Monday, 17 September 2001 | Politicians and flags

I wish I weren't suspicious of my government, that I trusted politicians, and that I didn't know what I know about our foreign policy. Then it would be easier to swallow everything the media tells me, to pin an American flag on my shirt, and to call for revenge. That's not really true. It would be easier, but that's not what I wish.

Let me start again. I wish that I could trust the media and the politicians, that my country didn't have so much blood on its hands and that so many of us refuse to learn or be bothered by things that don't seem to affect us directly. I wish we didn't commercialize and propagate, turning such a sad event into a slogan on a t-shirt and a reason to promote nationalism. I wish we could look at the events that led up to Tuesday's disaster critically and openly, honestly looking for reasons and solutions rather than becoming a lynch mob clutching our guns. I wish I knew what to do, how to put my frustration into words, how to make sense of what has happened and what is happening.

In New York they're selling t-shirts that say: "Attack on America: I survive [sic] the attack!," as if being spared from death were a ride at Busch Gardens. It reminds me a little of a t-shirt I saw worn at the State Fair during the days of the Gulf War. It said: "Let's kick some Saudi Arabian butt!" Even then, some of us didn't know who our "enemy" was. It seems we're content as long as we have a name (right or not) toward whom we can direct our anger. The solutions can be simplistic and emotional, as long as they make us feel better.