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AN AMERICAN IN PAKISTAN: Freedom after 9/11

Catherine Mayo

Americans understand, deep down, that they have lost their freedom. They had it once, they remember what it was, but it is gone

Plato was the first person to think in words about what it would be like for a human being to be self-governing. His thoughts tended to go around in circles, because he was a man ahead of his time and he didn’t have the words. His symbolism of the cave is good, because that is how he felt. He knew the possibility was there, in the dark, but he just couldn’t see it.

Self-government is a discipline that we all take for granted now. It means action after careful consideration of our moral principles. It is hard to imagine how the cave man made decisions, because he didn’t do anything unless he got the permission from someone else. It takes a long time for a human being to trust his own knowledge about the difference between good and bad. Confidence in our inner connection with God has to be taught to us as children, and we have to teach it to our children.

Americans now are feeling about the same way as their heroes, the troops in Baghdad. They are tired, confused and they see no end to their confusion. Ambushes happen every day, from any quarter, and they haven’t figured out who the enemy is. They are putting out so many small brushfires on a daily basis that they don’t have time to think things through and plan a strategy. Their leaders are no help, the president ran off to start a road map for peace between Israel and Palestine, and then did a comprehensive political tour of Africa. Now Bush is worried about Iran. North Korea, too, but mostly Iran. North Korea is building up a nuclear arsenal that it will sell to Iran for food, and then Iran will give the bombs to all of its terror groups so they can attack the US.

The decision-makers on the ground in Iraq are not faring any better. They are trying to decide who would be the best people to rule in Iraq in a council form of government, an idea they finally hit upon because they couldn’t figure out how to start a democracy.

Like their troops, Americans are plagued by questions about why they are in Iraq. No WMD, no Al Qaeda, no regime change. But they can’t admit this to themselves. Never in history has the US made such a bad mistake. Americans are wandering around in the dark, hoping that someone will provide an intelligent explanation soon.

But the moment has passed. They have gone back to the cave man way of thinking. They have forgotten that they know how to be self-governing.

I got a letter from a person in the US arguing that I was misinformed about a lot of things, and that I should remember what it is to be free. He didn’t define what he meant by ‘free’. I am free, I don’t have to remember what it was like, I know it now. I am free to see the difference between right and wrong, and to do the right thing.

I have been trying to compile a definition of ‘freedom’ or what it means to Americans at present. To them, freedom means doing something about 9/11 so it will never happen again.

But it has not happened again. We are coming up to the second anniversary, and the horror of that day has not been repeated.

So let me try again. To Americans, at this moment in history, freedom means knowing that they can do anything they want, and it will always turn out right in the end. Freedom means believing something is true with such conviction that it is required to come true.

No, now I am not making sense. Americans understand, deep down, that they have lost their freedom. They had it once, they remember what it was, but it is gone.

Plato’s ideas about the potential in every human being are written in a style that makes us smile when we read it. Plato had an interesting, off-beat sense of humour. Anyone who has hope, and confidence in himself, has a sense of humour. Even the Iraqis, looting the presidential palaces after the fall of Baghdad, had a sense of humour about themselves. They called themselves ‘Ali Babas’, and one would scold another to take back the carpet even while he was making off with the chandelier.

But Americans do not have a sense of humour anymore. This is the most telling characteristic now, the biggest cultural difference between them and the rest of the world. They can’t laugh at a joke, they don’t even understand it.

Cathy Mayo is an American journalist based in Pakistan

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