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I think our society has been sucked in by fear on multiple levels. First, our government constantly fills our mind with fear as it is easier to rule over people with fear than it is to rule with no fear. Our government has proven to be incompetent on so many levels, which has caused them to use fear as a means of fooling the public and staying in power.
On top of that, we live in a society of ratings and television stations get more ratings from scaring the public with the next big potential threat than a story about the economy, public schools, or something else. It is easier to grab attention with big shiny graphics that say NEWS ALERT when someone leaves their purse on a plane and the city is evacuated.
I think the most interesting part of 9/11 in our society is how different it is treated than other situations. We lost thousands of lives on that day, and it was one of our nations worst days. We have started two wars now because of it, sacrificed thousands of young men and women, spent billions upon billions of dollars, and upset a majority of the world in the aftermath of 9/11.
Then I look at another tradedy, Katrina. We saw the loss of thousands of lives, we saw our country devestated moreso than on 9/11 (in a monetary sense), the loss of an entire major city, and yet we have done little to nothing in its aftermath. Have we completely reinforced the levies so that this will never happen again? Have we done everything in our power to ensure that events like this will never happen again? Have we setup our government to function completely different so that they can be more helpful in a time of crisis? My answer would be no.
I guess my stance on 9/11 is why certain disasters receive more preference than others. I think 9/11 has been used by politicians to not only instill fear, but to remain in power. My stance is that my life hasn't changed. I don't fear life anymore than I did before 9/11.
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