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September 19, 2001
Keep the Memory Fresh
by Adam
Schorsch
As of the time of this writing, it has
been a week since the worst tragedy America has ever witnessed.
By now you've all heard endless accounts, portrayals,
testimonies, and seen footage of the attack and the chaos
that followed. One can hardly turn on their television
without constantly being bombarded with images of carnage
and mayhem. There are numerous shots of the 1st and 2nd
aircraft strikes, the collapse of both towers, and the
near-pyroclastic flow of debris choking the streets in
all direction. Someone even managed to capture the sight
of a suited business man plummeting to his death from
hundreds of feet up.
Even though the shock hasn't worn off
yet (nor will it soon), another concern has begun to displace
much of the anxiety I have felt since Black Tuesday; what
happens when people get sick of the death and destruction?
How long can our minds be flooded with such gruesome imagery
before we shut down and tune out?
In many ways, what is increasingly troublesome
to me is that the impact of this tragedy could wear off
all too soon, leaving only the passing flash of cognition
before we push the thought back into the recesses of our
minds. I know it may sound impossible, but think back
to the Oklahoma City Bombing; when the bomb went off,
everyone was watching the news with rapt fascination.
How could such a tragedy come to pass, we thought. How
could so many innocent people die? The shock was incredible,
but after a month or two of constant regurgitation by
the news media, it became old news before it's time.
The heartache never went away, but after
being constantly subjected to the horror of such a tragedy
for so long, people all-to-quickly went back to their
routines. Before long, the only time people thought of
the bombing was at the mention of either Timothy McVeigh
or when the anniversary of the incident was announced.
While I don't fault people for not wanting to wallow in
misery, I do fault the news media for flogging a dead
horse until the impact, the true human factor, was rendered
insignificant.
Now I only watch the news long enough
to check on the developments of the attack; other than
that I turn it off. Not out of disinterest, mind you,
just that I'd rather not become jaded and callous to the
reality that at any moment, our life and livelihood can
be cruelly taken away or altered by one act of terror.
We cannot help our morbid curiosity,
but unless we control it we risk deadening our senses
to some of the horrors of reality. Personally, I would
rather not have the deaths of all those innocent people
become just another piece of trivia a few months or years
down the road. The danger is real, the destruction is
real, and it's up to us to keep the memory of this atrocity
alive so that we never allow ourselves the luxury of thinking
that any of us are out of harm's way.
Adam Schorsch is the Managing Editor
for The American
Partisan Magazine. He can be reached through email
at aschorsch@hotmail.com.
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© 2001 Adam Schorsch
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