I've read in several places about how our therapeutic society is trying to make all of us victims of the attacks on 9/11. Well, we -- the United States and each individual citizen -- were victimized, but that doesn't make us -- the United States and each individual citizen -- victims, unless we let it. Did we consider ourselves victims after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? Hell no! Victimized? Sure. Victims? Sorry, no self pity to wallow in here. We've got work to do.
Adopting a psychology of victimization requires that there is some sort of an ombudsman to deliver justice if it is to "work." This ombudsman may be motivated by guilt, or a drive for justice, or something else entirely, but whatever the motivation, the ombudsman must have the power to effect some change to deliver what is perceived as justice. Otherwise, dwelling on being a victim is nothing but an exercise in futility. People on the frontier, or any society that values freedom and self-dependency, may have been victimized by natural disasters or man-made calamities, but they picked themselves up and and moved forward.
In our nanny-state today, the government typically is expected to play the role of the ombudsman to stamp out perceived injustices. But in the War on Terrorism, who is going to be ombudsman if we start acting like a victim? The United Nations? Puhleeze. NATO? Ha! Our European allies? They can't even protect themselves. The Anglosphere? Well, maybe. But if we won't stand up for ourselves, I don't think we should expect them to carry us as dead weight.
No, we will stand up and fight for ourselves and make the necessary sacrifices for what we believe in and what we hold dear, or we might as well roll over and die. We will certainly value true friends who throw their lots in with us. And we will just as certainly remember those who, through sins of ommission or sins of commission, work against us.
As the second anniversary of 9/11 comes around in a week, its time once again to remember and to rededicate ourselves to the tasks ahead. We are a good people who have every right to defend what we have. We are a noble people with an obligation to help others shed the yoke of oppression where we can. I am proud of what I know we have done in Afghanistan and Iraq. I am also thankful for the many things that have been done on our behalf, that I know nothing about, by people whose only connection to me is that they too believe that this country is worth defending and the ideals for which it stands are worth giving to others.
We are at war. The alarm went off and woke us all from our pleasant slumber on 9/11/2001. Everyone heard the alarm and responded at first, but as time goes by and folks settle back into their usual routines, it's as though a lot of people now just want to reach over and hit the snooze button until the alarm goes off again. I am disgusted that, with the general exception of Senator Lieberman, all those who have a vested interest in hurting the President politically are encouraging this behavior. Let's just hope it doesn't take the loss of Houston to a nuclear weapon or 1/3 of the population to a biological attack to get everyone to finally wake up.
Unlike some in the blogosphere, I won't be taking 9/11/2003 off to read and remember. I'm not criticizing those who are, I just have a different approach. I'm going to work. In fact, I'm going to Washington, D.C., on business, and I'll be flying home on 9/11/2003. I'm not afraid, and I'm not going to wallow or weep. I'm angry and ready to fight. I'm too old to put on a uniform but I am going to fight back in the best way I know how, by going on with my life, earning a living, paying my taxes, spreading good ideas as best I can, and helping my customers become more proficient in finding and killing those who would kill my family, my friends and my country.