9/11 and Lessons Still Not Learned (A Repost)

History teaches us that history teaches us nothing. – Hegel

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. - Aldous Huxley

[This post was originally posted on September 11, 2014 as “9/11 And Lessons Not Learned”.  The original post is reposted here in its entirety.]

As 9/11 approaches and we remember the 13th anniversary of the heinous acts that were carried out on that fateful day, I have decided that my annual musing honoring this day ends with this post.

Like many who lived and worked in the area on 9/11, I take time on September 11 to sit in quiet contemplation and remember the 15 friends I lost on that day, especially Narender Nath, Eric Bennett and Stephen Fiorelli who all died in the WTC and my neighbour's brother, Edward Felt, who was killed on Flight 93.

When we take time to remember and honor those who were lost, whether it be on 9/11 or all those in service to our nation in the form of the military, police, firefighters, EMS and other first responders, we do so to not only remember who they were and what they represented but also with the hope that their loss was not in vain.

However, as we once again bomb a new enemy in Iraq 13 years later, as we test the limits of Russia (and they test ours) in the Ukraine and as we face unprecedented exposure and threat to our safety and national security via cyber attack (amongst other concerns), I can’t help but think that their losses were indeed in vain.

13 years later, we have not learned a damned thing.

Why should we have?  We are creatures of habit and often are unable to change our behaviour until our backs are against the wall.  To expect us to make changes to our culture and behavior merely because of one event, even one as shocking as 9/11, is to ignore a basic understanding of what motivates a human being to action and to ignore thousands of years of history.

Unfortunately, the next time our backs are against the wall, what we face may be too large to stare down or to overcome with human perseverance, ingenuity or whatever else politicians like to offer as empty praise when we overcome a tragedy born of their abuse of power, incompetence, laziness, denial, greed, fear or lack of transparency / accountability.

And while there is MUCH beauty in the world and GREAT stories of overcoming, it is offset by the potential for great threat to our well-being on national and international levels.

It’s important to celebrate what is right in the world and to highlight those who make the world a better place.

But people in my line of work have to keep an eye on the stupid, the ignorant, the criminal and the misinformed who would rather our world not reach its ultimate positive potential.

After all, it only takes one stupid act by a small group of people (elected or not) to wipe out all of the combined great deeds, works of inspiration and the great potential that humanity represents.

The Bottom Line

Just as with 9/11, the threats to our safety are real despite the incredible beauty in our world. Our ability to be informed citizens so as to be able to respond to such threats or protect ourselves from them is insufficient for our needs for a variety of reasons - some valid, some not.  To pretend that the world is only filled with beauty and that peace and love overcome everything (with no other action required) are the beliefs of the misinformed.

And so when I think of the friends I lost and I look at what we are doing 13 years later, I don’t think our actions are honoring them.

In fact, I think our actions are disgracing them, suggesting that their loss was indeed in vain – a tragic, unnecessary loss of Life that is doomed to be repeated for an as-yet unsuspecting, unknowing group of victims.

And when it happens, we will act surprised, shocked and outraged yet again and then we will return to our normal programming.

I think there is a more honorable way to acknowledge the loss of those during 9/11 and it isn’t with pithy writings, emotional memorials, tear-laden get-togethers, shouts reminiscent of “Remember the Alamo” and the like while we continue to sow the seeds that created events like 9/11 in the first place.

It’s with action that truly produces a safer world for our children and not action that guarantees to recreate that which we have already suffered.

It’s with public accountability regarding those in power, elected or not.

It’s with standing up for what we believe is right while we still have something to stand up for and not waiting for someone else to fix it for us.

Otherwise we end up merely proving the old adage:

History is written by the survivors. – Yale Book of Quotations

Hopefully you are one of them.

What do you think?

How badly do you want a better world for your children?

Good – what are you waiting for?

In service and servanthood and in memory of those who were lost on 9/11 or in service to their nation.

Harry

PS (added September 11, 2015) Many of us who were in NYC on 9/11 and who lost friends, relatives and loved ones on that day may wander off in silence on occasion today, we may tell you a story we've told you a thousand times or we may still mist up all these years later. We may tell a funny story, we may cry or we may be angry. It's ok and we're ok - just humor us a little and let us have our moment. You don't have to say anything - just being there matters.

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Related posts:

• 9/11 And Lessons Not Learned (Original Post) – September 11, 2014
• 9/11–What Have We Learned After 12 Years? – September 11, 2013
• September 11 - What Have We Learned? – September 11, 2012
• 9/11, Conspiracies and Communication Failure – September 11, 2011

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Addendum – Narender Nath - September 11, 2015

I receive many emails about Narender through the years, from family, friends and people who have been made aware of him. For those who may have noticed, he touched me profoundly and as a result, I have written about him many times.  Here are other blog posts (in no particular order) that I have written where I describe Narender’s impact on myself and others.

• Accountability and Authenticity
• When In Doubt, Ask - The Answer May Surprise You
• Carpe Diem–Do We Know What It Means?
• Seeking Positive out of the Negative
• September 11 - What Have We Learned?
• The Power of Regret
• Yellow Shirt Day – The Importance of Tradition
• 9/11 And Lessons Not Learned
• 9/11–What Have We Learned After 12 Years?
• 9/11, Conspiracies and Communication Failure
• Authenticity – A Personal Assessment 8 Years After 9/11
• Living a Life of Gratitude

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Addendum 2 – What Have We Really Learned? – September 15, 2015

Articles like these two reinforce (at least to me) that we have learned very little over the years:

• America will pay the price for Obama’s Iran deal ‘victory’ - NY Post Op Ed. – September 12, 2015
• Devo's Jerry Casale Says 9/11-Themed Wedding Cake & Party Favors Were a 'Surprise' - using the World Trade Center as a wedding cake and passing out box cutters, the preferred weapon of the 9/11 terrorists, as party favors on the anniversary of 9/11 are extremely questionable in intention and sensitivity for a nation in mourning – September 14, 2015

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Addendum 3 – Making Jokes from 9/11 - September 11, 2016

Watching an ad by a mattress company where they made fun of the tragedy of that day demonstrates that not only have we not learned anything but that we don't know how to be sensitive to others whose lives were changed forever on that day. The company that launched that ad has since shut down as noted here.

Will we ever learn?

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September 11 - What Have We Learned?

It’s been 11 years since the events of September 11, 2001 took away loved ones and dear friends and for many of us, memories of that day are as vivid as the day they occurred.

I hear politicians and the media proclaim how the new tower on Ground Zero proves to the world that we will not bow to the intentions of others, how it proves that we are strong, blah blah blah.

However, such messages of bravado don’t negate the fact that our foreign policy helped create the environment that allowed this to happen in the first place.

Of course it doesn’t play well for a politician to promote or even admit this.  It is far more advantageous for politicians to play down our contribution to the difficulties of the world and to play up the role of victim or savior.

And besides, in the ultimate game of chess that international diplomacy has become, it is easy to sacrifice people that you will never meet if it serves the purpose of “the greater good”.

Whatever “the greater good” means.

Perhaps I sound more bitter than I usually sound in my posts of positive action, positive thinking and the like.

But after consulting to Wall St., Fortune 25, national governments and national military organizations for longer than I care to remember, I guess I’ve been exposed to enough stuff to know that all is not as cut and dried as politicians and the media would have us believe.

And turning a blind eye towards the ignorance of certain people is a means of condoning and even endorsing the results of their actions.

Truthfully, if I had my druthers I would rather have my friends Eric Bennett, Narender Nath and Steve Fiorelli back as well as all the other friends that I lost than have a nice building that sends a message that “we’re back and better than ever”.

As the childhood game goes, once one trumpets that one is king of the mountain, there is always someone who wants to knock the king off.

And as in all childhood games, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Especially the innocent.

I am a better person for having known Eric, Narender and Steve.

But I would rather still be learning from them instead of remembering them for the great people that they were.

And I am reminded, as I remember their loss every year (please see Carpe Diem – Do We Know What It Means?), that while the years go by, I wonder if we have really learned anything at all in regards to doing the right thing on this planet.

On most days, the positive thinking side of me believes that we have.

But on days like the anniversary we honor on September 11th and looking around at what is happening around the world, I’m not so sure.

In the meantime ….

Share love with the people around you.

Show people that they matter.

Seize the moment to show someone you care or to give someone a hand-up.

It may be the last moment you have such an opportunity.

Make the most of it.

If enough of us do this and we do it on a regular enough basis, maybe then we will finally have the opportunity to reach our ultimate positive potential.

And maybe then the people who claim to represent us will follow our example.

Maybe.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

 

Eric, Steve and Narender.

Rest in peace, my friends.

         

Carpe Diem–Do We Know What It Means?

So many people use the phrase “carpe diem” (seize the day) as a personal mantra around manic productivity – that to seize the day means that one should drive one’s self into the ground in an effort to squeeze as much productivity out of the day as is humanly possible.  Some use it as a rah rah in an effort to convince others that they are making the most of their day when in fact they are not.

I have come to learn that carpe diem means something else.

Some years ago, a dear friend of mine by the name of Narender Nath had been trying to get on my lunch calendar for weeks.  While our relationship was very important, I kept deferring him because of my busy calendar.  I finally agreed on a particular Monday to see him for lunch the next day (although I remember thinking at the time “how will I get all this work done if I take a couple of hours for lunch?”).

During the same period, my friend and colleague Eric Bennett had been nagging me about the need to relax and had kept offering to take me to a Yankees baseball game.  He had box seats through his company and wanted to treat me to a night out.  I was too busy living my interpretation of carpe diem and finally called him on a Monday afternoon and left him a message that I would take him up on his kind offer at whatever time worked for him.

I was attending a parent-teacher night one Monday evening and kept running into a friend of mine by the name of Stephen Fiorelli.  As my family wandered from appointment to appointment, I kept passing Stephen in the corridor and at one point, he indicated that he had something important to talk to me about and wondered if I was available for a coffee after the event.  I had had a particularly busy day and asked if we could reschedule for another time, which he happily agreed to.

It was Monday, September 10th, 2001.

24 hours later, it was too late to tell Narender I was sorry for not having gone to lunch with him sooner, to tell Eric that I should have taken him up on his offer to relax and kick back for a few hours or to listen to Stephen as he told me whatever seemed to be on his mind.

There are so many stories I could tell about these guys and the other friends that I lost.

Funny stories like how Narender and I created Yellow Shirt Day in our company, how he taught me to swear in Hindi to defend myself against an abusive corner-store owner in the basement of our building or how he was fascinated by TV commercials when he moved to the US because he believed that commercials provided true insight into the American character.

Stories of dedication about people like Eric Bennett who was the true epitome of a guy who went above and beyond to make sure that his colleagues were successful.   It was his desire to help me be successful in my company that created the opportunity for him to introduce me to Narender.

Powerful moments like when we were at Stephen’s house with his wife, kids, family and friends waiting for news that Stephen was ok ….. at one point the doorbell rang and I looked out the window, seeing policemen and a priest at the door and my heart sank as I then knew otherwise.

Stories of bravery, after hearing that Stephen, as a Port Authority engineer, stayed behind with his team to help the firefighters with floor plans.  They evacuated the building as it began to collapse.  The team survived – he did not.

Stories that will live with me forever.

I learned a lot from these guys but the greatest thing I learned from their loss was the real meaning of carpe diem.

For me, it’s no longer merely mistaking activity for productivity.

It’s recognition that the world is filled with tragedy but it is filled with beauty also.

But unless we take the time to slow down, to enjoy it, to be grateful for it and to share it with the people who matter, then we haven’t really seized the day.

In fact, we’ve let the beauty and potential of the day slip by us.

Carpe diem, to me, is a reminder to focus on what is really important and not just what seems to be important.

I am a better person because of Narender, Eric, Stephen, their families and all the people I have been blessed to know who were lost that day.

Carpe diem calls me to remember them by treasuring each day as a powerful gift of Life.

Carpe diem.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the incredible bravery of military servicemen, search and rescue, firemen, policemen, EMS/ EMT and all first responders, both during 9/11 and all who serve so that we may be safe.  I have reminded my children many times that when they see one of these people, they should always walk up to them and say “thank you” for putting their lives on the line, for so little pay and for people they will never meet.  Many of the firemen that I used to wave to as I walked to work in the morning in NYC rushed in to save others and never came out of the buildings.  We are grateful that they serve and sometimes, sadly, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live ….. and they do so bravely and unselfishly.

 

          

    Eric Bennett          Stephen Fiorelli                Narender Nath

 

Narender in his yellow shirt (it wasn’t yellow shirt day).  I’m in the green shirt.  The guy between us, Tom, was stepping off the PATH train in the basement of the World Trade Center at the moment the North Tower was struck and was able to leave the WTC safely.

9/11, Conspiracies and Communication Failure

As I write this today, I am wearing a yellow shirt.  It is, after all, Yellow Shirt Day for me, something a group of us co-created with a colleague who was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the media is rich with various forms of documentaries including the obligatory set of suggestions of conspiracy.  Apparently people “in the know” know for certain, without releasing their secret sources, that 9/11 occurred because of government conspiracies, aliens, an angry God (or gods for someone), etc.  One guy in a documentary on CBC in Canada said that he believed that WTC 7 was constructed in the 1980’s with the demolition charges already installed in preparation for such an event.

There is no limit to how deep they will dig to find something that resonates with their misfiring mind.

There is, however, ONE thing that does bother me about 9/11.

In 1993, after the bombing of the World Trade Center, I was talking to my former father-in-law (now deceased) about the security threats facing the United States.  As a USAF colonel and former staffer at the Strategic Air Command (before it was folded into another entity), I felt he might have some insight.

He indicated that one of the US military’s greatest concerns at that time was the use of commercial aircraft against buildings and significant landmarks on US soil.  It was a concern, he said, because it was difficult to prevent and would be incredibly disruptive to the American psyche (creating fear that terrorists wish to induce).  There was also a great concern amongst military planners that should the need to shoot down an American commercial aircraft arise, would a USAF pilot be able to do it without hesitation and if he/she did it, what would the ramifications be that an American pilot was forced to kill Americans to protect other Americans?

Eight years later, the US was rocked by 9/11 and a number of us lost treasured friends, family members and colleagues.  President Bush, Vice President Cheney and others claimed we were caught by surprise – that no one could have predicted an attack in this fashion.

And yet I was told eight years prior that this was one of the greatest concerns of the US military and that they were trying to come up with mitigation strategies to prevent it or minimize its impact.

Now ten years later, former leaders are still saying that this attack and the techniques used caught everyone by surprise.

I don’t buy it.  If a civilian (and a non US citizen at that) was told by a senior military officer in 1993 that defending against such an attack was one of the highest priorities of the US military in 1993, then many people knew this was coming.

Maybe the leaders who claim they didn’t know truly didn’t know.  I leave that to conspiracy theorists to toss back and forth.

The fact that some people possibly didn’t know reflects how poorly our communications get when we have too complex a network to communicate across.  Too many people with too many opinions and too many conflicting agendas create too much noise and when this noise is created, important information doesn’t get communicated to the people who need it.  I see this level of confusion in many large organizations that I have helped over the years.  In their desire to over-communicate, they have instead over-inundated and failure of some type becomes inevitable.

Sometimes, such poor communication creates an inconvenience.

Sometimes it may create catastrophic business unit results or total organization failure.

However, there are times it has the potential to produce fatal results.

Such as the day when my friends Narender Nath, Eric Bennett, Stephen Fiorelli and 12 others were 15 of the thousands killed on the morning of 9/11.

I’m not a conspiracy guy.  But if a lowly civilian knew about the probability of these attacks in 1993, then I have to look at the poor communications and the billions spent on intel-gathering leading up to 9/11 as a huge failure in the intelligence community.

That’s not a charge of conspiracy.

It’s one of incompetence.

There is a huge difference.

Thomas Jefferson said it best LONG before 9/11.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS For an excellent analysis debunking traditional 9/11/ conspiracy myths, please go here.