Why Sept.11 Still Matters in 2013

There are a lot of ways to think about 9/11.

The first is the most obvious: it killed thousands of people and their families are still alive and hurting, it was the first attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, and it was a previously unimaginable tragedy that triggered mass panic. Americans pushed for a counterattack and President George W. Bush launched the War on Terror that is still happening today.

There is a memorial service Wednesday at noon in the Trent Lott Center at The University of Southern Mississippi for all the lives lost in the attacks. Should you go and bow your head in reverent silence before you go to your next class, it is important to not only remember the victims, but also remind yourself the ways in which 9/11 very much affects your life today. That is the second way to think about 9/11: Why does it still matter?

If you are ever around the tv, parents, or political-talking professors/classmates, you may have heard “NSA,” “Snowden,” “whistle-blowing,” or other words that make you think of men wearing black in cold places. Maybe some of your facebook feed has to do with, “DELETE EVERY CONVERSATION WE’VE EVER HAD,” and other similar paranoid statuses that I’ve read on mine.

In case you’re confused with how this has to do with 9/11, let me put it into a brief summary for you so you have an idea of current events and now have ammo to impress the parents next time you see them. (“Oh wow, you’re learning so much at college!” No, you just read the best blogsite in world, but whatever.)

                                                       Batman approves of Her Campus.

Our reaction to 9/11 was to officially begin the ongoing War on Terror, but there were also other measures taken that we may not have heard about because we were all in elementary school and our parents didn’t feel like acting out global politics with our beanie babies. The government upped our national security a thousand times over. To give you an idea, it once took a total of about 15 minutes to get from ticket purchase to boarding in an airport. Our national security went from the natural defenses of a human baby to those of a tank wrapped in Kevlar. 9/11 pressed America to become globally recognized as the baddest of them all.

I’m going to sum this up as quick as possible for you – PATRIOT ACT TO SNOWDEN TO NSA:

The Patriot Act was passed a month after the attacks in a whirlwind of panicking fear. This was a huge deal for the immediate and obvious changes it made, but also for reasons that Edward Snowden pretty much just now revealed, 12 years later. Snowden worked for the NSA (National Security Agency.) One night Obama made this speech where he said (paraphrasing here), “Hey, I won’t get mad at you if you whistle-blow. Don’t worry America, if you see something you think is wrong, I really won’t get mad if you tell.” Snowden thought, “Heck, yes! Now I can let the world know about all this crazy stuff the NSA has been doing!” He faxed a newspaper (The Guardian) all this information, and they ran it. The government ignored Obama’s speech and said, “Uh, nevermind, you’re in big trouble!” but by this time Snowden had already flown across the world where Russia agreed not to deport him because Russia and the US are like the biggest frienemies in the world. Now you know about why Snowden, whistleblowing and (ehhh mostly why) Russia is in the news. Good. But why should you care just because some dude hated his job?

What Snowden flipped out about was that NSA has access to all of our information. Ever. Literally, all of it. Your texts, emails, facebook messages, keylogging your passwords–your incognito chromepages, what you type into Google, they know everything. Prior to Snowden snitching, this wasn’t public knowledge. Now it is and people are flipping out. Keep in mind the Patriot Act has been in place for the past 12 years, ever since the post-9/11 security beef-up and the Patriot Act. You just sit and think about that.

In short, remember all aspects of 9/11. Use this day to keep in mind the hurt families of the attacks, keep informed of current events, and also do some good in the world this day, because there surely isn’t enough.