9-11: How A Decaying Society Remembers A Tragedy
Today marks the 11th anniversary since a group of madmen hijacked four airliners and pulled off the greatest attack on American soil in the history of this nation, resulting in the deaths of thousands and irrevocably altering the course of American history. For those of us who were alive on that day, and who were old enough to be conscious of the horror we were witnessing, this day is a somber day of remembrance for those who lost their lives 11 years ago, and for those who lost their lives in the wars that followed.
Unfortunately, for a younger generation, 9-11-01 seems to be mostly just a day, like any other, the importance of what happened mostly lost on them. I first got a hint of this last year, on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, when I found myself in a conversation on Twitter with a 17-year-old kid.
He had asked why everyone was so serious about it, and the only response I could come up with was, “Well, how old were you when it happened and what do you remember?” Given his age, he said he would have been about seven, and that he really couldn’t remember much about that day. I gently reminded him that for those of us who clearly remember that day, and the days that followed, 9-11 is a very serious thing indeed. He agreed, and our conversation shifted to other things.
I must admit, I was somewhat perturbed by this. The single greatest tragedy in American history was just hitting it’s 10th anniversary, and a 17-year-old kid in Western Washington actually wondered why it was such a big deal. Now, this disconnect between the younger generation and the tragedy of 9-11 really didn’t become clear to me until I was lurking on 4chan.org/b/ the other night. Someone had started a thread, saying they just couldn’t wait to get a 9-11 thread going, and the /b/tards or /b/rothers (both names they chose for themselves) started sharing their 9-11 “images”.
I want to preface this before I go any further. The photos I’m about to share in this post will be offensive. They will assault your better sensibilities,they will probably make you angry, they will probably make you sad. But, we must confront this truth. And the truth is, 9-11 is just another joke to be made for the younger generation that spends their time in the anarchic madhouse that is /b/, and is an extremely disturbing symptom of this decaying society.
It should also be noted, that especially with the photo containing Obi-Wan, that we here at The Trenches do not agree with or condone the subtle messages contained in that particular image.
Brace yourselves… Here we go:
One of the Old Spice guys as the destroyer of the Towers
A reference to the popular 80s/90s wooden block game Jenga, in which players lost when their tower of blocks collapsed
A thinly veiled bit of racism mixed with pop culture. Also an implication of 9-11 "trutherism"
Hulk Hogan as the destroyer of the Towers. Also interesting to note that it's mostly 80's Hulk, the time that he termed himself as the "Real American Hero"
Another Star Wars reference, this time an AT-AT walker as the perpetrator.
Now, the next two do show *some* self-awareness by the denizens of /b/, but as always, there’s the underlying ethos of “not giving a f**k”.
A screenshot of a 2009 thread about 9-11
A vast contrast
It’s hard to know what to say, or how to react to these photos. For those that lost a loved one, those that watched the images of people jumping to their death, or those that sent a loved one to fight in a war half-a-world away, making a mockery of 9-11 seems unthinkable. But this is what happens when the pillars of a society and culture are slowly eroded from within by a philosophy that seeks to deconstruct all things and attempts to prove there is nothing good or worthy in this world we inhabit. This is what happens when a society begins to rot, to decay towards its own eventual destruction.
This, is a problem.
Going off on a bit of a tangent, one thing that is important to note is that the age of regulars of /b/ is reportedly very young. This post (I know it’s from something wikipedia related, but it was the best I could find on somewhat short notice) has one contributor indicating the average age of a /b/ user is approximately 15. 4chan itself lists it’s demographic as 18-34 on it’s “Advertise” page.
Now, that’s not to say that by arguing the age of /b/ users this kind of ridiculousness is being excused. But, it is important to note that many of it’s users are essentially children. Err, I mean teenagers and young 20 somethings. So most of the /b/tards are still in that mental state where doing something purely for the shock value of it is a modus operandi that is used very effectively.
Just to hammer home the point some more, this is what happens when a society decays. The youth have been twisted by cultural marxism, relativism, YOLO (You Only Live Once), and the eventual nihilism those paradigms lead to, is showing more and more.
Or, more simply, when nothing is sacred, well, nothing is sacred.
It can still be turned around, I think. But, it means we have to truly get out there and fight as hard as we can in every battlefield of the mind. I know it’s been said before by many others, but those who wish to see this country survive must make the internet, media, movies, books, art, their own. We must replenish this dying culture with the seeds of thought that made it the greatest and most successful experiment humanity has ever attempted.
While much of this post has been admittedly cynical, one thing should be noted. The silver lining somewhere in all of this is that one important message about 9-11 did get through to the addled brains of the younger generation.
Never forget.
