone, we can have our picnic, while they pollinate flowers and make honey (oil!). If our cousin fucks with the bees, WE get stung. So it's the cousin who needs some lessons. America needs some family counciling, BIG TIME!