The Next Ten Years

By Joshua Boschee
Staff Writer

This past week has been one of reflection and remembrance. With the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attack on our country, people have been moved to share their personal experiences of the day. Facebook status updates indicated where people were when they first heard of the attacks. Co-workers shared what they were doing that morning and how the attacks impacted the rest of the work day. Politicians and community leaders described how our communities and nation have become more vigilant against the War on Terror. Radio and video montages were created with images and sound clips from that day, merged with sobering music. Faith leaders encouraged prayers for the friends and families of those that died that day. Local and national media focused on the various ways that our nation remembered that impactful day and what our country has accomplished since the attacks.

I, like many of you, have my own story from that day. It is apparent that September 11th is my generation’s December 7th, November 22nd or January 28th which previous generations tell of the impact that the attack on Pearl Harbor, assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Challenger explosion had on their lives. We will always remember these days and honor the events as teachable moments to a young nation. While remembrance and reflection are important to the mourning process of our collective psyche, moving forward is even more important.

I am frustrated with the commentary that September 11th unified our nation. I challenge that notion with my opinion that we have in fact become further divided as a nation. Since that sad September morning, the public rhetoric has dramatically developed into an “us versus them” dialogue. You either support our troops or you don’t. You are either for comprehensive immigration reform or you support sending all undocumented people back to their countries of origin. You are either for marriage equality or you’re not. You’re pro-middle class or you are pro-corporations. You are a Democrat or a Republican; Liberal or Tea-Partier.

Instead of listening to another person’s viewpoint to better understand their values, experiences and opinion, we finger point, play the blame game and vilify someone who has a different perspective than our own. No longer is their room for collaboration and solution finding, rather it is more important to grand stand and never waiver from what we believed yesterday, regardless of what we learned today. This binary thinking does nothing to unify our communities and nation to solve our most pressing issues.

The men that executed the attacks on American soil, along with the men and women who helped and continue to plan acts of terror against the people of our planet are getting exactly what they want; division, frustration and creating a negative psyche amongst the American people. Since September 11th, 2001, 6,235 American troops have been killed in the war on terror, with another 45,889 wounded in action. Following the tragic events of that day, 28 states have had long and divisive battles to define and limit marriage for their citizens. While the terrorists continue to use extremist religious interpretations as their motive, we have seen an increase in extreme religious rhetoric for legislative intent and support of political candidates. Our fiscal policies and individual financial practices have created a recession that has led to an increase in home foreclosures and unemployment, while corporations are bailed out and continue to turn record profits. Government employees at all levels are being misrepresented and used as scapegoats. Young people are attempting and completing suicide at a record rate.

Let us use our mistakes and misfortunes of the last 10 years as lessons to move forward together. Our neighbors are not our enemies, but rather our partners in creating a nation focused on progress and opportunity. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”

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