To me, this is so spot on. I was a full-grown adult on 9/11, and I know several people who lost family members on that day. But I also know someone who lost a family member at Lockerbie, and as time passes, losses near or more remote of course mount. 9/11 is not unique in my experience now as a political or personal catastrophe--it's more part of a fabric of the disappointment the 21st century, so that if I think about it it's more as part of a narrative of terror and its aftermaths (e.g., the Boston Marathon, as I live in Boston) than as a discrete event to be remembered on its anniversary. "Never forget" is an unenforceable, and perhaps lazy, exhortation. (How many people now "Remember the Maine"?) By contrast I think of efforts to help people *learn* from history (not just demand that they genuflect to it), such as the traveling exhibition "Auschwitz: Not Long Ago/Not Far Away"--efforts that take work, collaboration, and thought.
The act of remembering and forgetting is a delicate dance between the past and the present that influences the future. What is at play here applies not only to seismic national or world events, but also to the personal and private. Our careers, families, marriages, friendships all live or die by the degree to which are able to use the painful lessons learned from human interactions without throwing those same relationships in the bin. "Never forget" fossilizes events by foreclosing any space for progress. I agree with Laura Green -- the narrative should be how we learn from history rather than "demand that we genuflect to it."
The Off Broadway play "Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski" exactly takes up the complexity of the questions raised here. But one thing that appears irrefutable is if there is any chance of stopping history from repeating itself it lies in the evolution of remembering from mere reliving to your point of "efforts that take work, collaboration and thought."
I don't think I'll ever forget witnessing the second tower fall from our rear car window while on the Newark Bay Extension. But I'm not sentimental about the day. Good piece, Professor.
What if 9/11 were the moment US government realized they should stop creating g Johadi groups to fight communism Russians etc, stop our corrupt alliance with the Saudi autocracy, and start working toward independence of fossil fuels. Maybe if Bush had not been allowed to steal the election from Gore….
To me, this is so spot on. I was a full-grown adult on 9/11, and I know several people who lost family members on that day. But I also know someone who lost a family member at Lockerbie, and as time passes, losses near or more remote of course mount. 9/11 is not unique in my experience now as a political or personal catastrophe--it's more part of a fabric of the disappointment the 21st century, so that if I think about it it's more as part of a narrative of terror and its aftermaths (e.g., the Boston Marathon, as I live in Boston) than as a discrete event to be remembered on its anniversary. "Never forget" is an unenforceable, and perhaps lazy, exhortation. (How many people now "Remember the Maine"?) By contrast I think of efforts to help people *learn* from history (not just demand that they genuflect to it), such as the traveling exhibition "Auschwitz: Not Long Ago/Not Far Away"--efforts that take work, collaboration, and thought.
The act of remembering and forgetting is a delicate dance between the past and the present that influences the future. What is at play here applies not only to seismic national or world events, but also to the personal and private. Our careers, families, marriages, friendships all live or die by the degree to which are able to use the painful lessons learned from human interactions without throwing those same relationships in the bin. "Never forget" fossilizes events by foreclosing any space for progress. I agree with Laura Green -- the narrative should be how we learn from history rather than "demand that we genuflect to it."
I like “fossilizes events”—yes!
The Off Broadway play "Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski" exactly takes up the complexity of the questions raised here. But one thing that appears irrefutable is if there is any chance of stopping history from repeating itself it lies in the evolution of remembering from mere reliving to your point of "efforts that take work, collaboration and thought."
I think the idea that this was a "Pearl Harbor" moment may have something to do with it. But I agree.
I don't think I'll ever forget witnessing the second tower fall from our rear car window while on the Newark Bay Extension. But I'm not sentimental about the day. Good piece, Professor.
It was a terrible day. I won't ever forget seeing the first tower fall, and knowing that our local ladder company must be inside. They were.
What if 9/11 were the moment US government realized they should stop creating g Johadi groups to fight communism Russians etc, stop our corrupt alliance with the Saudi autocracy, and start working toward independence of fossil fuels. Maybe if Bush had not been allowed to steal the election from Gore….
That would have been a miracle, right? But yes, the counterfactual is: would Al Gore have gone to war? My guess is no, but we cannot be sure.