After the Crisis
Anthony Watson
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota - Information Systems & Analysis

       How did it happen, why did it happen and what do we do? These are the questions we are asking ourselves now. Yet looking back upon a time in our lives when people’s private sexual lives were investigated to feed the ravenous media, when the abilities of the nation’s elected leader were in question because of his perceived lack of competency, and when atrocities around the globe were of miniscule meaning to the majority of “The Greatest Nation on Earth,” when did we ask ourselves what it means to be humane and to value the life of every human equally?
       As an American, I have lived for too many years never to have the stability of my world called into question. I have gone about my daily business not aware or concerned about the goings on of the world. I have only thought about tomorrow, about correctly punctuating my term paper and about what Timberland boots match best with my baby blue Phat Farm t-shirt and Roc-A-Wear jeans. Thinking about my near future, making sure that I register for the PSAT so that I can earn a 1540 on the SAT and working only hard enough to earn money to purchase the newest Playstation 2 video games. This has been the only semblance of “long-range” thought that had entered into my mind. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, in a land distant enough to require a Passport and a 25-hour trans-Atlantic flight, women and men are brutally beaten, a religious war rages on, and the stability of a treaty safeguarding the world from utter chaos is under scrutiny.
       As Americans, we have been blind to the true instability of our world because we only focus on our lives. We have not had an immense concern for anything else that does not directly affect us and have not actively pursued ways to improve the lives of every human worldwide. But, as America has been directly impacted by the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, our awareness levels have increased. Statements about a “global economy” and a “global marketplace” have been realized as truths that require Americans to seek a complete understanding of the world.
       So, as this “new world” of interconnectivity is unveiled to America, what is going to be our reaction to it? Will we continue to ask Why, What and How, or will we look introspectively and examine our values as individuals and a nation to discover that we have known the answers all along. Now is the time for “The Greatest Nation on Earth” to show its true colors, and lead the “global community” to find a peace that allows for all humans to prosper.