A Bridge to the 21st Century

Unfortunately 9/11 became our bridge to the 21st Century. Instead of positive growth in the economy, a myriad of new well-paying jobs, and a heightened cultural society we have reaped the opposite. Extreme Islamic Religious Fanaticism successfully drove a stake into the heart of a free America. A large-scale act of war was destined to find its way to our shores. It is naïve for Americans to think we are immune to such events, seeing as our history has been brutal. The Civil War itself characterized a stymieing amount of mass murder. President Lincoln, in his quest for the abolition of slavery, stomached a huge personal loss. Thousands upon thousands of dead soldiers piled up in the Civil War. We have these willing soldiers to thank for the freeing of slaves and the setting of a moral precedent in American politics and society. Is it always necessary for such mass sacrifice in evoking change in a country? I would think the event known as 9/11 would have been such a sacrifice. Monumental destruction and sacrifice of lives in downtown Manhattan, a cultural icon representing the very beginnings of our great country, should have served as such a sacrifice. Upon the approach of the six year anniversary of such a cataclysmic event, we are still empty-handed. Nothing has been gained. Nothing has been solved. America has only devolved upon arrival in the 21st Century. There has been nothing but a “downward spiral” Trent Reznor based the band Nine Inch Nail’s album upon. That his work as well as the musical genre known as Grunge has origins in the early l990’s would suggest one cross section of the country all ready was feeling discontent with the quality of life in America. Surely the monumental sacrifice of 9/11 should have served as an offering of peace and contentment in America. Six years later with the beginning of a new war in American history, we as a country have not benefited. 9/11 became the departure point for a violent and unsettling chapter in American history. Born in l962 I clearly remember the War in Viet Nam. Ten years of my childhood were tainted with the daily strife and violence seen on the evening news. We have Richard Nixon to thank for ending that war. We have Jimmy Carter to thank for the freeing of the hostages in Iran. We have George Bush Sr. to thank for the successful defense of an aggressive invasion attempt into Kuwait. Unfortunately in his particular situation the phenomenon of Osama Bin Laden was created. Osama went to Saudi royalty and offered his army’s services to defend Kuwait against Saddam’s invasion. He was turned down. Saddam is dead but the evil malcontent that is the source of Jihad is still calling for removal of the infidels from their native land. Nothing short of America’s exodus from the Middle East will quiet this man and his movement. Even that does not ensure other events like 9/11 are not in our future. If America could loose her pride for an instant and think about the lives of both the Iraqi and American people, we should do what he asks. It is time finally we get our bridge to the 21st Century rather than continual giant leaps into the abyss. America deserves something from the mass sacrifice of 9/11, and WE are still waiting.