On the Tenth of September, 2001
On the Tenth of September 2001, we held these truths to be self-evident.
On the Tenth of September 2001, torture was a greater evil.
On the Tenth of September 2001, wars of aggression, conquest and colonialism were a greater evil.
On the Tenth of September 2001, the State had no place in the chatrooms, phone calls and emails of the nation.
On the Tenth of September 2001, airline security judged men by the content of their criminal records, not the colour of their skin, length of beard or millinery.
On the Tenth of September 2001, library books were for reading, not a means of automated informing.
On the Tenth of September 2001, Habeas Corpus held, as it had for 786 years.
On the Tenth of September 2001, everyone knew the indefinite detention and abuse of children and child soldiers was wrong.
On the Tenth of September 2001, all citizens were created equal.
On the Tenth of September 2001, the best had as much conviction as the worst were full of passionate intensity.
On the Tenth of September 2001, we were good and free.
Remember, remember, the Tenth of September.
On the Eleventh of September 2001, banal men did evil, and the innocent perished.
On the Twelfth of September 2001, we lost our souls.
But on Tenth of September, we were good, and free.
Remember, remember, the Tenth of September.
NB. I scribbled this doggerel type thingamajig on some scrap paper on the Tenth of September, 2011. It occurred to me that more than just me might profit from this as an aide mémoire, to remind ourselves just how much and how badly things have changed. Things may be getting better, little by little, and that's good, but to understand how far we fell and how far we still have to go to recover, it is important to understand how bad things got, and remain. The doggerel was inspired by recurrent conversations that go like this:
On the Tenth of September 2001, who thought they would ever have to argue, in Canada, in seemingly civilised society..
...against torture?
...against wars of aggression? (Iraq)
...against racial-religious profiling?
...against totalitarian methods employed by supposed democracies?
...against child abuse? (by the State)
...against invasion of privacy? (by the State)
etc. etc.
It is just really weird to find ourselves re-arguing matters of civilised democracy we all thought were settled long, long ago.
On the Tenth of September 2001, torture was a greater evil.
On the Tenth of September 2001, wars of aggression, conquest and colonialism were a greater evil.
On the Tenth of September 2001, the State had no place in the chatrooms, phone calls and emails of the nation.
On the Tenth of September 2001, airline security judged men by the content of their criminal records, not the colour of their skin, length of beard or millinery.
On the Tenth of September 2001, library books were for reading, not a means of automated informing.
On the Tenth of September 2001, Habeas Corpus held, as it had for 786 years.
On the Tenth of September 2001, everyone knew the indefinite detention and abuse of children and child soldiers was wrong.
On the Tenth of September 2001, all citizens were created equal.
On the Tenth of September 2001, the best had as much conviction as the worst were full of passionate intensity.
On the Tenth of September 2001, we were good and free.
Remember, remember, the Tenth of September.
On the Eleventh of September 2001, banal men did evil, and the innocent perished.
On the Twelfth of September 2001, we lost our souls.
But on Tenth of September, we were good, and free.
Remember, remember, the Tenth of September.
NB. I scribbled this doggerel type thingamajig on some scrap paper on the Tenth of September, 2011. It occurred to me that more than just me might profit from this as an aide mémoire, to remind ourselves just how much and how badly things have changed. Things may be getting better, little by little, and that's good, but to understand how far we fell and how far we still have to go to recover, it is important to understand how bad things got, and remain. The doggerel was inspired by recurrent conversations that go like this:
On the Tenth of September 2001, who thought they would ever have to argue, in Canada, in seemingly civilised society..
...against torture?
...against wars of aggression? (Iraq)
...against racial-religious profiling?
...against totalitarian methods employed by supposed democracies?
...against child abuse? (by the State)
...against invasion of privacy? (by the State)
etc. etc.
It is just really weird to find ourselves re-arguing matters of civilised democracy we all thought were settled long, long ago.
posted by Eugene Forsey Liberal @ 5:04 PM
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