I am sure there will be millions of posts today about the events that occurred on September 11, 2001 and I will be one of the voices in the chorus. It has been 23 years since that fateful day and those of us who are still around have seen more than our fair share of shit since then.

All of that extra experience thrown onto a pile of bad times takes nothing away from the memories I have of that sunny day in September. The horror as it all unfolded and the understanding that it would be our next excuse to send soldiers off to die in the name of vanquishing a foe that we helped to create. The fine details have become smooth with time, but the feelings I experienced remain as clear as ever.

Something fundamental changed in me that day and it fostered a healthy skepticism about the government and its intentions for the citizenry. I was skeptical and remain so to this day, bolstered by the many deliberate and unintentional missteps since. I will never trust them and that’s fine, that isn’t what today is about. I don’t want to feel anything whatsoever about our government because they just go to work and do their job every day, but that isn’t the world we live in.

Today is about remembering the fallen and feeling the familiar sting of a squarely landed blow to our collective jaw. We haven’t been the same country since, and many of us would commit a litany of offenses to return to the one we lived in on September 10, 2001. I don’t know a single person who was personally affected by this tragedy other than vague secondhand accounts, but that doesn’t stop it from hurting and it probably never will. It was the general human suffering that was on display for all to be seen.

The same kind of suffering we are seeing televised from all around the world now in places like Gaza and Ukraine. Pointless bloodshed for sociopolitical gain. Posturing to look tough while civilians are being bombed in appalling numbers. Instead of making the reasonable calls for sanity and a cease fire in every direction, we stoke the flames of war because we haven’t learned a fucking thing. We deserve whatever comes next based on our conduct and it doesn’t look promising for the world.

To those personally affected by the events on September 11, 2001, I extend my deepest condolences and the wish that some day you may find the peace you lost on that day.