Americas' obsession with revisiting disasters

[KafirChobee]

First, the American news (all channels and then some - if you gots cabel or sattelite) was filled with "Katrina, one year later" - and now it is "9/11, 5 years later".

Both are important to our history, I guess. The former in how incompetent the present administration is in reacting to a disaster that concerns or has racial overtones. The later, in how long it has taken them to figure out how to blame Clinton for 9/11.

There is nothing an American loves more than watching a national disaster - as long as it isn't happening to them. [My daugher told me, after I went thru 3 hurricanes, "Dad, we're tired of hearing about 'em". - She has no idea what listening to the jetliner outside one's door is like.] Revisiting them (the disasters), honoring the dead and listening to the peeps that allowed them (while they are so so sad, promise the events will never happen again on their watch - even though the first ones did) seems sorta apropo. For America. See, Americans love nothing more than finding a scapegoat for a disaster. They also love that later we (those not affected) can look back, shake our heads in unison and say "well, we'll certainly never let that happen again". 'Til the next time of course.

What is it about us (Americans) that we feel it imperative to slow down to look at an auto-wreck (especially if there is the opportunity to see blood or brains), and then revisit it by telling our friends about it (at every opportunity).

With national disasters, we wallow in self pity for those that died, while at the same time keeping a distance (aside from maybe our checkbooks) from the reality of the situation. Katrina was 10 times the national embarrassment and disaster that 9/11 was. Yet, because 9/11 was a foreign attack (by a guy living frugal and safe, and being worshipped by millions) - versus a natural one (unless one believes the rumors that someone dynamited the levees) we bend to a knee and give thanks that it they somehow coulda been worse. Ask one of the displaced Blacks that can't get a FEMA loan to rebuild their home, living 1000 miles from property Trump is now buying to build his 60,000 condominium project if it could be much worse.

Still, wa simple moment of silence be enough? Or is it imparitive that every political opportunity be expoilted - regardless of the severity of the incident? I am not saying let it go away, but if we seriously are not going to do anything for "all" the victims? Wouldn't it be wiser to ignore them? Except of course with a "60 second" time of silence?

Cosmetics. In both cases that is all the people have received. We were more than generous (to some) 9/11 widows (ers), others we (the government) found ways to exclude - as did their insurance companys. Katrina? What a sham. It is a national shame, and an administration success in disenfranchising a majority of the Blacks that once lived there.

200 hours of TV time will be dedicated (don't believe me? count it up) to 9/11 before the end of next week. As shocking as it was to wake up on that MORNING, and at first thinking I was watching some Orson Wellian scare crap - I find it disheartening that it is the mainstay arguement for some political figures to justify curbing my rights and privilegages. Then again, that's just me = Give me freedom or give me death.

[Redleg]

Care to take a wild guess on how much Television coverage of the revisiting of Katrina that I watched? and how much on 9/11 will be?

Give you a hint, if there is no review of lessons learned to prevent such an occurance the answer is none.

I deplore the crap on television, its often not worth watching.

[rotorgun]

I can personally not see why anyone would want to relive the deaths of thousands in such a morbid way, but I know many that do. I cannot bring myself to watch the footage of that sad day dispassionately, even after five years. I say let us learn the lessons of that day, honor the fallen in our memories, and do right by them and work much harder towards bringing their killers to justice. I don't need this constant bombardment by the media, designed to play on my feelings to be saddened again by the events of those days. I merely have to close my eyes and remember the vivid details that have been etched permenantly in my mind.

I will spend this weekend practicing my horeback riding skills, so that if I am ever in Afghanistan or Pakistan I might be able to use them if needed to chase the sorry hides of Osama Bin Laden and associates down if they are ever found. I will personally volunteer for that mission if it should ever become a reality. This is how I will honor the memory of my fallen countrymen. Who will join me?

Blessed is the Lord which teachest my hands to war against my enemies.(Psalms)

Regards,

[doc_bean]

It's human nature, not just typical for Americans...

[Scurvy]

every country in the world revisits terrible events in its history, buty also celebrates the good ones to the same amount - its good for giving a feeling of nationallity and also gives the media something to talk about...

[whyidie]

I agree that the media overemphasizes these events. I hate it. I tune out.

Katrina was 10 times the national embarrassment and disaster that 9/11 was. Yet, because 9/11 was a foreign attack (by a guy living frugal and safe, and being worshipped by millions) - versus a natural one (unless one believes the rumors that someone dynamited the levees) we bend to a knee and give thanks that it they somehow coulda been worse Ask one of the displaced Blacks that can't get a FEMA loan to rebuild their home, living 1000 miles from property Trump is now buying to build his 60,000 condominium project if it could be much worse.

This is because natural disasters happen quite often. Maybe not to the extent of Katrina, but those types of events are more common than what happened on 9/11, no ?

As for dealing with the aftermath, in general people aren't as concerned with the "clean-up" as they are with the event that neccesitated the clean-up. No one cares about picking up the pieces, they care about the wreck itself and the general details of the devestation wrought.

[Hepcat]

what disgusts me is how the media often just go charging about looking for the worst and saddest story to air, they aren't actually helping the situation. Then by trying to point us towards scapegoats is even more counter-productive.

IT HAPPENED, NOW STOP BLAMING PEOPLE AND LETS TRY AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

That is generally my opinion, blame people AFTER it has been cleared up.

[Tristrem]

the reason for revisiting these tragedies is two fold.

first, the government loves the media to do this because it is free propaganda for them.. ex. "well since 9/11 there have been no attacks on US soil... see look at the great job we are doing"

second, since the time of those tragedies, there hasn't been much to talk about that is positive. We are in a "War on Terror", a "Conflict" in Iraq, and our leader, who can't speak coherent english, is driving our economy into the ground. So if not being attacked is the only positive thing there is to talk about this country is in sad shape

[doc_bean]

That is generally my opinion, blame people AFTER it has been cleared up.

I guess the reason for all the blaming is partly because when you have someone to blame it becomes THEIR responsibility to clean up the mess. So after a scapegoat has been found the masses can rest easy, knowing that it is not their responsibility to help the poor and the homeless.

[Fragony]

It's human nature, not just typical for Americans...

^ what he said.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

....oops. Thought from the title this was a discussion of U.S. election politics.

[Tachikaze]

Good post, KafirChobee. I feel this way myself. Many people here get ghoulish pleasure out of watching the planes collide with those buildings. I'm not sure most of them even realize it. I feel that they think they're doing it to honor the fallen. If you want to do that, you don't have to turn on the TV.

I tend to agree with the guys who said that it was not only Americans who get morbid kicks from tragedy. I can't say for sure, but I think people in some other nations do it as well.

I'll ignore the whole thing, myself. The WTC attacks were in the past. Just because the Earth is in the same position around the Sun doesn't make the day significant for me.

35,000 people died last year in auto accidents in the US. That's an ongoing problem we can do something about. Let's put our energies into that instead.

[Hepcat]

It's human nature, not just typical for Americans...

In New Zealand and Australia we have Anzac (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) day which is about honoring the NZ and Australian war veterens who fought in conflicts for their country, though it was originally remembering the Gallipoli campaign which was a nasty incident.

In New Zealand we also have Waitangi day which isn't exactly a bad thing but it is always the source of arguments and debates and general disagreements every time it comes along. It was a treaty signed between the British and the Maori, though it wasn't translated very well so the Maori are claiming their land back and the whole thing has become sort of a joke. There are lots of jokes about the Seabed and Foreshore agreement which means that Maori CAN claim areas of beach. Yet every year we still have Waitangi day and every year they argue over whether it should continue and whether the Maori were cheated. But the polititions are too lazy to act, they just moan about it.

That is just New Zealand, I am sure there are many more similar sorts of things in other countrys with much longer histories.

[macsen rufus]

If you didn't revisit disasters Nashville would go bust overnight...

[ezrider]

To be honest, this kinda thing is always useful for injecting a renewed dose of FEAR into the masses.

24hr news media concentrates on terror, revisiting disasters, murder, robbery, snakes, Killer bees, SARS, fnord, Bird FLU, Aids, Super Aids etc because it will keep us all of scared enough to consume yet more SH*TTY 24 hr news programs.

I challenge anyone to watch Skynews, BBC 24 or CNN and for 2 hours and not see the paranoid fnord, fearfest spewing forth. Listen to the fnord language and you will see it. FNORD

[caravel]

The news media, especially the television news media, is virtually driven by sensationalist scare stories. They like nothing better than a good old "possible terrorist attack" or a devastating epidemic that could happen at any moment, if it just happens to mutate (which is pretty much what could happen to any virus). In the case of the all too familiar, imminent epidemic scare, the masses usually want to know "exactly what are the government going to do about it?". The government then goes out and stocks up on immunisation drugs. At this point the hysteria starts to die and the media have nothing left to go on, until the next foiled bomb plot or possible epidemic comes along.

In the case of 911, it also suits the administration's policy with regard to the middle east that the electorate don't forget that one too soon.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Good post, KafirChobee. I feel this way myself. Many people here get ghoulish pleasure out of watching the planes collide with those buildings. I'm not sure most of them even realize it. I feel that they think they're doing it to honor the fallen. If you want to do that, you don't have to turn on the TV.

That is, no doubt, part of the reason so many people would "tune in." The reason the full images of 9-11-01 are rarely shown, even where made, are a general sensibility that it would worsen the sense of loss for the families involved and/or inflame too many people with rage. Unthinking efforts at vengeance are to be avoided, I agree, but I am not altogether sure that a bit of rage is inappropriate.

35,000 people died last year in auto accidents in the US. That's an ongoing problem we can do something about. Let's put our energies into that instead.

1. Do you really believe that we are so resource and leadership poor as to be unable to address both terrorism and road safety?

2. Auto-related fatalities have declined by 6% since 1975 (42,500-43,250/year 2000-2005, despite a vast increase in the number of drivers and miles driven; child fatalities in autos are greatly reduced (car-seats); and deaths from alcohol related causes have been substantially reduced by better education and law enforcement. Some very effective measures have, appropriately enough, been enacted.

Safety authorities cite the two remaining issues that continue the fatality rate at its present level as: failure to use safety belts (roughly 55% of all fatalities) and poor driving habits (tailgating, speeding, failure to yield, failure to signal). Both issues have been the subject of intensive education efforts for decades. In practical terms, what greater effort can/should be made?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The news media, especially the television news media, is virtually driven by sensationalist scare stories. They like nothing better than a good old "possible terrorist attack" or a devastating epidemic that could happen at any moment, if it just happens to mutate (which is pretty much what could happen to any virus). In the case of the all too familiar, imminent epidemic scare, the masses usually want to know "exactly what are the government going to do about it?". The government then goes out and stocks up on immunisation drugs. At this point the hysteria starts to die and the media have nothing left to go on, until the next foiled bomb plot or possible epidemic comes along.

In the case of 911, it also suits the administration's policy with regard to the middle east that the electorate don't forget that one too soon.

Well, the media is always in a quest for ratings to sell advertising dollars -- and sensationalism has ALWAYS sold, as any media outlet since Gutenberg can attest to.

Yes, on one level, focusing on 9-11 "suits the administration's policy." However, you make it seem as though they are latching onto that emotion only as a convenient political tool. While some of this motivation may exist in the minds of members of the administration, I think you are painting with too broad a brush here. However many mis-steps may have occurred in enacting U.S. policy (debatable, but clearly not an endless series of perfect responses and initiatives), the motivation of preventing such a thing from happening again is and has been central to U.S. efforts.

[Mithrandir]

the motivation of preventing such a thing from happening again is and has been central to U.S. efforts.

either that or gaining more control over the citizens and as an excuse to invade countries they're not fond of under the flag of anti-terrorism...

[Seamus Fermanagh]

either that or gaining more control over the citizens and as an excuse to invade countries they're not fond of under the flag of anti-terrorism...

There may be a few with that mis-guided attitude, but I think you would agree that the vast majority of yanks -- in goverment and out -- have a far more benign motivation.

[Scurvy]

either that or gaining more control over the citizens and as an excuse to invade countries they're not fond of under the flag of anti-terrorism...

certainly as an excuse for invading countries they dont like, not so sure about gaining more control over citizens (at least on purpose) - it sounds a bit much

[Mithrandir]

There may be a few with that mis-guided attitude, but I think you would agree that the vast majority of yanks -- in goverment and out -- have a far more benign motivation.

Or are made to believe that's the cause they're fighting for.

certainly as an excuse for invading countries they dont like, not so sure about gaining more control over citizens (at least on purpose) - it sounds a bit much

Patriot act anyone?


I just love controversy... I may actually make another post in the hunk thread after this ...

[Louis VI the Fat]

I really enjoyed your post, KC. Some random comments:

See, Americans love nothing more than finding a scapegoat for a disaster.

On thing that strikes me about Americans is their urge to 'blame' somebody for disasters.

You know, shit happens, to use an Americanism. Sometimes for no reason at all, with nobody to blame.

Nobody is to blame for hurricanes, or floods, or earthquakes. For your kid hurting himself when playing, or for tripping over something.
It is the culture that spawned the joke about a guy getting a heartattack on the middle of a New York street. One guy runs away from him, another towards him. Both as fast as they can. The guy running towards him is a lawyer, the guy running away a doctor.

What is it about us (Americans) that we feel it imperative to slow down to look at an auto-wreck

Definately human nature, as has been said above.

200 hours of TV time will be dedicated to 9/11 before the end of next week.

Only 200 hours in the States?

Well it is one of the defining moments of our times. I still remember everything about that afternoon (it was afternoon over here).

Everywhere you looked, everybody, literally everybody, walked around aimlessly, dazed and confused. Talking on their cell phones, gathering in the streets. There was a feeling of total confusion, of shock, disbelief.
And I'm not talking about New York, but over here. Talk about a shot heard 'round the world.

Yes, Katrina was the more embarrassing moment for the administration. A total c###-up.
But Katrina will be forgotten in a few years time. 9/11 on the other hand, well you knew, you just knew right back then that the world had changed.

The WTC, the Pentagon, they were not picked randomly. They are global symbols. To see the WTC crumble was like seeing the Berlin Wall crumble, that other global symbol. In a perfect antithesis, this time liberty was the one under attack. The long, happy nineties (89-01) were over, the end of history was not achieved. We overlooked something in those glorious nineties, we overlooked some people, a frustration that grew and a danger that lurked.
Not Fukuyama, but Huntington turned out to be the better analyst.

This, the historical significance of 9/11, is reason enough to have devoted so much attention to it in the last week.

'tis a pity that the US should've had a Bush, and not a FDR in the White House at that time, at that crossroads of history.

[Scurvy]

Well it is one of the defining moments of our times. I still remember everything about that afternoon (it was afternoon over here).

Everywhere you looked, everybody, literally everybody, walked around aimlessly, dazed and confused. Talking on their cell phones, gathering in the streets. There was a feeling of total confusion, of shock, disbelief.
And I'm not talking about New York, but over here. Talk about a shot heard 'round the world.

Yes, Katrina was the more embarrassing moment for the administration. A total c###-up.
But Katrina will be forgotten in a few years time. 9/11 on the other hand, well you knew, you just knew right back then that the world had changed.

.

i completely missed 9/11, i was v busy that day, and wondered why i got home by london transport in record time, didnt read it until the next morning

Katrina should be remembered, but it wont, because the government dont want it to be remembered....

[KafirChobee]

the reason for revisiting these tragedies is two fold.

first, the government loves the media to do this because it is free propaganda for them.. ex. "well since 9/11 there have been no attacks on US soil... see look at the great job we are doing"

second, since the time of those tragedies, there hasn't been much to talk about that is positive. We are in a "War on Terror", a "Conflict" in Iraq, and our leader, who can't speak coherent english, is driving our economy into the ground. So if not being attacked is the only positive thing there is to talk about this country is in sad shape

Found myself chuckling over this analysis. But, can I get an Amen?

To all contributors, thanks for your input.

To anyone that still believes that "9/11" has not been used as a political tool - I would point out that persons in the present Administration have not allowed a week to go by without using it as a reference for their actions and deeds.

That nothing as catastrophic as 9/11 has occurred in 5 years (unless the 3,000 dead troops in Iraq and Afganistan count)? Well, it took 5 years for Osama and his buds to plan it. Give them time, seems they won't be satisfied with targeting our naval ships in safe ports again - not as visually spectacular as watching buildings fall. Plus, bombing a ship (embassy, etc) never reduced the amount of freedom or personal liberties of Americans - as 9/11 did.

Then again? Maybe, as Bush said, "We are safer today than we have ever been - but we still aren't safe." Yes indeed, makes me feel all secure, warm and fuzzy knowing he's at the helm.