Watching a Dateline episode last night about United Flight 93, the sound of a single piano turned my stomach. The song wasn't particularly sappy. It was the usual touchy-feely stuff you'd expect to hear in the background of a network TV show about dead people. In other words, the song's apparent mediocrity didn't warrant any reaction from me, let alone one of anger. Yet, that's what I felt. Anger, and nausea. The reaction is symbolic of my opinion of people in general these days.
I can't hear the sound of an airplane without thinking of one flying into a building. My commute takes me past the New York City skyline on a daily basis, past the spot where I saw the second tower fall, and on to where I have a perfect view of the empty space where the World Trade Center towers stood. What a fucked-up existence this is. I'm supposed to remember this and yet go to work and do my job. What could I do at work, and what conversation could I have, that would be more important than making the people who did this pay for it? Anybody know of a secret "Fight Club" that blows up Iranian buildings? Or how I could sign up? Signing up to the US military means being fodder for who knows which psychopath's "right" to vote into office the psychopath of his choice. Where's the army that's willing to fight the right war?
Without knowing much of anything about a single person employed by Dateline, I was instantly angered by everyone associated with this show. These people could give two shits about the people on Flight 93. They could care less because otherwise I'd be watching night after night of NBC news programming about the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism, and the rational approach for dealing with it. But I don't see that. Instead, I see people "remembering the heroes of 9/11". As far as I can tell, the only reason some people, these altruists, view the passengers of Flight 93 as heroes is that they were victims first. It sure as hell isn't the fighting back that is viewed as heroic. It was the giving up of their lives.
Another group of people, however many there are, view the passengers of Flight 93 as heroes because they fought for what was important to them. (I.e., the lives of other human beings, the principle of justice, not being a pussy as one's last act alive, whatever.) And they did this even when death was imminent. So, there are several aspects of their heroism: the fact that they fought, the fact that they had something important to fight for, and the fact that they exhibited the courage to overcome their fear. Whereas the altruists praise the sacrifice of life, this second group praises the action to preserve one's values.
Where is this second group? As far as I can tell, I don't meet them on a typical day. I know there are some of them out there, since I occasionally run into one or read their web postings. But seeing an impressive piece of writing only serves to emphasize its rarity. They don't seem to exist in politics. And based on the platforms that politicians use to get elected, I'm not sure they exist in the voting public. I'd like to say that if a better politician came along with a better platform, and communicated it with clarity and integrity, that such a politician could win. But I'm not so sure. The Dick Morrises and Karl Roves of the world make their careers based on focusing on the issues the general public finds important. Are they so incompetent? They each got presidents elected.
Talking to the average person, you find that they're tentative, scared, and generally don't want to rock the boat. The war on Islamic terrorism requires confidence and moral certitude. How does one live in a country in which this is the exception?
