As I read Danner’s
article, “After September 11: Our State of Exception,” I found that many
excerpts created an image in my mind of America depicted like George Orwell’s
Big Brother character in his famous novel, 1984.
I know, I know, as an English major, I’m destined to make a literary
connection, but bear with me; I can make this relevant.
I felt most struck
by this notion as I read the excerpts from Abu Zubaydah. His descriptions of
torture corresponded with the depictions presented in Orwell’s book. For
example, Zubaydah’s description—“I woke up naked, strapped to a bed, in a very
white room. The room measured 4m x 4m. The room had three solid walls, with the
fourth wall consisting of metal bars separating it from a larger room”—sounds strikingly
similar to the description provided by Orwell—“He did not know where he was. Presumably he was in the
Ministry of Love, but there was no way of making certain. He was in a
high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.” And
again, Zubaydah’s account reads: “I was given no solid food during the first
two or three weeks,” much like Orwell’s character, who felt, “hungry, with a
gnawing, unwholesome kind of hunger. It might be twenty-four hours since he had
eaten, it might be thirty-six.” And these similarities only skim the surface. I
will refrain from using too much textual evidence from 1984, since I wouldn’t want to ruin the book for anybody that has
not read it, but the similarities are obvious and striking.
The reason why I even
mention this comparison stems from my initial fears after reading Orwell’s 1984. Any reader that has ever once
questioned the intentions of the government could see that the depiction of Big
Brother may not be far off from the American government. And, honestly, after
reading some of the absurd facts of the article, I came to realize that America
truly is a Big Brother to other countries, and needless to say, Big Brother is
watching.
When I hear that, “every day
the President and other senior officials received the ‘threat matrix,’ a
document that could be dozens of pages long listing ‘every threat directed at
the United States’ that had been sucked up during the last twenty-four hours by
the vast electronic and human vacuum cleaner of information that was US
intelligence,” I find it hard not to think that the American government is just
as paranoid as the skeptical Big Brother, a metaphorical being who keeps an eye
on every citizens in society. Accordingly, these concepts of, “Assume the worst,”
and “Act preemptively, aggressively,” and “When in doubt, act,” also draw the
same comparison. The government tries so hard to prevent terrorism that they
must, at some point, target the wrong person, someone who doesn’t have the
information that the government thinks they do, and that person will suffer for
something that they didn’t do.
I want to conclude by saying
that 1984 always seemed like a
conspiracy theory to me. I never thought that the government would be so
overbearing, unnecessarily poking into private business in order to protect
itself. However, I’m seeing now that it doesn’t matter. If there is suspicion,
any suspicion at all, they find it okay to act. And if that’s the case, how far
will this go?
I agree with much of what Bethany said. I just wanted to share my take on the Danner article too.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most striking was the imagery he used at the beginning to set the tone almost for the rest of the piece. Phrases like ": the perfect blue of that late summer sky stained by acrid black smoke" and "The showers of debris, the falling bodies, and then that great
blossoming flower of white dust, roiling and churning upward, enveloping and consuming the mighty skyscraper as it collapses into the whirlwind". I feel like the author uses these phrases to make sure no one has forgotten how painful the attacks were in the first place.
I was also intrigued by the phrase "crisis government" because I was surprised I had never heard it before since I am a Political Science major. I think it is an accurate phrase to describe how the government was immediately post 9/11, but I wouldn't go as far as I believe Danner does, in implying we are still in a "crisis government".
John Jackson
DeleteMarch 23 2012
I thought it was fitting for Danner’s position for him to start with the quote, by George W. Bush, “We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them.” Ten years after it was said we have evidence that the principles of America’s political tactics are changing. Human rights have been put on the back burner for the idea of knowledge. Although I have never read 1984 I think Bethany makes some excellent comparisons to the novel and our current state. As the essay explains as Americans we are currently under the idea of the “9/11 Constitution” or “Emergency Constitution.” This lack of accountability started out of what most Americans right after the 9/11 attacks felt was warranted. Everything that happened was for security’s sake and needed to happen quickly without bureaucratic red tape because time was of the essence of our security as well. That was right after the attacks but the Danner explains that we have kept this mentality because so far it has prevented us from dealing with another attack on American soil. This lack of privacy and lack of accountability on some agencies like the interrogations of the CIA have created a false sense of security. We may not have received or have had to deal with an attack in the past 11 years, but we are continuing to have poor relations with the middle east, still stereotype Muslims and Arab people, and because of this individuals representing those groups are still angry. This may account for the increase in terror threats to one a month instead of one every three or four months. As the article states, “the particular burdens of our exception seem mostly to be borne by someone else- by someone other.” Those bearing the burdens are tired and the majority of the American public may not even realize what is going on.