Remembering 9/11

Sept. 11 marks a drastic shift in the world view of Americans.
After the twin towers fell eight years ago, we re-introduced fear into our national identity following a short break from the paranoia associated with the Cold War.
Eight years of yellow, orange and red national threat levels issued by the Department of Homeland Security reminded us of the constant lurking threats that we faced as a nation.
Using terrorism as a pretext, we increased spending on national defense, increased the government’s right to surveillance of U.S.
citizens and made a number of questionable foreign policy decisions.
Memories of the historical day have become more of a reaction to all the horrible things that came out of the event and less about the actual attack itself.
Thousands of people died that day in New York. Multitudes more have died in our conflicts in the Middle East.
Everyone evaluated the past eight years in a different way, critiquing our government’s response to the attacks, questioning or supporting the findings of the 9/11 Commission or debating current involvement in Afghanistan.
People hold every variety of political conviction, and the beauty of America is that we all have a right to express them.
Despite varying opinions about the aftermath of Sept. 11, every single student at IU likely felt something significant when we wrote the date at the top of our notes in class Friday. For some students, that was enough.
Others reflected on their own momentarily.
Still more joined a candlelight vigil to mark the eighth anniversary of the terrorists’ attacks on our country.
In the face of an extremely polarized political environment marked by fierce debate over health care reform, many of us wished we could recreate that somber unity we found as a nation in the face of tragedy.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore the cultural and political shift our nation underwent.
The impact on New York’s skyline was also an impact on us all – the memories of Sept. 11 will be forever lasting in the minds of our generation and our political landscape.