Reflections on bin Laden and America

Enough time has passed, it seemed, that an opinion or two about the death of Osama bin Laden might be in order. I must say that some of the events of the past couple of weeks have been somewhat troubling, and I have taken some time to read what others have to say while I think about where I stand on the issues raised by his death. I must say up front that I am relieved that he is dead. There is no ambiguity about the evil nature of his actions and no uncertainty about the monstrous scope of his organization. And I am sure that for many Americans who were touched by the death and destruction on 9/11, there must be a great deal of satisfaction in having him brought to justice. Some of the students I taught lost relatives in the attack on the Twin Towers and I know their lives changed immediately. But as in any instance like this, I fall back on being a teacher for nearly 40 years and I ask myself how I would respond if a student asked me what I thought about bin Laden's death. And the first thing I would tell them is that I probably wouldn't celebrate. Cheering his death seems wrong to me. I can feel that justice has been done; I can feel relieved that he can do no more harm. I can feel pride in the exemplary actions of our armed forces. I can honestly feel we did the right thing in going after him. And I do feel all those things.

I just still struggle with the cheering and dancing outside the White House.

I have read articles that seek to paint those reactions to his death as a communal sense of relief and a recognition of our unity of purpose in ridding the world of a terrorist. Maybe for some of the people it was just that, and, if you felt that way and celebrated, I understand. But if there is one quality that I think is synonymous with the United States, it is our inability to do things in moderation.


It was brought home to me this weekend when I talked to a friend about how much bigger the things we buy have gotten. When I was much younger, you would buy a 6 ounce bottle of Coke and feel like you were satisfied. Now Coke comes in 16 ounce bottles and 32 ounce big gulps and five different flavors.

If I needed a drink during school, I could go out to the water fountain and get a drink. Now students carry around a 24 ounce water bottle like they are going to die of dehydration in the next 49 minutes.

 We thought in the seventies that maybe we were overdoing the competition angle and should emphasize teamwork and cooperation. We ended up giving every player in Little League a trophy and gave a lot of young people an unhealthy dose of fake self-esteem.

Then people felt we weren't being competitive enough in the world marketplace and we demanded to know every school's score on the state report card and started making decisions about schools based on that one number.

Someone falls on a playground and we make sure they are closed down for everybody else. "My son got seriously hurt once on the monkey bars and its my responsibility to make sure no one ever gets hurt again."

We can't seem to do anything without going overboard. "Overdoing it" is our national motto and "Again, only bigger" is our mantra.  A large part of our population can't drink just a little, or eat just a little, or feel just a little. The Chevy Cavalier is a little small, don't you think. So we built Hummers and Escalades that block out the sun. Our 800 square foot house is a little small, so we bought 2400 square foot estates in the suburbs, big enough that we wouldn't have to interact with the kids.

And when Osama bin Laden died, for some people it was not enough to say a prayer, feel some relief, and whisper "thank you" to the people involved.  If it wasn't done big, you obviously didn't really mean it.

And so it goes.