Right after 9/11, some people started to ask “why do they hate us so much?”.  This made a lot of people mad because they didn’t like how the question implied that we had some responsibility for what had happened.  They felt like it would be wrong, unpatriotic even, to think that we were anything but the innocent victims of evil. 

I, on the other hand, think that it is a valid question.  Most importantly, the targets were not neutral:  the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House.  The people hurt were obviously not directly to blame, but the institutions were.  One represented our economy, one our military, and the other our government.  When you look at it from that perspective, it starts to make sense “why they hate us so much.”  Shouldn’t we hate ourselves just a little bit, if we were to be honest?  Our consumption based economy, consumption with no regard for the impact on the environment or the quality of life for ourselves or others, isn’t something to love.  Our military, which could function primarily as worldwide peacekeeping organization, acts at times like the playground bully.  And our government, elected by the people, serves its own interests.

© Salahub 2003