When I was working in New York in 2001 I also attended the New School University at night and studied International Relations. On the evening of September 10th we were sitting in a media class that was being run by Dr. Nina Khrushcheva, great granddaughter to former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. She was also my adviser.
That night we were talking about the nadir of the Vietnam War, and how this spelled the end of traditional warfare as we knew it. The US was defeated by the guerrilla tactics of its enemy who did not follow the conventions that war had embraced up to that point in time. Dr. Khrushcheva pointed out that from now on war would take this bent: terrorist tactics, covert, the unexpected. And then the next morning, the towers fell.
In the ensuing months the city and the country was enshrouded in grief and a paralysis. Indeed, so was most of the world but the shock waves were far greater the closer to the epicenter that you found yourself. But in that intervening time of muteness, people began to disappear without due process. They were ripped from their homes and families, their schools and businesses as the government clamped down on those that they perceived to be their enemies. In that time, no one raised a whisper of an objection, not even the very liberal New York Times. Nor did any questioning take place as the invasion of Afghanistan took place, largely to international cheers, and it was only when the administration decided to invade Iraq that everyone woke up.
In New York thousands of us hit the streets in frigid winter but the plans to invade were already in place, leaving that poor beleaguered country in a state of permanent chaos and despair, as the great armies of the earth went to war looking for mythical weapons of mass destruction.
In 1934, there was a fire that destroyed the Reichstag building in Berlin. It was arson, a young Dutch communist was found inside, although many have since claimed it was deliberately started by Hitler so that he could consolidate power and begin his war against intellectuals, communists and Jews. No one questioned him when 4000 people were arrested within days of this fire, again without due process. Thus began the rise to power of this little, unkempt and vulgar man from Austria as virtually all within this country of educated, compassionate and learned people completely surrendered their power and liberties to him, in the name of "security".
In our day, today, our liberties are being eroded as well. Every infringement that our governments make into our personal and private lives must be questioned especially as we have built our foundations in this continent on the premise that liberty and equality and freedom belong to all. It is not enough to say that "this doesn't affect me, I have nothing to hide, I will not stop them from interfering into my personal life". Because silence is acquiescence. You will have no one to blame but yourself when the tables are turned on you. By then it might be too late.
In Germany many people said the same thing, "this is not our problem", as their childhood friends and neighbors were taken away in carts and trucks to be exterminated like cattle, while they turned their backs on them and resumed their Sunday meal, and their prayers.
We were not born to be slaves, we were born to be free and to keep our power within us. Don't ever give it away.
That night we were talking about the nadir of the Vietnam War, and how this spelled the end of traditional warfare as we knew it. The US was defeated by the guerrilla tactics of its enemy who did not follow the conventions that war had embraced up to that point in time. Dr. Khrushcheva pointed out that from now on war would take this bent: terrorist tactics, covert, the unexpected. And then the next morning, the towers fell.
In the ensuing months the city and the country was enshrouded in grief and a paralysis. Indeed, so was most of the world but the shock waves were far greater the closer to the epicenter that you found yourself. But in that intervening time of muteness, people began to disappear without due process. They were ripped from their homes and families, their schools and businesses as the government clamped down on those that they perceived to be their enemies. In that time, no one raised a whisper of an objection, not even the very liberal New York Times. Nor did any questioning take place as the invasion of Afghanistan took place, largely to international cheers, and it was only when the administration decided to invade Iraq that everyone woke up.
In New York thousands of us hit the streets in frigid winter but the plans to invade were already in place, leaving that poor beleaguered country in a state of permanent chaos and despair, as the great armies of the earth went to war looking for mythical weapons of mass destruction.
In 1934, there was a fire that destroyed the Reichstag building in Berlin. It was arson, a young Dutch communist was found inside, although many have since claimed it was deliberately started by Hitler so that he could consolidate power and begin his war against intellectuals, communists and Jews. No one questioned him when 4000 people were arrested within days of this fire, again without due process. Thus began the rise to power of this little, unkempt and vulgar man from Austria as virtually all within this country of educated, compassionate and learned people completely surrendered their power and liberties to him, in the name of "security".
In our day, today, our liberties are being eroded as well. Every infringement that our governments make into our personal and private lives must be questioned especially as we have built our foundations in this continent on the premise that liberty and equality and freedom belong to all. It is not enough to say that "this doesn't affect me, I have nothing to hide, I will not stop them from interfering into my personal life". Because silence is acquiescence. You will have no one to blame but yourself when the tables are turned on you. By then it might be too late.
In Germany many people said the same thing, "this is not our problem", as their childhood friends and neighbors were taken away in carts and trucks to be exterminated like cattle, while they turned their backs on them and resumed their Sunday meal, and their prayers.
We were not born to be slaves, we were born to be free and to keep our power within us. Don't ever give it away.