>>the behavior of the passengers on the fourth jet, Flight
93, that crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania,
showed how quickly we can revert to older more honorable
assumptions once we know, as the passengers on Flight 93
knew, that appeasement would only enable the enemy to do his
worst.
Elaine Scarry's essay on the flight is worth the time to
find and read. She argues that the passengers on Flight 93
epitomized small local government at its best. They (1)
determined the situation on the ground, (2) discussed plans
of action, (3) voted for one plan, (4) allowed for people to
say their farewells, and (5) acted as a determined group.
While the nuclear first-strike defense was asleep somewhere,
awaiting triplicate order forms authorizing it to start up,
the passengers on 93 acted according to the best traditions
of the US. There's more than honor to it; instead one might
observe a sort of reverence for the tradition of small group
decision making.
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