And You're Surprised

Four years later, the anniversary of the worst act of terror ever perpetrated against the people of the United States and in the wake of the worst natural disaster their country has ever seen, I'm still struck not by the resilience of the American people but by the unbridled arrogance of the citizens of the richest nation in the world.

What the hell did you think would happen? Build an enormous cock of a building and another one right next door, buildings to house multinationals and companies involved in World Trade. Then you run around the world dominating markets, controlling the peoples and politics of other nations.

And you're surprised...

Some people from one of those countries you've been domineering for your own gain and "security" manage to surgically destroy a major symbol of American superiority. The financial district of the world's most powerful city - symbolically castrated by a few sweaty guys from some god forsaken place, all live and direct on CNN. Ingenious David V. Goliath blow?

And you're surprised...

New Orleans, a city built below sea level, very close to the ocean and in one of the most active bad weather areas on the planet.

And you're surprised...

Maybe just maybe FEMA and the CIA can't foresee and do everything.

Go ahead and rebuild your towers and pump out New Orleans, tell everyone it will all be alright, The Man is still in control, nothing else could ever happen.

A wise nation might have gleaned a valuable lesson from 9/11. - The world is a little too big for one nation to control and not everyone wants or needs to be your friend. Maybe you should try to make friends rather than make people be your friends. The more you try to help and the less you try to take the more you wind up getting.

The United States has a second chance. 9/11 was used as an excuse to further control the world. Fear was bred to justify terrible vengeance. There is no excuse for New Orleans. They knew it was coming and they had plans in place and they couldn't stop bad things from happening. Perhaps the planet has finally succeeded in wrestling the perception of control out of the grip of the American Empire.

Maybe humility will work its way into Uncle Sam's vocabulary.