Dreaming of War
Dreaming of War
This chapter comments on the suggestion that 9/11, as devastating as it has been, may produce something good: an improvement in the national character or, at any rate, a salutary blow to Americans’ purported complacency and self-indulgence. An editorial in the New York Times opined, “Americans desperately want to commit to something greater than themselves. That was the secret of what we admired in the World War II era, and it is what this new war against terrorism will require as well. The awful week of death and destruction that has just ended might be the invitation to create a great new generation and a finer United States.” According to the New York Times Op-Ed columnist Frank Rich, any event with the power to force shark attacks off People’s cover can’t be all bad: “National suffering of almost any kind could be domesticated into an experience of virtual terror akin to a theme park ride”.
Keywords: war, 9/11, New York Times, terrorism, United States, Frank Rich, national character
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