I can't tell you how many times I saw the words "Never forget" or "We'll never forget" sprayed all over the internet yesterday - social networking sites in particular. This was with regard to yesterday being the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. As strange as it may sound initially, the more I saw these words, the more irritated I became.
The reason for this is it came across to me like a bumper sticker. Whenever I see these bumper stickers that say things like "I support the troops" or "I love my country," I want to sarcastically give them the slow clap, as I think to myself, "Well, gee, congratulations! How about showing this support or love through more than just a bumper sticker?"
"We'll never forget" and "I support the troops" are just words. They don't mean much when in isolation. Wounded veterans aren't going to see that bumper sticker. They're not going to feel that support. Politicians won't know what the people want them to do to prevent another such attack if we just say the words "Well never forget about 9/11." Sure, admitting an event occurred, just like admitting a problem, is the first step in the long process of preventing that event from occurring again or getting over said problem. However, it feels like all the majority of this country has done for the past 12 years is once a year, post a bumper sticker-esque slogan on the Internet which claims that we'll never forget about that horrendous day. Unfortunately, to me this shows that most of this country, even a dozen years after the fact, still haven't looked beyond the what to the why and how. In other words, we know what happened and we'll never forget it, however, why did it occur and how can we minimalize the chance of it occurring again?
If a person gets abused by their partner and says to them, "I'll never forget this," but continues living with the person and doesn't suggest any changes that need to be made, he or she may not ever forget what ensued that day, but will anything be learned by either party? Similarly, while United States citizens may never forget what happened on 9/11, did most of us not learn much from that experience, which would leave us more apt to falling victim to such an attack in the future?
Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan I think are a start, as well as not attacking Syria. However, if the right (or wrong depending on how one looks at it) people get elected at a certain point, will they too claim that they'll never forget about 9/11, yet set forth actions which leave us more prone to experiencing another such day?
The phrase of the day yesterday shouldn't have just been, "We'll never forget." It should have been, "We'll never forget and will do everything in our power to learn from 9/11 and make certain it never happens again." Unfortunately, that statement isn't quick and catchy bumper sticker material, so there's less chance of it being spread about in this day and age than of a nun contracting herpes.
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