I was happy to reach this chapter, not only because it was the last chapter, but also I wanted to hear his view on 9/11 with the global world. He had been mentioning throughout the whole book briefly, and now I finally got to hear what he had to say. He basically compares 11/9 (the fall of the Berlin Wall) to 9/11 (the most tragic day in the U.S.) Friedman had a theory that while 9/11 was the fresh new start of the globalization world and freedom, the evil masterminds involved in 9/11 were trying to put it all into reverse. His theory makes sense to me. 9/11 was meant to impress fear upon people (the U.S. particularly) and to make us second guess our freedom. These evil masterminds involved were against globalization and prosperity through rising countries. I feel that this event is definitely a major flattening stopper (or a slowing) on globalization. The fear that people have from the event make us to be more cautious about certain information, security in public places, security on the internet, and numerous other things. I remember when it happened was my junior year of high school and we were watching it in our classrooms. It was a very sad day. It was then that firefighters were being regarded again as heroes and the saying “United we stand” could be heard everywhere. While it is a terrible event and countless lives were lost and households broken, I think it is important to learn from these experiences. I thought it was very beautiful that in the time of tragedy, U.S. citizens put aside their differences and all stood together. Everyone viewed each other as a sister or brother, not “just someone with a different religion, education, or political party as me.”
I agree with Friedman when he said that we as Americans must set an example by not running away from the world, but becoming good global citizens. We should change people’s thoughts from the fears of 9/11 into the hopes of a 11/9 world. If we are afraid and try to break out of contact with the global world, then no good can come of that. Fear does no good. We must be cautious in our nation’s and world’s safety, but we should keep moving on into the global world that can bring abundance to everyone involved.
1 comment:
I also believe that Americans should become good, global citizens instead of running away from the world. It's a lot easier said than done though because it seems as if the majority of Americans are running away. After September 11th, many people lost trust in each other. Everytime someone "different" walks into a restaurant or boards an airplane, people begin worrying that they may be a terrorist. Although safety is important, I have seen many violent actions and heard harsh words said when the attacker has no proof that their target is "bad". Just like trick-or-treating ... instead of wanting to go out with friends and family this year, people thought it would be better to stay home and buy their children candy instead or enjoying going door to door. I have mixed feelings on all of this but do believe that most Americans are not doing their best at beoming good, global citizens.
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