Daily Blague

In October 2001, I thought about "9/11" as a date in history books of the future, as a mark on a timeline. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the catastrophe, the date itself is as weighty and imposing as the towers that fell. It is still much too soon to assess its significance, but I think that we note a certain change in how we live. "9/11" blasted a hole in the bubble that Americans like to pull over themselves, blocking out consciousness of the rest of the world except - and this only for a minority - as a tourist destination. I am sure that most of my countrymen would like very much to seal themselves up again, only now they know that it's impossible.

For most of the people who have come to this country, the United States was not only a land of opportunity but an escape from conditions of greater or lesser oppression. Along with the other Western democracies, the United States has (until recently) inspired the growth of democracy everywhere. We need to stop looking at the rest of the world as the place from which our ancestors escaped.

Dates>Dates>9-11-2001