Why Do We Care So Much about 9/11?

[_Res Ipsa]

In asking why we care about 9/11, I think you are asking why it drives our foreign policy, or why other events that have caused more deaths get less attention. That's slightly different than the event itself. But for me, 9/11 was a shared national tragedy.

There's no doubt. That was one of the scariest days of my life. Another would be the day after Trump was elected.

This thread isn't really about wondering why we care about 9/11. It's about why so many people don't care about the death toll of COVID that is 67 times bigger. Sure, 9/11 was in our faces and visceral, and I think we should all have sat up and paid attention that day. My real question is why the hell so many Americans aren't sitting up now.

I'm forced to conclude that many Americans aren't really all that concerned with their fellow Americans' lives, and just enjoy a good excuse to go kick some brown people's asses.

I think the difference is time and images. We have film of one of the plane's hitting a tower, film of both towers on fire, pictures of people jumping to their deaths from the towers, and film of the towers collapsing. The tragedy happened all within the space of a few hours.

Severe COVID-19 illness and death happens in a chunk every day. And the disaster happens largely inside hospitals, where few pictures are taken. Human brains have trouble grasping the scope of a disaster that occurs over time and almost entirely out of sight.

I think leadership also explains some of the difference. GWB worked on uniting the country against a common foe. DJT pitted Americans against each other.

I grew up mostly in Bellingham, Washington. Back then it was a town with about 40,000 residents. When I think about my hometown being obliterated five times, my brain starts to grasp the scale of our loss. For some folks, maybe the complete destruction of the population of Salt Lake City is a more meaningful comparison.

[_Some Schmo]

I grew up mostly in Bellingham, Washington. Back then it was a town with about 40,000 residents. When I think about my hometown being obliterated five times, my brain starts to grasp the scale of our loss. For some folks, maybe the complete destruction of the population of Salt Lake City is a more meaningful comparison.

In preparation for the possibility that we may need to leave the country after the election, we've sold our home and moved to a new location where we're renting until we see what happens. The city we moved to has about the same population of the current US COVID death toll.

This is a small but full service city. Quarter of a million people. It's like this whole city died in 8 months. It blows my mind.

[_Res Ipsa]

I’m sorry that you feel the need to leave the country if Trump steals the election. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

[_Some Schmo]

I’m sorry that you feel the need to leave the country if Trump steals the election. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

It's mostly pragmatism. Living in a country that can't get its sh-it together on the pandemic is just prolonging the pain. I need to take my family to a country that takes science more seriously.

I'd rather not (I have many fond friends here, all over this country), and if Biden wins, I'll feel more comfortable staying, but Trump being reelected means the end of this country in my opinion, so I'll get out while the gettin's good. I'll feel bad for the friends I'm leaving behind (despite having the same contact I have now), but I have to put my family's safety first.

[_Some Schmo]

I’m sorry that you feel the need to leave the country if Trump steals the election.

By the way, you say that as though you think the only way Trump retains power is by cheating. Do you not think he can win the Electoral College again without cheating (given Russia's attempt to interfere again)?

I know all polls point to Biden right now, but I can't help but feel PTSD from 2016.

[_ajax18]

Schmo you could use your espanol to move to Spain. You can get a firsthand view of how masks, lockdowns, and a liberal government obliterated any threat of Covid and stopped any resurgences from happening now. After all Covid only kills people in the US where Trump is president and where red state governors opened up too soon. There's no Covid in blue states because their Democrat governors and mayors locked down the economy from the start. They've got plenty of money to fight the disease as well since we all know that blue states earned more and paid more taxes when they were locked down.

[_Some Schmo]

Schmo you could use your espanol to move to Spain. You can get a firsthand view of how masks, lockdowns, and a liberal government obliterated any threat of Covid and stopped any resurgences from happening now. After all Covid only kills people in the US where Trump is president and where red state governors opened up too soon. There's no Covid in blue states because their Democrat governors and mayors locked down the economy from the start. They've got plenty of money to fight the disease as well since we all know that blue states earned more and paid more taxes when they were locked down.

Well, you've maintained your perfect record of always writing a post laced with idiocy. Nice work.

[_Res Ipsa]

I’m sorry that you feel the need to leave the country if Trump steals the election.

By the way, you say that as though you think the only way Trump retains power is by cheating. Do you not think he can win the Electoral College again without cheating (given Russia's attempt to interfere again)?

I know all polls point to Biden right now, but I can't help but feel PTSD from 2016.

Take a look at the polling from just before the election four years ago in the key states with polling today. Four years ago, Hillary led Trump by small amounts in those states, but she was around 48 or 47%. In the final days, undecideds broke hard for Trump, and he eked out a victory by winning three states by small margins.

Biden today is at 50% and higher in key states. Trump can’t win by a last minute break of undecided. He has to pull votes from people who say they are voting for Biden. And he can’t do it. In the middle of a deadly pandemic, he’s holding superspreader rallies. That’s not going to attract people inclined to vote for Biden.

If those opposed to Trump and, more importantly, what he stands for, stick to their ballots and vote, Trump is facing a Jimmy Carter like loss. And he’ll drag down the Republican Party like an anchor.

Trump’s Campaign is running on fumes, and nobody’s willing to invest in him. He has no closing message that sums up why we should let him run the country for four more years. Through his moronic handling of the pandemic, he destroyed his only selling point — the economy.

I’m not advocating for complacency, but we need to start acting like winners. Work hard down the stretch, but do it with confidence. We are winning. We have the momentum. What we need is to run up the score.

[_Res Ipsa]

Schmo you could use your espanol to move to Spain. You can get a firsthand view of how masks, lockdowns, and a liberal government obliterated any threat of Covid and stopped any resurgences from happening now. After all Covid only kills people in the US where Trump is president and where red state governors opened up too soon. There's no Covid in blue states because their Democrat governors and mayors locked down the economy from the start. They've got plenty of money to fight the disease as well since we all know that blue states earned more and paid more taxes when they were locked down.

Well, you've maintained your perfect record of always writing a post laced with idiocy. Nice work.

There’s wrong. There’s not even wrong. Ajax’s post is not even.