OK guys, insert opinion here!

[ViperGTS]

Here's the deal. I have this two page theme I have to write for my english class, and I have one page done, but I am in the middle of a huge writer's block. SOMEONE HELP ME lol. The topic is as follows. "How have American Values changed since 9/11". I am taking the viewpoint of one who think they have not changed much, and if they have, then for the better. I need a little jump start....HELP!
Here's what I have so far.

On September 11th of last year, over two thousand lives were ruthlessly taken and countless more were injured. Hundreds upon hundreds of families are now missing crucial members of their clan, and many babies will grow up never knowing who their father was, because their daddy was taken away by very bad people before they were born or old enough to understand the enormity of reality.
The terrorists behind this believe they have changed the American way of life forever. They have, but not the way they planned. They wanted to make America paranoid, to tear American society apart, to change our values so they match theirs. They failed miserably. America has never been as solid in their beliefs and values. If anything, the horrific events of that tragic day have made us, as a nation, stronger and more immovable in our beliefs. Before 9/11, you might have seen as many U.S. flags on Memorial Day. Now, no matter where you look, U.S. flags fly proudly, not only for our country but also for the lives lost on that day. The United States is more united that ever before, and when an entire nation is prepared against an enemy, nothing can take it down. Walking the streets of the nation, one will also notice that people are much nicer now. Friendly “Hello’s” from complete strangers were few and far in-between before; every other person you see has something nice to say now. No longer do we disregard fellow Americans nor do we take them for granted. Few people were left untouched by this tragedy, and even those who did not lose any loved ones still feel as much heartache as any other U.S. citizen; their friendliness towards others has increased ten-fold. The first objective of the terrorists was to cause discord by making us blame ourselves and our fellow citizens at every turn; their failure shows blatantly in the undeniable unity of our country.

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I know, it's terrible...tis why I need help.

THANKS

Viper

 

[red indian]

The question to ask is......

What has driven these people to commit acts of this kind? and why have they chosen the United States as the place to carry them out? your essay so far seems to rule out this kind of debate. We all know (apart from those who wish to do this kind of thing) that acts of this kind are wrong, and can not possibly be a way of promoting a cause or grievance in a progressive or positive light.

Your essay does not go beyond the obvious statments about the feelings of a Nation under attack, and the closing of ranks as a result of this attack, feelings of cameraderi and common purpose against an enemy who is distant and alien enough to unite the entire nation.However none of this tells us why it happened, none of it tells us why young men with mothers, fathers, and maybe familly of their own, make a decision to take their own lifes and that of many others, at the bidding of people who work very hard at preserving their own.

These are the questions that need answering, being "united "against acts of this kind is futile unless the root of the problem is discovered and dealt with, and by that I dont mean exclusivly or inevitably overt military action on a scale that only the U.S. can deliver. The terroists who did this, and more importantly those who controll them, were no doubt (along with the rest of the world) aware before they started, of the overwhelming economic and military strength of the U.S. but this did not stop them, more likely it is one of the reasons why it happened.

 

[ViperGTS]

I see yuor point. The only problem is my class know what the reasons are. My teacher wants to know how values have changed. Hehe I am cheating for this lol.

 

[red indian]

ok.......

Well my view on that is that they will not change (putting aside the trauma of the event) that much in the long run, unless the attacks are sustained. I get the impression that most Americans have a pretty dim veiw of the rest of the world anyway, and all this has done is reinforce that view ,and increase the sense of necesarry isolation from it.You could look for confirmation of this veiw at the low number of U.S. citizens who bother to secure an International passports, and wether this is likely to increase as a result of 7/11?

One area of comparison you could look at would be the U.K. problems with Ireland. Over a much longer period, as many if not more people have died at the hands of terrosists from both sides (but mainly by the IRA) and how has this changed values?

 

[venray]

I don't know Red..I understand your point about Americans wanting to stay away from places like the Middle East and all, but on the other hand I believe that more and more Americans realize that we CANT isolate ourselves from the rest of the world and we MUST do all we can to strengthen our ties with allies and countries that we have been taking for granted over the years.

I believe that the overall attitude of Americans is changing from the "we need no one" to one of "we better stop pissing off our friends" I hear that more and more each day and, quite frankly, I feel is is a good attitude to have.



Ven

 

[JoBelle]

Not bad points from Red as an "outsider," but as an American I think a bit differently. (Go Figure)

I think there are many "reason" 9/11 happened. To say that "your the biggest and the meanest" is true and unfair at the same time. I guess size really does matter after all! Thus the premise of one of my views.

Prior to 9/11, I think most Americans were busy with American issues for more reasons than "We don't need the rest of the world." Take a look at the phsysical size of the USA. You will see 50 states, each run as a seperate entity with a congress and senate with subcultures and systems of survival. Education, medical, religious, etc. To keep pace with the 49 other mini-countries that are all linked seemed to supercede any need to to keep up with, for example, an island nation on the other side of the world. I don't mean to sound insulting to any other nation. It's simply that within our borders there were complexitites that drew our attention more quickly. We focused on the things inside of our picket fence.

Post 9/11, I think we're seeing that we're going to have to replace the still limited knowledge of self with more knowledge of the world. Americans can travel over a thousand miles and never need a passport! LOL We can cross borders and see the world differently in each state. What many citizens of other countries fail to realize is the sense of "other world" that we can feel just browsing our own back yard. I never thought of Americans as not being aware or concerned with the rest of the world as much as I thought of us as being overwhelmed with still discovering our own. Perhaps if we'd had even a quarter of our residents visit even a quarter of our states, we'd be more aware of our place in the world. Unfortunately, it takes literally days for us to drive from one side of our country to the other.

I think the biggest change post- 9/11 is that we as a group of people are now asking each other to learn about others before we learn about ourselves. That can be a blessing and a curse and it will take a long time to find out if it makes things better. I doubt it will as there will always be the expectation that America will step in whenever there is tragedy in the world. I think American citizens would have a different view if we'd seen British aid workers during Hurricane Andrew, or German crews in Califormia helping earthquake victims, or groups from each affected country helping pull morgue duty at the WTC, Pentagon and in PA. When you talk about American persepctives on the rest of the world, let's not forget that American citizen's have ideas as well. The main one is that no other citizenry in the world helps us much beyond the military. (It's a generalization here...which is the froth we're dealing with. Please don't jusmp down my throat!~)

I'm too tired to think anymore....those are my ramblings for now.
Jo

 

[Deleted member 2452]

hey red, 7/11 is a convienient store here in america

or is there another meaning to your referance to 7/11?

actually i don't give a rats whisker about why the terrorists did what they did! it was criminal, and same as a thug killing a little old lady for her purse change, just on a bigger scale. the only thing people of this ilk respect is strong brutal action. so i say give it too them, and let the historians distort it later.
steve

 

[red indian]

Sorry about that!!!

very bad type error! but i,m not sure you have read my post correctly, I do not rule out strong military action, what I am saying is, it is unlikely to solve the problem in the long term, and has to be carried out in concert with other remedies i.e. long term under cover infiltration, diplomacy, trade aggreements etc.

My remarks about what drives these people to carry out this kind of attrocity were not in the manner of a concerned social worker seeking excuses or justification for their acts, but rather to find the cause and stop it happening again which i am sure you would agree with.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

Re: Sorry about that!!!

very bad type error! but i,m not sure you have read my post correctly, I do not rule out strong military action, what I am saying is, it is unlikely to solve the problem in the long term, and has to be carried out in concert with other remedies i.e. long term under cover infiltration, diplomacy, trade aggreements etc.

My remarks about what drives these people to carry out this kind of attrocity were not in the manner of a concerned social worker seeking excuses or justification for their acts, but rather to find the cause and stop it happening again which i am sure you would agree with.

red, i do know what you are saying, and i respect it, but i don't agree with it. the thing is, the why they did it doesn't matter. the fact that they did it does! they didn't try to reason, or use diplomacy, or trade, no, they just killed thousands of inocent people!
that right there precludes any legitamate grievence they may have had.
what has to happen now is to show any other wood-be terrorists that it is useless to try that with us, that it will only provoke a massive, brutal retaliation that is mind numbing in violence, and scope. we have to show that terror is not a form of diplomacy, just a form of suicide.
steve

 

[ShiningIce]

It is CRUCIAL that we understand why this happened, lest it happen AGAIN.

 

[shark]

We've discussed the causes of 9/11 at length in past threads.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

shinning ice, you want to know why?

ok, here's the short version;
1 giant asshole told 19 other assholes they'd get into heaven by crashing planes into buildings, and killing thousands of people in the process.
there, what else do you want explained?
steve

 

[ShiningIce]

Its not that simple and you know it.

 

[Biggles of 266]

Sorry for changing the subject Viper

One thing I don't understand, and nobody else has mentioned...


These guys believe that the bouncer at the gates of heaven stands aside and lets them enter as soon as a drop of their blood hits the ground.

After seeing the footage again and again (and again and again and again and again and again and again on the news), I can't see how a drop of blood would do much better than the proverbial snowball in hell. Everything of organic composition would just... vanish (for want of a better phrase). Maybe their souls are still floating around, cursing the fact that their blood didn't make it all the way down to ground level. Maybe I have too much time on my hands to think about weird shit like this....


Biggles