Why I'm Glad The World Trade Center's Gone

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Poll

Votes: 17

Why I'm Glad The World Trade Center's Gone

Author:

Duke Machesne

Topic:

Diaries

Posted:

Sep 28, 2001

Comments:

The truth of the matter is: I'm glad the World Trade Center went down. I wish the whole Pentagon would've gone down as well. I wish those people wouldn't have died in the flaming wreckage, but I wish they wouldn't have been going to work either. The fact is, my life and my livelihood are fucked up by nothing so much as people who want comfort and consistency. These people, in their quest for homogeneity, have converted and continue to convert the entire world--my entire, chaotic, exciting world--into a waiting room. Those people all died for their cause, but we don't talk about it because we're ashamed. It's our cause too. The cause these people died for, and that each of us dies for a little each day, was the steady security of "life" without passion. We're Americans, dammit, and the folks on television have enough passion for all of us; what we need are more Cokes and more Snickers!

Americans are the worst kind of hypocrites. To prove a point, I had a t-shirt made for myself with a picture of Osama bin Laden. No words, no "Go Osama!" sentiment, just a picture. In one day's time, I only narrowly avoided numerous acts of physical terrorism perpetrated against myself in the name of The Freedom That Makes America Great. In other words, to express their patriotic fervor for The Land Of The Free, these fucking Nazis wished to restrict my freedom to wear a t-shirt. A simple t-shirt with nothing more than a man's likeness.

America is a demon, the playground bully of the entire world. We've been killing civilians all over the world for years and years, and all of a sudden someone has killed some of our civilians and we claim It's Because They Us Hate Our Wondrous Freedom. "Come on, Osama, don't hate us because we're beautiful," cries our boy-president, the heir to the throne of the former President/Head of the Secret Police. I hated those damn towers and everything they stood for, and I'm glad they're gone. How free am I now? I'll tell you how free. I'm afraid I'll get killed for saying things like this, but I'll say them anyway. I may be done violence against for wearing a t-shirt, but I want to wear it even more now. I want to breathe smoke.

	So true... (3.00 / 2) (#1)
	by Anonymous Reader on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 12:30:31 PM PST

	America is only "free" when compared to other totalitarian governments. P.S. Please do not confuse "authoritarian" and "totalitarian". Authoritarian is a strongly centralized government ruled by a charismatic leader. Totalitarian is a society (not government) that tries to completely control what people do and what people think. America is in fact a totalitarian society with a democratic government. (No, that is not a contradiction.)

	+1 FP (none / 0) (#2)
	by otak on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 12:54:11 PM PST

	...Sorry - flashback. But really - write this up as an article. I'm sure it would generate some interesting debate.

	if you're set on martyring yourself.. (4.00 / 3) (#3)
	by Anonymous Reader on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 12:54:49 PM PST

	couldn't you at least find a better medium to articulate your ennui than a fucking t-shirt? You never said what the shirt means to you. Does it have any significance or is just a simple plea for attention? Most notable contrarians are known for what they had to say, not how easily they could provoke outrage with purple hair or Charles Manson t-shirts...

	The medium is the message? (3.50 / 4) (#5)
	by Duke Machesne on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 02:00:09 PM PST

	To take a likeness onto yourself is essentially to become an effigy of that likeness. The only reason for this is that the average American is far too stupid to differentiate between a mediated likeness and an actual experience. Fortunately for me, Americans are also usually too passive to really get involved even with aggression unless they're either pitiful drunken sods, in one way or another, coerced. Even the armchair warriors who were intelligent enough to realize that my shirt's containing a likeness of a scapegoat did not in fact equate me to that scapegoat frequently said things along the lines of, "Woo-boy, I tell you if he was here right now I'd like to hit 'im in the head with a baseball bat. WEEEE-BAH!" Above all, however, my aim was to expose the hideous, pus-oozing navel on the dark underbelly of our state-lovin' cock-frenzy of flag-waving blood-lust. As a matter of fact, I keep seeing cars with bumper stickers saying obnoxious things like "PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN", so now I'm considering obtaining a bumper-sticker for my own car along the lines of "AS DISGUSTED WITH MY COUNTRY AS EVER". That's right, I'm the guy who insists on peeing in public when there are children around. And, to quote Malcolm X: The chickens have come home to roost. __________________________________________________ once you've remembered, you'll never forget

	ugh... (3.00 / 1) (#9)
	by Anonymous Reader on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 05:02:26 PM PST

	Still, you haven't said what the point of this exercise was. You've shown that wearing a t-shirt with the image of someone who's been implicated in a plot that killed thousands of people, and has declared that he plans to kill random Americans and Jews tends to make people angry... big deal. How is this reaction different than any other society were you to change the image on your shirt to one of local significance? If your point is that this is a totalitarian state, reread your diary. From your description of what happened you weren't dragged into a secluded, burned-out building to have your balls hooked up to a car battery by the secret police...

	not quite (5.00 / 1) (#13)
	by dmg on Sat Sep 29th, 2001 at 04:39:51 AM PST

	you weren't dragged into a secluded, burned-out building to have your balls hooked up to a car battery by the secret police... Yet... time to give a Newtonian demonstration - of a bullet, its mass and its acceleration. -- MC Hawking

	Nice viewpoint (3.00 / 2) (#4)
	by Anonymous Reader on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 12:58:01 PM PST

	It's nice to see that other people in the world have some sense. America is only partially better than Afganistan. Our citizen's are still talking about using nuclear weapons to level the middle east. There is no care for the lives of civilians or children. America wants blood, and will settle only for blood. Unfortunately, more American blood both civilian and military, will be spilled because of our sudden 'patriotism.' Posting anonymously, because I'm afraid of the FBI interrogating me

	A wish (5.00 / 2) (#6)
	by ucblockhead on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 03:57:31 PM PST

	I profoundly hope that some day you purge the hate that lives in your heart.

	Oh, thank you (5.00 / 2) (#19)
	by Duke Machesne on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 08:09:12 AM PST

	With God's help, I believe I can beat this terrible affliction. __________________________________________________ once you've remembered, you'll never forget

	What does "God" have to do with it? (5.00 / 1) (#20)
	by ucblockhead on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 09:25:37 AM PST

	"God" has everything to do with it. (5.00 / 1) (#24)
	by Duke Machesne on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 10:28:27 AM PST

	And I'll pray for you as well, you dear, sweet, caring, even Christ-like human being. Thank you for your well-wishing as I begin now to trek the long, hard road ahead of me to the temples of Love in the highest mountains. I'll never forget all that you've done for me with your one simple sentence of hope and cheer. __________________________________________________ once you've remembered, you'll never forget

	If I were truly christlike (5.00 / 2) (#25)
	by ucblockhead on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 03:43:04 PM PST

	You wouldn't amuse me quite so much.

	Another example (4.50 / 6) (#8)
	by osm on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 04:27:59 PM PST

	of someone who's had it too good for too long. Of course, you are crazy. Not that I care. I'm crazy too. But, if you had more important things to worry about, such as the survival of your way of life (you know - the one you're preaching against, yet, I'm sure, you participate in), I doubt you would be spouting such nonsense. If you really feel the way you do, drop out of society. Go live in the woods. Become a hermit. If you did that, I would respect your opinion. As it is, I see you as nothing more than a spoiled brat. Like the rest of us.

	Breathing smoke is hazardous to your health. (4.14 / 7) (#10)
	by jin wicked on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 08:51:33 PM PST

	You wore a shirt bearing the likeness of the man supposedly responsible for the death of thousands of people and disrupting the lives of millions more... what did you expect, for people to come up and kiss you on the cheek? Please...this is absurd. You are certainly free to wear the shirt, but freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of what you do or say. You knew very well what would happen when you wore that, and did it anyway. If you were talking about cops trying to arrest you, you would have something... but provoking citizens? That happens all the time. You're offending people, what did you expect? Yes, maybe they tried to do something to you -- but this whole time I've heard the leaders of the US begging people to NOT do that sort of thing, beat up on Arabs, or terrorize innocent people. And I am sure were you hurt or injured, these people would be held liable for their actions in a court of law. Maybe in the future you will show more wisdom and sensitivity to other people's feelings and not deliberately do things to provoke them. It's natural to feel aggression towards something that has caused you pain. If you were an Arab and were attacked, then I would feel for you. But deliberately provoking them, and then complaining about it? Bah. You're just getting your jollies out of pissing genuinely hurt people off. I have no respect for that. As for people living lives without passion, perhaps you should be more vocal against the institutions that breed the horrible socioeconomic system we live in, which drives people into this kind of life...instead of just poking these poor people with a pointed stick in an open wound. They're just working and trying to survive with a minimum amount of grief and hopefully some adequate amount of pleasure. Not everyone has the initiative, strength or determination to strike out against the "norm." Myself, I have done illustration work and helped out with newsletters for the Socialist Party of Great Britain as well as the Socialist Party of Canada. Instead of putting on a god damned t-shirt and just pissing people off, I actually try to talk to them and make them understand how their lives could be better. (I also have several essays I have been toiling on over the subjects, and I speak to many many people while traveling.) And I am certainly offended that you apparently assume that everyone except yourself is a tv-dinner chomping moron puddled in front of the television every night. I do not watch television myself, often, but I do at times and certainly don't have a problem with people that do enjoy it -- it's just not to my tastes. I don't read book of fiction much, either. Big deal! Insensitive crap like this is the reason I quit posting and finally left k5. Everyone wants to bitch and moan, and point out everything that's wrong, but none of you "special, so different, above the average" people want to get off your lazy asses and do anything about it, unless that involves pissing people off and getting to bitch more. Humbug. You can call me names until you're blue in the face, but at least I attempt to make the world I live in a better place instead of a worse one. I talk to people, I open up to them, I explain new points of view and try to get them to open their minds. You just make people hate more and crawl further into their little shells. Please, keep wearing that shirt. Maybe you'll eventually learn something from it. "Ars longa, vita brevis...Art is long, life is short."

	Well said. (3.66 / 3) (#12)
	by SpaceGhoti on Sat Sep 29th, 2001 at 04:25:25 AM PST

	In addendum, I'd like to add is a quote from the venerable Oliver Wendell Holmes. My freedom to swing my fist is limited by the proximity of your face. In light of recent events, wearing a t-shirt with bin Ladin's likeness on it is akin to shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. I think it was someone on this site (amusingly enough) who pointed out that Rights are things that should be defended vigorously and used sparingly. A troll's true colors.

	It certainly is not! (5.00 / 1) (#14)
	by jcolter on Sat Sep 29th, 2001 at 06:08:47 PM PST

	Wearing an inflammatory shirt is political speech. Whether or not you want to call it inciting is up to you (and the courts). The judicial prescient in regards to inciting, only seems to me a way to quell very unpopular speech. People should be able to keep their hands to themselves (remember kindergarten).

	Political speech (2.50 / 2) (#15)
	by SpaceGhoti on Sun Sep 30th, 2001 at 08:20:15 PM PST

	I'm not trying to say that nobody has the right to take an unpopular position, wear controversial clothing or do something that is generally against the grain. Such things are good things, and I will always support them. And yet... The gist of what Jin was trying to say is that while you have the right to say whatever you want to say, keep in mind the context of the situation. It would be one thing if Duke were to actually support bin Ladin's actions. It's something else to simply wear the t-shirt in order to incite hostility. It wasn't so much that he thinks bin Ladin is the new Messiah, he's simply fed up with his life and the world around him so he's poking at people's buttons trying to get a reaction. Well, he got his reaction and surprise! It wasn't very pleasant for anybody involved. Exercising your Rights ought to involve a little discretion and forethought. Duke did the Real Life (tm) equivalent of trolling: advertising a position he doesn't truly believe in. I don't believe he was wrong in doing this, but I believe he was being truly stupid. I therefore feel he deserved everything he got, and probably less than he could have. Had he done such a thing in, say, Georgia or thereabouts, I believe they'd have had to identify him with dental records. A troll's true colors.

	point taken (none / 0) (#16)
	by jcolter on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 03:14:37 AM PST

	I agree with everything you said.

	Right (none / 0) (#21)
	by westgeof on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 09:27:49 AM PST

	I'm not too sure about wearing a shirt being a political speech (that's giving it a lot of credit,) but I won't argue about that point. However, I agree that it is inciting. Regardless of what the US governement has done to other countries, promoting a man who is thought to be responsible for thousands of US deaths, while on US soil, is at the best a very stupid thing. I'd recommend you going to Afghanistan with a t-shirt depicting ol' Dubya and see what kind of reaction you get. People react with hostility towards images of their enemy. (Or someone they are told is their enemy.) So you are going to claim free speech in defense? Even in the US you are not guarenteed this, a common misconception. All the first ammendment says is that Congress will pass no laws restricting speech. It doesn't say that anyone is required to respect your opinion and love you for it, just that you can say it. In other words, you have every right to wear an Osama shirt as a political statement, and anyone you pass on the street can tell you off as a political statement in response to yours. They can't react violently by law, but there's a lot of things people do that they shouldn't by law. It happens, and deliberately offending a large group of people is a great way to improve the odds that it will happen to you. As a child I wanted to know everything. Now I miss my ignorance.

	Ho-hum... (none / 0) (#23)
	by Duke Machesne on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 10:18:25 AM PST

	Nonono, I am not "promoting" anyone (didn't I say that?) It doesn't say "Rock me Osama!", doesn't say "How long 'til Empire State crumbles?", doesn't even say "We fly the friendly skies"! The shirt doesn't say anything. It doesn't promote anything, it doesn't denigrate anything. It's just a fucking picture. When a picture of a face can move you to hatred and violence, it's time to reflect a bit on your own position, wouldn't you say? And no, I'm not "claiming free speech", I'm claiming the opposite of that, and I'm going out of my way to find ways to say it that you can't simply ignore specifically because they move you to vengeful hatred. Now, it's one thing if you're being incited by a picture, say, of your own child being slowly crushed under a pile of bricks. That I wouldn't wave around on a flag. That's not what I'm doing here. What I'm doing is carrying the public scapegoat around town and showing it to people. I may as well be carrying around a picture of Immanuel Goldstein (no, not from 2600). In fact, I am carrying around a picture of Immanuel Goldstein. Either you're with The Party, or you're with them. __________________________________________________ once you've remembered, you'll never forget

	Hey, what's that over there? (5.00 / 1) (#18)
	by Duke Machesne on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 07:51:33 AM PST

	Woops, you missed it all! The whole fucking thing passed before your eyes and you missed the fucking point. Yes, it is the real-life equivalent of trolling. However, it is by no means the pointless rubbing of salt in the wounds. No, this is not the extent of my social statement. No, you are not the only one who goes out of your way to try to explain things to people so that they'll understand. But I am the guy who's got the fucking brass cahones to risk life and limb (and my own, at that) to demonstrate to people that they are now becoming the hate-mongers. They are now becoming the terrorists. Not some guy in a robe on the other side of the planet, my friends, All Of Us Good Americans. When a guy with a bloody face points up at you, looks you in the eye, and asks you, "Now who's the fucking Nazi?" you'll either have nightmares or you'll never get your teensy-tiny little soul back. __________________________________________________ once you've remembered, you'll never forget

	*sigh* (none / 0) (#11)
	by donkpunch on Fri Sep 28th, 2001 at 09:13:57 PM PST

	Let me share something, my friend.... I'm so messed up, Osama bin Laden has a T-shirt with my picture on it.

	hey, punk as fuck (5.00 / 2) (#17)
	by jsm on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 03:30:02 AM PST

	well done my man. I'm not at all sure I agree with you on the substantial point, but it's good to see someone have a few balls. There's no point being a nihilist who's only against the unpopular things. ... the worst tempered and least consistent of the adequacy.org editors ... now also Legal department and general counsel, adequacy.org

	bad taste (5.00 / 1) (#22)
	by Anonymous Reader on Mon Oct 1st, 2001 at 09:40:59 AM PST

	On the day of the WTC incident, I came up with a great idea for a t-shirt. The picture will be in lenticular format (a lenticular picture is one where the picture changes when you rotate the medium it is on, it is usually covered by clear, ridged plastic, e.g. a pog with batman punching a bad guy). The front of the shirt would have a picture of the towers, and when you turn the shirt, a jet liner approaches, and then crashes into, the wtc. The back would have a similiar picture, it would show the towers, and as you turn the shirt, the towers collapse. I still haven't decided if there should be people jumping from the towers as they collapse. Then again, after the Columbine incident, I wanted to make a t-shirt that said "Guns don't kill people, students kill people"

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