One year later
Here it is, a year on. It's almost offensive that the world hasn't changed: the largest political scandal in Washington is that Republicans are in bed with evil corporations, and Democrats are in bed with... well, whatever they can get into bed with. Europe and America are at loggerheads over steel instead of bananas, the French are fretting about American 'imperialism' (though to a great degree they are no so much multilateralist as anti-non-French-unilateralist). The summer movies have come out and Will Smith has saved New York, America, or the World yet again.
The continuity could be almost offensive, but in a way, its comforting: a few men with convictions stronger than they were wise, and certainly less compassionate, did not manage to topple things the world over. Even in New York, the stock market was trading a few days after the disasters, and is trading still. (True, the market is down now, but such are the swings of markets and that cycle is comforting in its way.)
The 'war' footing itself provides a bit of satire for which I could not previously have hoped. John Ashcroft, a man one had hoped could stay buried in the Department of Justice fretting over lascivious statuary instead is giving out 'terror threat levels' as if part of the evening weather. (Almost makes me long for the Clinton era, but the Innocents Abroad clumsiness of a 'terror threat level' brings a small grin.) CNN reports everything to my inbox with its normal hyperventilating urgency. ('U.S. government raises terror threat level for first time since March, signifying a "high risk of terrorist attacks," sources tell CNN.' Higher threat level on the anniversary of a major terrorist attack? My god, who got that out of the tea leaves, glad CNN was there to report it.) Noam Chomsky remains convinced that an attack that leaves thousands of Americans dead is, of course, the fault of America; National Review suggests this is a reason to curb immigration. Oh, yes, and we're talking about sending weapons inspectors back to Iraq again. Ham-fisted Republican public relations; TV news reading like self-satire; America-firstism on the elite right and America-lastism on the elite left; oh, and the French saying give Saddam Hussein another chance[1]: where have we heard all this music before?
Indeed, looking back at the last year, it's been the subtle changes that cause me the most distress: the headlines are the same, with 'we must do this to fight terrorism' replacing 'we must do this for the children' as the catch-all excuse. But country music has changed: Alan Jackson, an artist who I never noted for his seriousness, managed the only ballad about September 11 that made me cry. On the other hand, Toby Keith, a singer-songwriter for whom I heretofore felt a great deal of respect, produced a repulsive bit of jingory I had to hear twice to believe. ("We'll put a boot in your ass/it's the American way." Oh my.) There's a little bit of fear in people that wasn't there before, and an idea that the world is limited: internet articles were once about ideas and how the memes [2] would take over the earth. Now every article I read is about security, solid measurement, and the concrete realisation of previously abstract principles. It's not all September 11th, and some of it was necessary, there's the sense of something young and adventurous lost.
A lot has been said about 'whither Islam,' and I am happy to see that my theory of public religion seems in the ascendancy: make them rich, and Christian, Muslim, Jew, or Buddhist will quite happily forget the harsher tenets of their faiths. 'Yes, yes, yes, the infidels/goyim/unfaithful/unbelievers are villainous scum who must be wiped from the face of the planet, but I've got this nice chiffonier in the front room and cannon-fire would take the finish right off. And besides, if little Johnny/Abdul/Isaac/Chang thinks they're going to go blow themselves up in the name of god after I spent all that money putting him through dental school, he's got another thing coming.' Sure, the Saudi royal family's stacked, but their people aren't winning any GDP-per-head competitions, so let's open a few more McDonald franchises.
(Anti-Arab bias has been much less virulent than I would have expected, and even here the debate has reverted to form: lefty 'Arab-American' pressure groups complaining about enhanced surveillance, and right-wing commentators pointing out that the reason middle-aged Anglo grandmothers aren't being stripped-searched at airports is that the League of Evil Bingo Mamas hasn't recently threatened to start blowing up any American landmarks.)
All in all, surprising how little has really changed, how well all things have adapted to their prior form. I suppose it really shouldn't be surprising--even the 'we must remember' events, particularly the websites, look cheesy, media-driven, and over-commercialised. It's good--wounds heal. And yet there something of the romantic in me that does rebel from the thought.
[1] A salient point to all those 'We have to send the inspectors back to Iraq to check and see if he has these things before we do anything' innocents: would any of you care to tell me just how many UN missions have been sent to Iraq to do that? I lost count at six. Such people give me great hope for the future: at least if I ever kill someone, there's an open possibility I might get someone like this on my jury.
[2] Yes, bateleur, it's an improper use of the term 'meme.' Sue me. Or rather, don't, because the articles I refer to were using it improperly, and I'm trying to convey that sense.