I haven’t written in a while and maybe that’s good. This post won’t make me popular, but then again… I don’t really care. Stop reading if you are worried… Yesterday I heard several people talk about and read several posts about Patriot Day. Why is the holiday to honor people who died on September 11, 2001, called Patriots Day? What is a “Patriot” anyway?
Patriot \Pa”tri*ot\ (p[=a]”tr[i^]*[o^]t; 277), n. [F. patriote;
cf. Sp. patriota, It. patriotto; all fr. Gr. patriw`ths a
fellow-countryman, fr. pa`trios established by forefathers,
fr. path`r father. See Father.]
One who loves his country, and zealously supports its
authority and interests. –Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
By this definition I am not a patriot. I am in no way a zealous supporter of my country. I am more likely a zealous advocate for change in patriotism. And I can’t say that I love my country. I can tell you I’m pissed. People died and continue to die and its not about patriotism but politics.
This day is supposed to honor the 2993 that died as a result of the attacks on the world trade center on September 11, 2001. Humans in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in political cross hairs over oil we won’t even have for another 20 years. Are we sure they are patriots? Does dying by the hands (or body) of a “terrorist” make them patriots? What if the only real patriots were the firefighters and cops? And really… even some of them were probably not what’s considered a patriot. If you died in a “terrorist attack” would you want a patriot’s day to honor your death? What if you were fighting for revolution, hated the American government and happened to be flying to see your sister that day… now you are suddenly a patriot instead of an advocate for change. Your name is now associated with loving American interests, supporting its government (and Bush by proxy which would piss you off all the more). You are associated with America and what it stands for. You are now all that shit because you died by circumstance. You were not a patriot and wouldn’t want to be recognized as such, but you’ve been made into one for the rest of our written history because some asshole decided this day should be about ‘merica (fuck yeah) instead of about people.
If you want to honor the people that died that day, find a name that honors the people, not some fucking political agenda. Call it Never Forget Day (how many shirts did I see with Never Forget on it??) or Tragic Loss Day or some other name that conveys how badly it sucked to have people’s loved ones die like that. Oh wait… Some others know. Didn’t something similar happen before, not close to this scale or degree, but didn’t it? There was a “terrorist” attack on a federal building in Oklahoma. What of the people that died then? Are their deaths less “patriotic” because it wasn’t a foreigner that killed them? What about a holiday called Innocent Victims Day? And honor the infallible heroism shown by firefighters, police officers and the other emergency workers with a day of their own… one that shows the sacrifices some made by traveling from all parts of the country to help other humans. Maybe in that moment there was a note of patriotism, but the reality is if it hadn’t been “terrorists” but some other event that took lives, those same people would have come because people needed help.
This holiday doesn’t serve as remembrance of people but an event and a political agenda. You don’t hear talk about the people that died you hear about 9/11 and how tragic. The people that died are remembered everyday because someone hurts, someone feels loss, someone is left behind by their death.
