Michael Szubelak

While listening to the morning radio news, several thoughts occurred to me. The disaster of September 11 has shook one of the most powerful countries to its very core. Its politicians are handing out threats of swift punishment to all potential terrorists. Worst of all, some citizens are acting out–violently–against people they know very little about. However, through all the dust, anger and confusion shines a small, pure flame of goodness–the good inside people and the deeds they do.

Mind you, I’m not talking about regular people–adults who have the capacity, strength, knowledge and understanding to perform the great acts that we have all witnessed–I’m referring to children. Like the one who gives his teddy bear to the child who has lost a mother or a father. Or the one who will give you a hug when you are sad, not knowing the reason behind your sadness, but understanding that a hug is what you need right now. Children–these are the people who truly surprise me sometimes.

They have no way of understanding the complex social, political and economic aspects or consequences of the past weeks. They may not even realise the thousands of lives lost in the disaster. Yet they see that people are sad and crying. Children can sense the element of pain that a nation is feeling. So they reach out the only way they know how, by sharing and giving someone a much-needed hug. The children are the innocent and the pure.

Most Americans had once deemed their country to be impenetrable, even invincible. This was completely understandable, of course, considering the vast military strength and the “superpower” status with which the country prided itself. However, this unexpected assault certainly proved the nation wrong, demonstrating that the US is indeed vulnerable to attack. People realised that there are some serious weak spots in their national defense. The kingly crown the country wore crumpled right before its people’s eyes.

Since the terrorist attack we have witnessed a rise in violence toward certain ethnic groups, particularly people of Arab descent. The violence stems from a lack of understanding, or perhaps, a lack of caring to understand. The aggressors are looking for a scapegoat. Some people have become so blinded by ignorance and their wounded pride that they have directed their anger at any person with a slightly different skin tone.

The American public would surely be shocked, to say the least, if they could see the real pictures of the Vietnam War. The images of villages burned down, scattered bodies and crippled children. The pictures from the Gulf War did not show thousands of innocent civilians killed when they happened to get in the way of the American forces. Nobody wants to hear the cries of orphaned children, nobody wants to watch their dreams fall to the ground. Why has the public not heard of all these horrors? Because the truth is hidden from the mainstream by their own government. Like in most other countries–democratic or not–the public is fed only censored material. Facts are twisted around so that the people hear only what they are meant to hear and see only what they are meant to see.

All this may be very disenchanting. I had once felt that the world was fair and true but lost that illusion long ago. Sadness hits me whenever I think of the children who were never given the chance to be kids, to be innocent, to be the ones who could give me a hug.