Ten Years Isn’t Enough

Earlier today, my friend Steve Smith posted the following on his Facebook page:

Ten years isn’t enough to see clearly how the attacks have truly changed us. I guess I’d describe it as a lost decade: We’re poorer and less free, our culture is more shallow, our politics are meaner and more paranoid, and most of us are stunningly indifferent to shared sacrifice. Lawrence Wright once said “al Qaeda can’t destroy America. Only we can do that to ourselves.” I hope and pray that a decade from now, we can reflect on that day from a very different vantage point.

I think he captures quite nicely the way I’ve been feeling for the past week or so. Indeed, I wasn’t planning to write anything at all today. But as the memorials and testimonials began piling up all over the internet, it really struck me that the best we can do is to tell people where we were, what we saw, and how we felt ten years ago. Or else we can saddle the memory of the people who lost their lives with the baggage of everything that came afterward. A whole lot of people have chosen one or the other of these options, or both. But neither one appeals to me in the least, and so I post Steve’s thoughts on this anniversary and I hope, along with him, that another decade will provide us all with some real perspective.