New York 9-11 WTC Incident – Any Societal Lessons Learned ?

2010-10-01:  We have a very large Page on our Corporate WebSite devoted to some of the more important technical aspects of the World Trade Center Incident (9-11) … which occurred on Tuesday morning (local time in New York), 11th September 2001.  This Incident resulted in a major and unprecedented Collapse Level Event (CLE) for Iconic Buildings … in an Iconic City with a highly developed Economic Environment.

A long time ago … and yes, you really do have to pinch yourself to remember that it was way back then.  As a reliable reflection of the continued popular dismay and concern about 9-11 … once again, the number of visitors to our WebPage went through the roof on the 11th September just passed.

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New Yorkany City … is a geographical region, with open and flexible boundaries, consisting of :

(a)  An interwoven, densely constructed core (built environment) ;

(b)  A large resident population of more than 500,000 people (social environment) … in this case … as of 1st July 2009, according to the United States Census Bureau, the City of New York had a population of 8,391,881 people … an increase of 383,603, or 4.8%, since April 2000 ;

(c)  A supporting hinterland of lands, waters and other natural resources (cultivated landscape) ;

together functioning as …

  1. Complex Living System (analogous to, yet different from, other living systems such as ecosystems and organisms).     and
  2. A Synergetic Community capable of providing a high level of individual welfare and social wellbeing for all of its inhabitants.

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Within a few short hours in 2001 … the entire Fabric of New York’s Social Environment, south of Canal Street, had been shredded into tiny unidentifiable pieces.

Just 5 weeks after 9-11 … in the middle of October 2001 … I was staying in my cousin’s apartment within the WTC Security Zone.  The reason for my visit was to present a Paper at a Conference being held in Mid-Town Manhattan.  Many participants did not attend.  Some of the people I met there, however, were so emotionally traumatized by 9-11 that they could barely bring themselves to speak about what had happened.  On a few occasions, I had also witnessed racial harassment … one nasty case involving a policeman … of those individuals, e.g. taxi drivers, having a non-WASP Profile !   You can guess what I mean.

Fast forward to events surrounding the recent 9-11 Anniversary in 2010 … and what do we see on our television screens ??   Protests against a project to refurbish and enlarge an existing Islamic Community Centre, located not too far from the 9-11 Incident Site … and a crazy proposal, emanating from a ‘mickey mouse’ Christian Fundamentalist Pastor in Florida State, to hold a Public Burning of the Qur’an.

Dismal, Depressing and Shameful Societal Responses to the World Trade Center Incident (9-11) !!!

Having suffered … intelligent people are supposed to … and usually do … learn valuable lessons about life and living.

But … what lessons have actually been learned, in the United States of America, from 9-11 ???

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