H0peless Romantic
I'm american, but my life was never really affected by Osama, personally. Or financially. Or in any other way. -shrugs- People die, it happens. My ex girlfriend died. That was something that effected me. I am sorry for the people who lost loved ones on 9/11, but it's just something that happened to me. It's kind of like.. Thousands of people died when titanic sunk. But I didn't lose any sleep over that after reading about it or seeing the film. It may sound cold hearted, but that's just the way I am on matters such as this.
First of all, directly relating to the topic, I agree that the arrogant celebration is ridiculous. He's dead. I got excited when I found out- being a youngin', this story had been in the backdrop of my news media exposure in different ways at different time periods all throughout my more aware childhood. Excitement doesn't mean happy, I just knew that it was a big deal (although how it's a big deal is highly debatable). A life is a life, and should always be claimed seriously. It's dangerous to play god. The MLK Jr quote my friend brought up resonated well with me in terms of what's gone on: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies
hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness..."
The reason I quoted this post was because I thought it was an interesting sentiment despite it's commonality among those I know. It just reminds me of a huge disconnect we're at- a built-in disconnect to the world. As Americans, it may not feel like it's directly affected us financially, but the way our country's budget has worked out means that what we've invested here directly affects what, for instance, the money hasn't gone to: education, a change in out-dated policies for dealing with drug addicts (that were driven by racism toward Chinese and African-Americans way back when), or supporting shifts toward a more self-sufficient country. It may sound silly, but it ties in to quite a lot simply in the financial sense. 9/11 also brought up issues like the Patriot Act, which are big ones regardless of awareness or stance. There's a complex web of money and politics that are involved in or affected by this- perhaps not Osama's death specifically but certainly by our involvement in the Middle East.
This isn't to say that you should feel the sting. It's not as if it's encouraged (except when you can get all nationalistically patriot about it, of course). I don't think it's cold-hearted at all, but a result of perspective. I do wonder if a change in perspective would shift some sentiment. Because of my lack of personal connection, 9/11 doesn't choke me up the same way it would many Americans, but it definitely has effected and continues to effect my life even in ways I'm unaware of.
