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		Points of View October 16, 2001 Guest Column © 2001 Merle Kindred Published with Permission

Early Morning Ruminations on Life after September 11th

October 12, 2001

HANCOCK -- I find myself awakening early in the morning (1 o'clock now) in the midst of complex dreams about rhetorical debate regarding the life we've all been thrust into since the world-shattering events of last month. This morning's dream was focusing on inability to communicate with the peoples of Afghanistan.

I have been invited to do a guest column in keweenawnow.com expanding on the sentiments I voiced almost as reflexive action on September 11th. That notorious letter printed in the Michigan Tech Lode brought me a perfect Bell Curve of response: a request for a reprint in the Copper Country Peace Alliance newsletter, two thoughtful emails from Tech students who identified themselves and countered my position, and one anonymous email (since identified and dealt with) that threatened bodily harm. The gist of my letter, written bluntly, was to examine elements of the American Way of Life that might possibly incite such rage against this country.

I must have struck a nerve, or struck out, because I've only seen a couple of printed pieces that even come close to the issues I raised. An email entitled "On the Bombings" that's been flying around the Internet from Noam Chomsky, the "linguist laureate" of the United States, says, "we can seek to understand what may have led to the crimes, which means making an effort to enter the minds of the likely perpetrators. . . .we may try to understand, or refuse to do so, contributing to the likelihood that much worse lies ahead." Susan Sontag in The New Yorker (Sept. 24, 2001) says, "the public is not being asked to bear much of the burden of reality. . . . Those in public office have let us know that they consider their task to be a manipulative one: confidence-building and grief management. . . . 'Our country is strong,' we are told again and again. . . . But that's not all America has to be."

The gist of my response to the graphic horrors of September 11th was that non-Americans (not identified when my response was published) were in a sense leaping up and down and waving their arms by destroying such symbolic buildings in an effort to get America's attention about issues that were not being dealt with. There are much more than material and religious differences involved. We talk of hijackings and assassinations and usually assign the acts and roles to the "other," but I see America as hijacking the desires of much of the world's population and assassinating entire cultural traditions and being fairly unaware of the phenomena or its dire consequences.

Isn't this a bit strong? Are Americans really so awful? Yes, it's strong and no, Americans aren't consciously so awful. The hijacking and assassinating comes largely from our economic drive, which has the force of a steamroller. We must SELL constantly to keep this ship of state afloat. (Look at how we're urged to buy, buy, buy and keep our fragile economy going during this aftershock period.) And what do we sell? Not just the stuff that requires what Mathis Wackernagel in The Ecological Footprint indicates needs three globes to maintain, but also the movies, the TV shows, the clothing, the music and all that seemingly constitutes the lifestyle of the American Dream. We know that much of what we as Americans are subjected to in our society doesn't portray who we ordinary Americans really are, but the rest of the world doesn't know this.

What I see and hear in the response from friends and relatives, students and colleagues is second only to what I don't see and hear. Americans are shocked at how they've been attacked and are either totally bewildered or in a supreme case of denial about why such wrath is being directed against them. As a naturalized American citizen who has spent 75 per cent of her life in America, I realize most Americans don't perceive or choose to perceive how "others" respond to them. All the flag waving is to support the status quo, which is no longer sustainable. "Normal" and "business as usual" are at an end as previously defined, enjoyed.

I truly don't cherish the role of a Jonah or a Cassandra, and I'm sometimes scaring myself by what I'm saying and doing, but what terrifies me most about the current situation is that what's really at stake is nothing less than the survival of the human species on this planet. This sounds dramatic. It is.

The perverse reality of the American Dream is that what looks so good on the surface is so very bad for the human species on this planet. The bubble will burst. The American Way of Life in this country of 285 million is not maintainable, sustainable and certainly not attainable by the entire 6 billion people sharing this finite orb. And I am not alone in voicing this certainty.

I presented papers in Regina, Saskatchewan, at Solar Odyssey 2001 in late September on our passive solar, energy efficient designs for homes, including those for Habitat for Humanity, at high latitude here in the Copper Country. Stephen Lewis, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, chaired the first International Conference on Climate Change, which drafted the first comprehensive policy on global warming. Mr. Lewis spoke passionately at the conference about climate change as the #1 issue in the world today, not withstanding the events of September 11th.

Bruce Babbitt, former President Clinton's Secretary of the Interior, spoke here at Michigan Technological University on October 3rd and said, "Fossil fuel consumption at current rates will raise the mean temperature of this planet between four and ten degrees F. by the year 2050. The resulting water level rise will completely submerge some island nations." He also said America needed a "domestic policy to address our addiction to fossil fuels."

Let us speak of oil. Oil is such an elegant material and so incredibly versatile (Just look at all the oil-based products surrounding you as you read this -- including most of your computer!). Yet we burn it in unconscionable quantities in gas-fired engines, a technology that is over a century old. The Earth is a finite space and petroleum is a finite resource on this planet. But look who runs America: Bush the Elder during the Gulf War and now Bush the Younger during our current oil-based war -- both oil men. Their allegiance and bias is obvious. And our thirst for oil keeps us tied to the Middle East and keeps those in power on both sides of the bargain rich.

We have other options for energy, and I don't have to list them. Alternative energy gets about $300 million a year for R&D, if it's lucky. What Americans don't recognize is what Ross Gelbspan reveals in The Heat is On: oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear industries get $30 BILLION dollars a year in federal tax subsidies. Even if gas goes up 20 cents at the pumps or home heating oil doubles, we still have cheap energy and energy that is producing deadly pollution.

It's now 4 a.m. and I think I'll go back to bed. I've shared the bulk of my musings over the events or lack of events of the past month. What I haven't mentioned is the obvious: the intense sorrow at the grief and anger and fear experienced by the family and friends of those killed and injured September 11th. So much has been said and shown, that my commentary is unnecessary. I also mourn the 150,000 plus Iraqi civilians killed by the U.S. since 1993 and all the Afghanistan civilians dying now.

Enough of the analytical and the critical. Are there any solutions for ordinary Americans? I think each of us has to take personal responsibility for helping with the unraveling and reweaving the fabric of civilizations, creating a just allocation of resources, and absolutely focusing on addressing critical environmental issues. I'm a recent widow with ten grandchildren and I feel compelled to act for their future. I had felt the real catastrophes of our "brat boomer" willful lifestyle would explode after my generation's passing; now I think we will experience it all. The informed, self-moderating, global decisions we Americans as leaders of the Western world make now will help determine whether it's "make or break" for human beings on this planet.

Learn more about the author of this guest column, Merle Kindred.

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Note: Views expressed by our guest columnists are not necessarily the views of Keweenaw Now.