Lest We Forget...

Memory plays a major role in dealing with the circumstances and consequences certain events throw up at us over the course of our lives. Whether it be domestic and somewhat insignificant day to day chores, right up to the importance of profound and moving events or tragedies around the world, memory is always there to either give us a sense of understanding of the situation or a way to help yourself and others move on and learn from said event. 12 years on after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, it is understandably obvious that the hurt and suffering felt by those inside the buildings and their families on that fateful day in 2001 is still felt to the utmost degree today. Events such like this happen in the hope (on behalf of the terrorists who attacked innocent civilians at work) that it would wreak havoc, confusion and concern for their national security. Attacks like this and the London tube bombings of 2005 are used in an attempt to divide the communities that reside within these countries. A small group of individuals thinking they are doing the right thing for their own beliefs so that they reach a greater level of being and meaning in the eyes of their god. Individuals taking law into their own hands to subdue what they believe to be usurpers and global policemen trying to penetrate all the corners of the globe with their own democratic pragmatism and beliefs. What is the difference between a country who tries to spread stability and democracy in a safe and mostly pragmatic approach, to those individuals who take matters into their own hands so as to promote their own version of events - to promote their own fundamental idealism - to ignite a feud between religious sects of society so as to engrave severe levels of mistrust and dis-honour among their fellow compatriots in an attempt to understand the unfolding of events and the purpose of their being, their 'raison d'etre'.

Over the last hundred years, we have seen dictators come and go. We have seen regimes rise and fall. We have seen World Wars tear countries apart bit by bit. We have seen countries riddled by hunger, disease and desperation whilst professional footballers and wealthy bankers get hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of pounds, and society does not batter an eye lash. Surely ridding the world of hunger and disease is more important than a footballer having a £5 million holiday home in the South of France or Los Angeles? I do not look to seek refuge in a non-winnable (with regards to modern society) argument regarding the wealth and success of some people to the disheartening sorrow and distress other individuals go through on a regular basis. Nor do I look to argue that this blog will be the life blood of change, the catalyst in ensuring global society becomes an equal playing field without money worries, disease or hunger. I am merely trying to prove in my own words and my own opinions that the actions of the individual matter, no matter how small a contribution or how sincere their actions are. As the laws of Physics state, 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'. At school I did not comprehend how a statement relating to a subject I had no real interest in could be related to anything and everything that we do in our day to day lives, no matter how insignificant you think you are, and the things you do are in the grand scheme of things. Everybody counts, everybody matters. Every single one of those 2,996 individuals who died that day in 2001 as a result of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. Every one of those 52 killed in the London tube bombings. Every one of those 3 killed in the Boston Marathon bombings, and all those killed in combat, gang related crimes, terrorist attacks of recent and past times all have an importance, all have a significance in our understanding of how important a memory of events can be in piecing together a way to put a feeling of hope back together for future generations. Terrorist attacks and stories of inexplicable hurt and pain all lead to one thing - the coming together of a community to remember the individuals who were taken away from this world too early in their lives and to commemorate those individuals who gained a hero's status for ensuring some of those who could have died in these tragedies lived on to live out their lives to the full and in respect to the memory of those who risked their lives for others and the future of hopeful world peace.

The notion of memory and remembrance is something that affects people in different ways. In my experience of events in History that interest me the most; that of the Holocaust and the Slave Trade; the concept and importance of having a personal level of memory and remembrance, whether that is as a result of survivors stories or your own retrospective view on said events, cannot be underestimated. The point that I am trying to put across is that no matter how hard someone hits us down, we will always find a way of getting back up. No matter how hard countries are hit by extremist threats to their homeland, society finds a way to distill any sense of doubt and hatred with a sense of optimism and memory.

Without memory, events happen, the consequences ensue, and as a result the events themselves are not remembered in the way that they should be. Memory is the utmost important part of understanding, reacting to, and recovering from events of any nature, and without memory, we give the transgressors what they were looking for, what they were aiming for as a result of their actions. Memory not only brings us together in times of doubt and concern, it also gives us a meaning to go on and do greater things with what we have so as to prove that you can only fully get defeated by your own negative mindset.

R.I.P to all those who died in the 9/11 attacks and to all those who perished as a result of subsequent and previous acts of terrorism or warfare.

'Never give up, never surrender'

Jonathan Whitehead