According to the 9/11 Commission, 2,981 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. This tragic and horrific event can arguably be said to represent the most significant attack against the United States in history. Each of us can remember where
According to the 9/11 Commission, 2,981 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. This tragic and horrific event can arguably be said to represent the most significant attack against the United States in history.
Each of us can remember where we were at the moment those planes slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and each of us has burned into our minds those images of the buildings collapsing, the smoke rising, the people leaping from the windows and the looks of fear and sadness from all on this day.
Since that time, over 100,000 additional deaths have occurred as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. People, soldiers and civilians alike continue to die daily in the continuing conflict.
How Hawai‘i has changed since 9/11 depends in large part on one’s individual perspective and how this tragedy has touched each of us personally, or not.
If you have lost a loved one, if you have yourself been injured, or if you have served in the war or been directly involved in the events of the past eight years resulting from the 9/11 attacks, it is possible that your life will never be the same.
To others, life in Hawai‘i may not have changed very much at all. Traffic continues to be a challenge, housing continues to be too expensive, and wages continue to be too low relative to Hawai‘i’s cost of living.
The price of oil stood then at around $24 per barrel and now hovers around $70. Gasoline at the pump was at $1.50 per gallon and today is at $2.60 or so.
The unemployment rate in Hawai‘i was around 4 percent and today it has climbed over 7 percent.
The stock market closed on Sept. 11, 2009, at 9,605.41 nearly the exact same level the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at the day of the tragedy.
We still do not have “health care for all.” The disparity between the very rich and the very poor continues to increase. Global warming and the burning of fossil fuels continue to melt the ice caps and glaciers. In Hawai‘i we continue to lose native species to extinction at an astonishing rate, all the while fighting the invasion of alien plants, animals and insects who pound on our door daily seeking the hospitality of our islands.
How has Hawai‘i changed since 9/11? Ask the million or so residents and then the 5 million visitors and the answers will all be different.
I prefer to look forward. I prefer to think about how we might achieve peace and maintain a secure and safe world, and how we might bring home our troops from Afghanistan and related areas.
Rather than look back at the terrible tragedy of 9/11 and the terror, fear and sadness that event brought to our country, I prefer to look forward to see how we might rebuild the trust, friendships and mutual interdependence so critical to creating a positive, safe and secure future for our children.
Remember the feeling of unity we all shared in the days and weeks following 9/11? We all cared a little bit more, judged a little less, had a little more patience with each other and set aside our trivial differences to come together as humans who shared a common bond. There was no Democrat/Republican, no gay/straight, no rich/poor, no black/white, no man/woman — we were all reduced to our shared human core. Humans who need each other and who lift each other.
Whether it is the challenges facing the here and now in our own community and state, or those facing our nation and the world — recognizing that we are all in it together is key. We are all related, we are all interdependent and we all must find a way to work together toward the common good. We must relive and recapture the unity we held for that fleeting moment, our future depends on it.
• Gary Hooser is the Democratic majority leader in the state Senate, representing Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.
