A 9/11 Lesson
I lived in NYC on 9/11. My mom worked at WTC & was rescued by a guy who pulled her into a subway station as the first tower was collapsing. She was missing for 10 hours. We feared the worst. Cell towers were down. She trekked through subway tunnels to Brooklyn.
🍡
I lived in NYC on 9/11. My mom worked at WTC & was rescued by a guy who pulled her into a subway station as the first tower was collapsing. She was missing for 10 hours. We feared the worst. Cell towers were down. She trekked through subway tunnels to Brooklyn.
🍡
The heaviest relief came when we finally reconnected. It never came for so many.
As the smouldering stench that permeated the city for months subsided, so did their hopes.
You'll hear plenty of platitudes today. But I try to take one lesson from that experience each year...
As the smouldering stench that permeated the city for months subsided, so did their hopes.
You'll hear plenty of platitudes today. But I try to take one lesson from that experience each year...
This year, that lesson is "freedom", but not in the way you think...
The same people who created the Taliban & Al Qaeda manipulated an emotional nation into a preposterous idea: imposing our definition of freedom on others - with war.
The same people who created the Taliban & Al Qaeda manipulated an emotional nation into a preposterous idea: imposing our definition of freedom on others - with war.
https://twitter.com/ideafaktory/status/1436503559424643079
War is big business for very powerful interests. So first, I want to thank Presidents Trump & Biden for finally ending a war in a place where "freedom" wasn't the problem. We were.
It ended as ugly as it began. We knew better. Freedom cannot be imposed.
It ended as ugly as it began. We knew better. Freedom cannot be imposed.
https://twitter.com/ideafaktory/status/1436507842006093828
What saddens me today is how we fail to apply Afghanistan's lesson to ourselves.
Our fights are failures to recognize we have wildly different definitions of freedom. And some, rank freedom far below other priorities, like safety or comfort.
Our fights are failures to recognize we have wildly different definitions of freedom. And some, rank freedom far below other priorities, like safety or comfort.
We (mostly) seem to get that when it comes to TV shows.
"Why doesn't SpongeBob ever address cancel culture or the Armenian genocide??"
That sounds just as insane as a New Yorker telling someone in Texas how they should live. And vice versa.
"Why doesn't SpongeBob ever address cancel culture or the Armenian genocide??"
That sounds just as insane as a New Yorker telling someone in Texas how they should live. And vice versa.
This country can accommodate many definitions and prioritizations of freedom, but it must remain free to do so.
That is our great irony - and the beauty of federalism - we have the capacity to do this, if not the will.
That is our great irony - and the beauty of federalism - we have the capacity to do this, if not the will.
The sooner we acknowledge we need each other, the sooner we can have that kind of freedom once more.
https://twitter.com/ideafaktory/status/1433907908744466437
This demands rebuilding trust in our leaders and institutions.
As we saw in Afghanistan, mandates are met with resistance, when authority is illegitimate.
Legitimize our authorities and we can have freedom again, however we define it.
Be well. Be free.
As we saw in Afghanistan, mandates are met with resistance, when authority is illegitimate.
Legitimize our authorities and we can have freedom again, however we define it.
Be well. Be free.
https://twitter.com/ideafaktory/status/1431613301901901829
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