September 11, 2001 started off as any other had that summer, it was an exceptionally pleasant morning, the sky was clear and there was a breeze that would just make anyone want to jump out of bed and start off their day. In fact, weather was the news of the morning. Who knew that day would turn out the way it did, full of confusion, terror and death? The soot that consumed downtown Manhattan coated the innocent witnesses and passersby with a blanket of gray that eradicated all signs of color, race and religion.

Americans decided from that day forth they would unite with one another and rebuild not only what was broken that morning but what was lost over decades of segregation and greed: the American dream of unity.

Here we are one year later, and have we lived up to that decision? Just weeks ago Major League Baseball threatened to strike over monetary disagreements, news this past summer was saturated with stories of child abductions, murder and runaways. Major business corporations such as Citigroup are under maximum inspection after the Enron scandal uncovered industrialist greed at its peek of deception. The veneer of gray that hid the differences that make America the melting pot that it is has washed away and people have divided into groups of pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, pro-War on Saddam Hussein or against War on Saddam Hussein.

If you ask me, the American dream does continue to reign–the dream of Capitalism, that is. Some say that ignorance is bliss and as the propaganda that consumes the media continues to plague the idiot box that is the centerpiece of almost every American home the consumer will go on being disillusioned from the reality of the pain and suffering that many citizens of other nations must endure every day.

September 11, 2001 had a great impact on our lives, bringing terror and devastation to our own backyard. Today, one year later one must ask, “What happened to the changes that our presumptuous correspondents were so quick to predict?” The propaganda that has so infected our lives has successfully diverted our attention back to our regularly scheduled indoctrination of pop culture ignorance. It just goes to show it’ll take more than thousands of deaths and a hole in the middle of the financial district to budge the average citizen to give meaning to the WHY? of that horrible day.