On September 12 2001, What Did You Want the World to be?
This idea occurred to me not more than an hour and a half ago. I was lying in bed, trying to decide whether or not to brush my teeth, when my eyes landed on the Bush-Martin '04: Wrong on Star Wars button on my bulletin board. This, of course, led me to think about the march against Bush in November, which inevitably led to thoughts of September 11 2001. I thought about tragedy, and how politicians often mar the memory of such events on major anniversaries by using the opportunity to trumpet their successes. I found myself wondering what the world has actually accomplished in the days since 9/11. And then it hit me.
What if someone were able to look at what the world was at 7 am on September 11 2001, and at everything that happened between then and September 11 2006, and challenge the trumpeting that inevitably will go on? What if someone took the time to reflect on what has happened and on what the world has or has not become since then? With this post, I announce the official launch of what I will pretentiously call The September 12 Project.
The September 12 Project is about hope. I want to find out what we've done, what kind of progress the world has made since 9/11. Essentially this is going to be one giant research project for Sarah. And Sarah needs your help.
I want to use a human perspective in my research, because I believe the human perspective is left out of most contemporary political and economic work on the subject. So I ask you, please, answer the question "On September 12 2001, what did you want the world to be?" If your answer is short, feel free to leave it in the comments section at the bottom of this post. If not, you can e-mail it to september12project@yahoo.ca. If you wish to remain anonymous, feel free to withhold your name, or to indicate to me in your comments that your name should be kept private.
I am committed, on the 5 year anniversary of 9/11, to releasing a report on your testimonials. In order for this project to be successful, however, I need as many participants and as much publicity as I can possibly get, so please, send this post, using the e-mail link below (the envelope icon) to forward on to anyone who might be interested.
5 years later, perhaps the world really will be a better place. At the very least, I'd like to inspire people to think about what they do want for the future, and what they can do to help. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Addendum: While I make no secret of my own political leanings, I am absolutely open to those who would like to express opinions contrary to mine. In fact, I encourage it! My goal, as a political scientist, is to get as wide and varied an array of opinions as possible!
