Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 11:32:47 -0400 To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> Subject: "Attack on America" - a Personal Response Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 18:26:34 -0700 From: Sandy Sandfort <sandfort@mindspring.com> To: Cypherpunks <cypherpunks@lne.com> Subject: FW: "Attack on America" - a Personal Response
C'punks,
Here's a thoughtful piece I received from Sean Hastings:
> From: Sean Hastings [mailto:whysean@softhome.net]
> Sent: 12 September, 2001 20:22
> Subject: FW: "Attack on America" - a Personal Response
>
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> "Attack on America" - a Personal Response
> by Sean Hastings
>
> My wife Jo, my dog Wasabi, and myself were all in New York City at the
> time of the attack on the World Trade Center. Thankfully we are all
> alive and unharmed.
>
> Although we were just a few miles from the site of the crashes, we were
> alerted to what was going on by a friend's phone call and turned on the
> news to watch. Safely insulated from it all by the magic of television,
> we saw the Twin Towers burn and collapse knowing that tens of thousands
> of people were probably still inside. Later, as we were able to get
> through on a somewhat overloaded telephone network, we called our
> friends and family around the world to assure them that we were safe,
> and we called our New York friends to make sure that they too were ok.
>
> Some friends I talked to personally witnessed the second jet strike the
> tower and saw people leaping to their deaths to escape the flames. One
> told me the story of a London office connected to its New York
> branch in
> the World Trade Center by a live video link. Their trapped co-workers
> told them that they were unable to leave the building, and that they
> knew they were all going to die, then the screen went blank at the same
> time as the TV news showed one of the towers collapse.
>
> Communications technology has brought this tragedy to all of us more
> closely than was ever before possible. An entire nation, and perhaps
> most of the world was able to watch these events unfold in real time.
> Feedback of reactions from around the world was also available in real
> time. Most people were shocked and horrified, but I also saw
> reports of
> people in some countries cheering and celebrating this attack on the
> US. My first reaction was very emotional - I found myself thinking
> "Bomb them back into the stone age" - and this shocked me. I consider
> myself to be an individualist to the core, but I now know that a blind
> loyalty to the group does exists somewhere deep inside me. At that
> moment, I would have been willing to unthinkingly follow anyone
> claiming to know how to justly avenge these acts, and prevent any more
> such in the future.
>
> Then I saw the start of the political rhetoric - various politicians
> declaring that this was a time for supporting our leaders, and not
> questioning or second-guessing their actions - law enforcement
> officials saying that this was precisely why they all needed greater
> powers over my life. Before the fires were even out - while people
> were still burning and being crushed to death under tons of rubble -
> there were already people trying to use my emotional reaction to
> increase their power over my life and further their careers.
>
> It was then that I realized that I was witnessing a very real threat to
> our nation and our way of life. Not from the kind of disturbed people
> who crash airplanes into buildings, but from people who would use such
> an event to further erode our freedoms - those masters of demagoguery
> who, while claiming to be the good guys, and in the name of defending
> our country, our freedom, and our way of life, will try to take away
> everything this country is supposed to be about. Even those with only
> the best of intentions may severely jeopardize our liberty at a time
> like this if they are not careful to give the freedom we tend to take
> for granted the highest priority in considering any course of action.
>
> So I know that a hoard of voices will now be crying out for your
> attention, trying to use this event to convince you that we should
> take whatever course of action most benefits their own position. I
> know that my voice is just a small one in this cacophony, and unless
> you agree with my message and forward it far and wide, I will scarcely
> be noticed. But I will speak my advice anyway, and hope it does some
> good. All I have to say to you is this:
>
> Do not let your natural reactions of fear or anger help ANYONE to
> further their short term political goals, or impose any "temporary"
> measures. These are frightening and enraging times indeed, but it is
> important to keep this simple truth firmly in mind: You cannot defend
> freedom by reducing freedom. The people who try to tell you otherwise
> are the ones who should frighten and anger you most.
>
> We all want security and justice, but we must to be careful about the
> price we are willing to pay. If we allow these tragic events to lead
> to a reduction of our freedom, then the bad guys win.
>
> --Sean Hastings
> --New York, Sept 12, 2001
> --mailto:sean@havenco.com
>
> Please forward, summarize, quote, alter, or in any other way use this
> text, in whole or part, as you choose. It is placed into the public
> domain with no rights reserved or implied.
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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