Slate staff members discuss the current crisis.
Fray posters are calling for more Slate staff entries, and getting mutinous, so I'm obliging with something to criticize.
PRINT
DISCUSS
E-MAIL
RSS
RECOMMEND...
Facebook
MySpace
Mixx
Digg
Reddit
del.icio.us
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Sphere
StumbleUpon
I'm not a U.S. citizen; I lived in the UK for most of my life, through long periods when there was a high perceived danger of terrorist attacks. There were times when Irish people (including my family) were treated with suspicion and fear. We learnt to live with flare-ups of danger and of hostility, and with some minor inconveniences. (I was amazed when I came to live in the United States to find that it was OK to leave your bags briefly unattended in a public place.) And so these are my Unpopular Questions from a Foreigner:
Do you think this has never happened to anyone else? Of course the death toll on Sept. 11 was horrifyingly high, but it is still valid to say that Americans are not used to such bad things so close, unlike people in most parts of the world, and it makes your reaction different. This is not going to be a popular view, but the constant undertone of "they can't do this to us: we're Americans" is not attractive. My most cosmopolitan, best-informed, most politically knowledgeable friend e-mailed me from Europe: "I spent my three minutes of silence thinking of Baghdad, and Tripoli, and Beirut. ... Just as innocent, just as dead, just as nasty for each individual." Not sentiments I've been hearing much in America.
Do you think whatever security measures are introduced will be maintained at that level? I was a frequent transatlantic flyer at the time of the Lockerbie disaster. Security levels rose dramatically--I was once questioned closely because I had bought my ticket the day of flying--but in the end went way back down again. (Any infringements of civil liberties will, however, surely remain.)
How much money does the relief fund need? This is not meant as an uncharitable remark, a stingy one, or as an excuse not to donate. I want every dead fireman's family to be safe; I hate to think of dependents left with no money because the breadwinner died. But: who else needs the money? Where will it go? This is a weird question, but who and how does money help when a single, childless 25-year-old bond trader dies? Were the casualties insured? People give because they want to do something, but the sad history of disaster funds in England suggests that the money ends up being a source of endless recrimination and troubles. And, as ever, there is a finite amount that people give to charity, and if it's going to this cause, it is not going to other needful charities.
And one last question: Why do people keep circulating that dreadful piece by the Canadian about how wonderful America is? (I'm not linking to it, but the ever-valuable snopes gives details.) It's a snide, whiny, deeply selective view of history, written in 1973. If I were American, I'd be embarrassed by it: Is putting a man on the moon really your best defense? And what is his point about the draft-dodgers? Does anyone else object to it as much as I do?
The Scariest Thing Gen. McChrystal Told Congress About Afghanistan
Is It Irresponsible To Give Your Kids Cell Phones in the Age of Sexting?
The Obama Administration Finally Gets Serious About Transparency
So Are We Done Cleaning Up the Exxon Valdez Spill Yet?
What, Exactly, Do You Do at a Climate-Change Conference?
The World's Greatest Boxer Is Running for Office. Don't Vote for Him.
