The world changed on that day. I remember, it was a cool early morning on Bainbridge Island. We lived in a small cottage near Manitou Beach with a detached little garage where I was puttering. I’d been restoring a 1967 Airstream 30′ trailer, and my garage was part workshop and part man cave. I had an old upright piano in there, that someone had painted blue for some reason. My 1974 Honda CB750 (which I still have) was in there too along with my Sansui stereo and a TV. I was sipping my hot coffee enjoying the cool morning, the garage door was open allowing the fresh smell of trees and ocean to fill the space. As always I had on several layers of clothing and my wool cap which the climate in the Puget Sound required. We did not have much money, but we had a beautiful 1 year old daughter and a peaceful and optimistic life.
I happened to turn on the TV just as the news flashed that a passenger jet had struck the World Trade Center. What the!?!? I thought this could not be an accident – I was glued to the television and was watched live as the second jet filled with passengers slammed at 500+ MPH into the second tower! Then the news of another jet plowing into the Pentagon and of the fourth jet going down in Pennsylvania came through. I was horrified at the carnage and evil inflicted on American civilians who were simply going about their day only to be ruthlessly murdered and used by evil zealots. As I watched, I could see the people leaping from the burning floors of the towers, their bodies looked tiny as they fell. One could mistake them for screen anomalies, until you looked closer and realized that wasn’t screen static, those were people choosing that instead of flame.
I watched as the massive towers, the largest buildings on earth, collapsed onto the city, onto rescue crews fighting to reach the stricken people trapped in the bldg. First one tower came down, then the other, then Bldg 7. It was unbelievably sad and tragic.
My mind bounced between terror attack -or- the beginning of World War 3. Whatever was going on I knew things were going to change for the worse. Since that time we’ve had 18 years of war, we’ve seen our civil liberties erode in the name of safety and security, I’ve witnessed the consolidation of the media and media control that behaves like Pravda did (does?) in the days of the Soviet Union – controlling the narrative, suppressing and censoring, and spreading blatant propaganda. It’s scary because they want to control people.
I can feel the erosion of privacy and autonomy through the tracking of all my personal data. Recently google maps showed me a list of everywhere I have been in the last month! And, we allow this in the name of convenience -or- because “technology is cool”? I guess we’ll see . . .
I remember what happened, and have seen the result. I also remember what it felt like before – a more relaxed and optimistic time. I’m not being nostalgic here, we were more free then and we had more privacy. Never forget what it was like before. 9/11 signaled more clearly than ever the intentions of forces and ideologies that wish to destroy a way of life – just as it has already been destroyed in many other places and times through terror and intimidation and manipulation.
9/11 and the uncertainty it caused influenced my decision to move my little family, and changed the course of our lives and my career. We left Bainbridge Island and Seattle before the year ended for the promise of community with friends and family in Southern California. But, that’s another story.
Our culture, and the principles of natural rights upon which it stands, values the divine within each person and ensures each individual’s liberty; and, confers each of us a trust and a responsibility. 9/11 is a day to remember and re-affirm our resolve to never capitulate or submit to terrorism, manipulation, or control in the name of safety and convenience.
I am grateful to be a part of a culture where I can regulate and improve myself 365 days a year.
Ben Wagner (235)
Member The365Commitment
