I agree that for those who were personally affected, 9/11 was traumatic and life defining. I don’t agree that trauma is reason enough for the massive flaws in the American psyche — which have been there for a very long time. And I really don’t understand how anyone can argue that one small isolated incident that, while terrible, affected a relatively small amount of people, can be used as any sort of reason or excuse for widespread societal dysfunction, especially when we don’t see this result in countries and communities who experience widespread trauma on a daily basis.

I think saying that, oh we experienced an isolated incident of trauma 20 years ago so that’s why we’re terrible people, it’s rather insulting to the people in, for example, Palestine, Israel, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan who keep their humanity despite almost daily atrocities.

My hypothesis? An obsession with materialism and the so-called American dream, an over-reliance on a particularly toxic forum of capitalism, a colonial mindset, and the belief that if you’re badly off you deserve it.