“It’s high time for a tower to scrape the sky again in Lower Manhattan.”
—On Monday afternoon, wind-willing, one will.
ETA: New 1 WTC will be 1776 feet tall. Think they planned that? ;)
Actually, I think the empty space was a great reminder of military power—and its limitations. 19 conspirators with very limited resources successfully attacked the most powerful nation on earth. We must concentrate on making peace, not spending endlessly on military.
(via maximummuskeg)
I absolutely believe military power absolutely is limited, that we are far too invested in our military, and that the true strength of the U.S. comes from “the enduring power of our ideals.” But given that we invaded another country while there was a big whole in the ground, I’m not sure that the empty space really reminded us of our vulnerability.
I was in NYC in January 2008, when Ground Zero was a whole in the ground surrounded by fences and cranes. When I looked at it, I felt only sadness, a sadness wholly unconnected with American military might, but connected instead with watching TV on a Tuesday morning in my Spanish classroom, unable to tear my eyes from dark hair flying every which way on tiny, distant figures as they jumped from the tallest towers I’d ever seen.
The empty space was a reminder of tears and hugs and confusion and fear. Of sadness.
The tower says that yes, everyone is vulnerable to attacks, to smoke, to fire, to death, to fear, but not everyone can come back.
We will come back.
