Wednesday, August 28, 2002

Have Most People's Lives Changed Since Sept. 11th? Have Most People's Lives Changed Since Sept. 11th? I am writing an op-ed piece for the local paper for the Sept. 11th issue.  The opening is "Sometimes I wake up in the morning and feel my country has been hijacked."  The article then goes on to talk about the assault on civil liberties, and the fear mongering about terrorism and Iraq.  But as we talked at dinner tonight my wife said she really didn't feel all that different than she felt a year ago.  She said that all the news reports about recent kidnappings and murders of children were far more worrisome than terrorists.  Also, she felt the sense of economic uncertainty was a bigger factor as well.  This intrigued me, because it made me think that I live in a hothouse, where I am emotionally affected by things like the secret detention of Jose Padilla without any usual legal rights.  I get personally affronted when Ashcroft acts like a totalitarian, or when U.S. commanders kill civilians in Afghanistan.  But she said most Americans just don’t care about that, and she’s right.  No change in the political landscape will come about because of angry liberal intellectuals.  It will come about because ordinary lives have gotten less secure. R., a young woman from Revere who cuts both my wife’s and my hair, told my wife this week that she is taking a self defense class.  She related how she met her husband downtown recently, and had to park in a garage and walk to meet him.  She said she was petrified being alone, and kept looking over her shoulder. The fact that crime is down 31% in Boston doesn't mean anything to her. I think the media pursuit of sensational stories as entertainment is creating a climate of fear in the country beyond any rational basis.  And Bush contributes substantially to this wave of fear with his war on terror rhetoric.  He will try and ride this fear into a war for oil with Iraq. Fear is a powerful emotion, and we cannot create political change unless we can provide a sense of emotional safety and solidarity to overcome feelings of isolation and fear. 10:45:30 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:29:45 PM.