Katrina is not 9/11
I have been trying to figure out why there is so little emotional reaction from Americans about Katrina, compared to the Sept. 11 attacks. It's obvious in the news coverage that there is a far less sympathetic reaction from reporters and news channels.
I figured that some of it was because it hurts more when other human beings attack you, and you know it's an act of war. But Matt Labash of the Weekly Standard says there is a difference in the way people are reacting on the ground in the South.
I figured that some of it was because it hurts more when other human beings attack you, and you know it's an act of war. But Matt Labash of the Weekly Standard says there is a difference in the way people are reacting on the ground in the South.
I walked the avenues of lower Manhattan in the days after the World Trade Center went down, and the camaraderie of people coming together was palpable. But Louisiana after the flood is different and darker. Perhaps it's the scope of the catastrophe, perhaps the undercurrent of violence, but even many of the aid workers seem to have turned to stone.
posted by stan at 1:35 AM
1 Comments:
I think it has to do with our dying sense of patriotism. 9-11 gave Americans a sense of "us" in the same way that an attack by martians would effect humanity across the globe. Terrorists weren't just striking New Yorkers -- they were attacking America. The hurricane was just a roll of the dice and Louisianans were unlucky.
It's really weird. We just watched a memorial video in Church, and, surprisingly, my eyes teared up. I was filled with emotions ranging from compassion to anger. When it started, I expected it to be a bunch of humbug. I have a very weak sense of patriotism, and I don't think I'm alone in this. Our generation hasn't had a war to bring us together. We've watched the idea of America be transformed into an image of autonomous space to pursue economic opportunity. Increasingly, we have no shared history or ideals to bind us together. How many immigrants know or care why Thanksgiving is celebrated? 911 shocked this melting pot -- or "stew" as my liberal friend likes to call it (implying distinct ingredients inhabiting the same medium) -- into an unfamiliar but powerful sense of cohesion. The new season of Survivor quickly anesthetized that emotion, however...
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