Where was I on 9/11? Well, I was in a place where I had some expectation of privacy, as the masses had not rushed to give it away so the government would make us "safe". I lived in a country where if people misunderstood a mosque in the neighborhood, it was due to simple lack of familiarity rather than the blind bigotry and hatred that has replaced it in more recent years. I lived in a country that did not require 3 forms of ID and a blood sample to cross the border to Canada, and did not make me carry a government registered ID to do the most minor of transactions. I lived in a world where America was the home of the brave, not the huddled masses quivering at the next threat that the government used to tell us we needed to give them more of our freedom. I lived in a world where people had more value than legal fictions of "personhood" that were established so that a corporation could face liability for their actions, not escape it. I lived in a world where dressing differently of worshiping differently was a right we cherished, not a stigma we attached to cover our lack of understanding. I live in a world where the deaths of innocent children was of more concern to my fellow citizens than the chance to kill one "terrorist" hiding among them. I lived in a country that did not torture and call it "interrogation", did not imprison and call it "temporary detention" and treated those we disagreed with as people, not as targets. I lived in a country where "insurgents" were our forefathers, and immigrants faced challenges to making their place in society, not barriers to ever being seen as belonging. I lived in a very different place.
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:24:45 +0000
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