That was one of the biggest tragedies in recorded history. Do you even know what it did to the economy? It was like Black Monday on a 5x multiplier.
The World Trade Center, keyword TRADE. This isn't pokemon shit, this is real-world stocks and dollars. The portfolios were ruined.
The next time you laugh at that, think about the human beings that had their vacation bonuses decimated that day. Think about how the economic blow made countries like China catch up to us. Just think about that.
Thinking about it with this thread, I think this song ironically did the most to make me think about 9/11 as a concept. As a child, I saw the smoke for a week waiting for the bus. I knew folks who had to walk 10 miles home because the bridges were closed. My younger siblings were with a babysitter in Queens and my parent's were thoroughly freaked out.
Yet I grew up with a war on TV that was obviously lopsided. How can you see the permanent image of a super-soldier with crumbling ruins behind him and not thing "hey this war doesn't seem to be doing much".
The yearly song and dance with 1000s of little flags to remember always struck me as absurd and Jeff Rosenstock put it to some great words.
"We can’t forget 3,000 lives
We got the flag to prove it
We got the sticker and the bracelet
We got a list of specials and we set the DVR so we won’t miss it
We waste no time
I got the fever for a feature
A new target for a campaign speech
And a couple cents off at the pump tonight
You want the action hit of the summer
Where Nick Cage really learns something
Or the made-for-TV suspense-thriller
Where the pimp from Taxi Driver is attacking Clinton’s credibility?
Or how about some amateur footage of southern Virginians crying to the camera
And shopping at Rite-Aid, buying flags to translate what they gotta prove on this year’s anniversary
We’re mourning the loss, oh what can you do
But make the evening news logo red white and blue?
I got the fever for a feature
A new target for a campaign speech
And another moot point on the floor tonight
I got the fever for a feature
A holiday for a high school teacher
And a couple cents off at the pump tonight"