9/11 reflections
For some medical reasons, I've gotten to watch 9/11 reflections on the History Channel than maybe anyone should. But I've been reaffirmed in a conclusion I've drawn long ago.
It's small individuals that make the difference in this world. It is unfortunate that history tends to be taught as "generals and presidents". Howard Zinn makes the point that in fact history is written by the thousands of individuals that act.
History, both good and bad, is written by the individuals that choose to act in concert, even if in a confederate sense. The invasion and occupation of the north American continent was mostly a function of literally tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of individuals choosing to come and live here. Migrations out of African in ancient history aren't the results of rulers or leaders commanding it. It was a legion of individuals choosing to move.
TV loves to talk about the "leaders" that day. But the honest truth is that the day was dominated by unnamed individuals who looked, saw, and acted as individuals. The sky was cleared of aircraft in less than 2 hours because innumerable pilots, ground crews, and air traffic controllers decided that, in fact it, needed to happen. They just did it. Yes, "orders" came to do it, but there were literally tens of thousands of individuals that had to "agree" so as to act as quickly and efficiently as they did. There were people in those towers that just acted. They weren't commanded so much as they just stood up and decided that something needed to be done and did it. Maybe it was helping someone down a stair case. Maybe it was calling someone and telling them to get out of the towers. In some cases of course it was possibly deciding that door on a cockpit needed to be breached. There were people who felt responsible for others, and they were successful, even though they ultimately didn't make it out themselves.
The real lesson is always this. Be engaged. Vote. Write that letter to the editor. Make a comment at the "water cooler" that won't be immediately popular. Don't try to "hit it out of the park" every time. Just make a small difference. If the "good" people act constantly, and if there are more good than bad, ultimately, those acts will achieve the result, even if it is not in your lifetime. It is said that Schindler resulted in 6000 descendants, and that there are less than 4000 jews in Poland today. One way or another, there's nothing wrong with 6000 descendants. And the more people that help, the larger than number gets.
Do what you can. GOTV. Vote. Care. Matter. That's all you have to do. History proves that.
= new reply since forum marked as read
in most cases a hero is born of circumstance. It is how one acts during these crises/times that makes the hero. No one sets out to be one. You don't wake up in the morning and decide that today I'm going to be a hero, it doesn't work that way. Strength of character and conviction and the circumstances of the moment are what make that happen.
Today I remember all of the heroes of 9/11...the regular people that stepped up and just did what needed to be done. Most of them didn't survive and countless little acts of heroism are unnoticed but the are there, they happened. We are better for them, because of them. So I thank them all and I will not forget.
