Moments Defined

Some thoughts after spending this week in New York City.

Where were you on 9/11?  For me, I was just starting my first year of graduate school in California.  Due to the time zone lag, I remember waking up and seeing the confusion over what had happened hours earlier.  No one knew what was going on or whether it was some kind of accident.  Classes were still on schedule, so I headed off to campus.  This was before the days of widespread mobile networking and I didn't even have a laptop at the time.  Many of us didn't know what was going on.  However, as the day went on, each class became progressively emptier and emptier as people went home transfixed to watch the news.  I remember sitting quietly with a German post-doc just shaking our heads as the news broke that the towers fell.

Every generation has a defining moment.  The 1940's had V-day and victory in World War II.  The 1960's had the moon landing and the literally other-worldly achievements of science and technology.  The 1980's had the fall of the Berlin Wall and the defeat of communism.  And the 2000's had 9/11. 

This is the first generation that is being defined by defeat rather than triumph.  Where is our great accomplishment?  Where is our great response?  It's as if our forefathers couldn't get over Pearl Harbor.  I think it's important to never forget the tragic losses of the day, but at some point we need to use that as inspiration to rebuild ourselves stronger than before.  It's as if we're compulsively fixated on this moment of vulnerability---it's like a wakeup call but we're still dazed and not quite awake.  It's a testament that after 9 years, we're still squabbling over what to do and haven't even been able to rebuild anything over Ground Zero (although to be honest, I think they should keep the site empty and leave the Tribute in Light as a permanent memorial).  We're mired in a war that's already over twice as long as World War II with no end in sight.  We don't know what to do, so we what we're told.

By letting 9/11 define us, we are being defined by fear and terror.  We need to rise to the occasion, rise above fear, and rise to what freedom demands of us.  It used be said that our generation needed a war to wake us up.  Well, we have our war and it looks like we're still snoozing...