End of an Empire
Brain Walsh
January 1, 2003
Insofar as we use centuries to mark not just calendar time but also historical epochs, it will be said that the twenty-first century, indeed the third millennium, began on the morning of 11 September 2001. From leading politicians to media commentators to interviews on the street the same theme emerged. Something world-shaking has happened here and we will never be the same again.
Let there be no mistaking the symbolic power of these attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The perpetrators of these attacks knew the power of symbols and they knew that power well. The attack went to the symbolic heart of American culture—its economic control and military power.
And it is clear that the American political leadership understood that the battle at hand was a battle of mythical proportions. President Bush and other politicians stated over and over throughout the day that "freedom" had been attacked that morning. An attack on the World Trade Center is an attack on freedom. Of course this makes total sense if you live in a world in which freedom is primarily defined as the liberty to make profits and the liberty to consume. And an attack on the Pentagon is an attack on freedom. Of course, countless people around the world would identify their oppression closely with the military and economic operations that were targeted on this fateful day.
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America is open for business? Does this sound like a callous and irrelevant comment under such circumstances? Not at all. You see, "America is open for business" means the forces of chaos will not triumph because the forces of salvation are stronger. And salvation is found in an ever-expanding global economy. The drama of Mr. Bush's four minutes on television was worthy of ...
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