05/11/2013

Condiment crap

Last week the New York Times refused to publish an article written by Banksy, in which he criticised the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. So he put it up on his blog instead. It said:

"Those 10 men have condemned us to live in a world more mediocre than the one they attacked, rather than be the catalyst for a dazzling new one."

He complained about the appearance of the building, which he described as 'vanilla'. He said that it clearly indicates that "the terrorists have won".

More recently, Richard Dawkins tweeted about his jar of honey being confiscated at an airport:

'Bin Laden has won, in airports of the world every day. I had a little jar of honey, now thrown away by rule-bound dundridges. STUPID waste.'

He then wrote this article, saying the confiscation apparently meant that terrorists have 'won'. 

 "Every time I see an incident of this kind I sense it as a victory for Bin Laden", he writes.

"However calamitous the destruction of the twin towers, doesn't the bureaucratically imposed vexation to airline passengers all over the world mount up to a prolonged and distributed, albeit far less traumatic, victory? And aren't our rule-merchants playing into Bin Laden's dead hands by their futile displays of stable-door-shutting?"

Where has this idea that terrorists have 'won' due to the way society has adapted post-9/11 emerged from? The airport might take a bit longer to get through. You may have to endure the torture of looking up at a slightly less impressive-looking New York skyline. But until you can do the jobs of those protecting us against terrorist attacks, you can't really have an opinion. Especially not one as vile as this. 

No-one carrying out their duty at an airport is playing to Bin Laden's dead hands, nor is it a victory to terrorists. Saying otherwise is an insult to those who have been affected by terrorism. 

Listen into my phone calls, take my honey, pat down Richard Dawkins a bit too thoroughly - whatever needs to be done should be done. We need to accept the world that we live in now, and not hand over victory to terrorists because of comparatively trivial matters. 

Dawkins may not believe in wasted honey, and Banksy may not believe in paper, but to say what they did risks wasting a decade of ineffable strength, courage and resilience.

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