<< Back 9/11/02 American identity shaped by reaction to 9/11 By David Teague My hope was to observe the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by putting to rest the nagging anxiety about the future of our country that has plagued me for the last year. Barring a miracle, however, I am not going to achieve my goal. I remain troubled by two fears that insinuated themselves into my psyche that day and have been unwilling to let go. The first fear is that my son would grow up in a world radically different and more dangerous from the world I’ve grown up in, and that some of the experiences I might have used to teach him were rendered irrelevant when the towers fell. Adam, who was not yet 4, was home sick the day the attacks happened and my wife let him see the images of the airplanes hitting the towers. “Did the man not see the building?” he asked. Allison told him that she thought the man did see the building. “Was he a bad man?” Adam asked. Allison told him she thought he was a bad man. When Allison told me that story that night as we watched coverage of the attacks on TV, I realized, like everyone else, that life as we know it had changed and I worried about what that might mean for Adam’s future. In the days and weeks ahead, as plans for a global war on terrorism unfolded, I began to struggle with the idea that he might grow up in a world at war. I am still struggling with that fear, but Adam doesn’t seem to have had any lasting effects from seeing the towers get hit. His young mind, fueled by cartoon images of Spiderman, Batman and Superman, was already used to the idea that there are bad guys and good guys and that the good guys have to do something about the bad guys. Dad, however, is not having as easy a time and that is the source of the other troubling fear that has dogged me all year. Just a few days before Sept. 11, I finally got around to reading an opinion piece carried by The Charlotte Observer on Aug. 19, 2001. The headline was “The new rogue state: America.” The subhead read “U.S. actions suggest belief that we can break world’s rules whenever it suits us.” The story, written by Adele Simmons of the Chicago Tribune, stated that even in friendly world capitals it was common to hear the United States referred to as a rogue state. “Our previous three presidents have contributed to this perception, breaking international law to attack Nicaragua, to invade Panama, and to bomb Libya and Sudan, to name a few examples,” Simmons wrote. “The Bush administration, however, has cemented our reputation. We are seen as the playground bully, insisting that we are a special case, that international norms don’t apply to us, that others must obey rules while we obey only when it suits us.” Simmons cited these examples: ° In March 2001, the Bush administration renounced the Kyoto Protocol, which had already been signed by the U.S. and almost every other nation in the world, all agreeing to mandatory reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gasses thought to cause global warming. ° Not long after that, the Bush administration killed the proposed enforcement mechanism for the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention because the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries believed that facility inspections might expose industrial secrets of U.S. companies. (Simmons pointed out that other nations with similar corporations weren’t intimidated). ° The White House also decided not to ask the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty barring nuclear weapons tests and has not supported a Land Mine Treaty ratified by more than 140 other nations. ° Almost 50 years ago, the U.S. led the world in efforts to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. We still support prosecution, except when the suspect is American. Despite world efforts to create an International Criminal Court, the House passed the American Service-members Act in May 2001, which keeps our service personnel from being prosecuted before an international body. The world’s perception of the U.S. has not improved since Sept. 11. In fact, it has gotten worse, even before the current hoopla over the Bush administration’s desire to attack Saddam Hussein. In July, the Asheville Citizen-Times carried a Gannett News Service series revealing that international regard for the U.S. has actually declined since Sept. 11 as the rhetoric about a war on terrorism has escalated. “Before Sept. 11, the image was that the president was CEO of the world,” one source said. “Now the president is head sheriff.” These kinds of reports frighten me almost as much as terrorists do. I am no historian, so I don’t know how to compare U.S. power and influence to the power and influence of any of history’s other dominant cultures. One thing I am pretty sure of, though, is that all previous super powers eventually fell. My guess is if you looked at each of these super powers critically, you’d find they not only fell to an outside aggressor who proved more powerful, but there were also a number of internal weaknesses that no one noticed until it was too late. Could the same be true of the United States? Maybe we should look at ourselves critically. We have used our freedom to do much good, but also to become rich beyond belief. In 1997, there were 765 personal vehicles per 1,000 people in the United States, compared to 124 in the Russian Federation, and 1 in Ethiopia. We account for the consumption of 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions, compared to 22 percent for the entire European Union. Our individual habits also reflect our wealth. An article in Self magazine pointed out that a serving of steak in London would amount to eight ounces and 545 calories, while in New York City the serving would be 20 ounces and 1,360 calories. A taco from a street stand in Mexico would be 2.5 ounces and 180 calories, compared to 5 ounces and 260 calories. A cappuccino in Naples, Italy, would be 4.5 ounces and 50 calories, compared to 12 ounces and 140 calories in New York (The Tall is the smallest cup on the Starbucks menu). In America, we know how to consume, and the gospel of consumerism is one we preach loudly to the rest of the world. On Saturday, I caught a few minutes of an ABC News special called “In Search of America.” I don’t know what the overall flavor of the show was, but the part I saw was about the efforts of Frito-Lay to develop markets for potato chips and other salty snacks in Africa, China and Holland. All of the markets seemed to be tough to crack. People in Holland apparently don’t snack much and consider Americans fat. People in China snack a lot, but have long-standing favorites that are part of their culture. Besides, as one woman pointed out, she could get a whole bag of potatoes for what it cost to get one bag of potato chips. This response, however, is not deterring the company. Frito-Lay has invested heavily to get local farmers to grow potatoes in just the right way for their potato chips and hired dedicated local executives to implement marketing strategies and they have made it clear that good results are expected. If they can’t get the adults, these executives will explore ways of getting chips into the hands of young people through their schools. The passion these executives expressed for their mission, and the zeal shown by the company’s chief executive, seemed almost spiritual in nature. In a year where the list of misdeeds and mishaps among corporate executives keeps growing, putting thousands out of work and the economy at grave risk, I find this to be a particularly disturbing image to add to the list of others. Our sheriff and his minions know exactly who the real bad guys are, and have the power to take care of everything. Because we’re the best, we’ll play by our own rules and let the rest of the world know when we need them. In the mean time, world, don’t worry. Just sit back , relax, and, by the way, you really should be eating more potato chips. It is not my intention to sound unpatriotic. In fact, the saving grace for me in this past year has been to witness the strong re-emergence of the American spirit after Sept. 11, much of it expressed in the profound ways we have found to serve each other and care for each other. We have our share of weaknesses, but our love of our country runs deep. That has not been enough, though, to take away my fear that America is a nation very much at risk, and that Adam’s future seems less secure. If we are to remain a strong nation, all of us must become more aware of our place in the world and how we want our nation’s power and influence to be used. Surely, we have something more to show the world than how to make a spiritual quest out of consuming what it gives us. Surely we have within ourselves the means to protect ourselves and the world through something other than unwanted escalation of military action. That is what I’ll be praying for today as we gather to grieve our losses and celebrate our nation. (David Teague is a free-lance writer and editor who lives in Waynesville. He can be reached at bestteague@aol.com)