For what avail the plow or sail, or land, or life, if freedom fail?

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why Rebuild?

When we say it is not too late to do the right thing, what do we mean? Who gets to decide what “the right thing” is? With all the turmoil in the world today, it might seem ridiculous to say that rebuilding the Twin Towers is “the surest way to a better world”. But we don’t think so and the cost/benefit analysis that follows will explain why.

Rebuilding the Twin Towers was always the right thing to do because that is what most Americans wanted. It was that simple. We will not focus here on all the official subterfuge and PR strategies that went into misrepresenting that support. But thousands of people lost their lives on 9/11 simply because they were American citizens and there is no denying that the rebuilding protocols were a flagrant mockery of the democratic process.

It is remarkable how widespread support for rebuilding the Twin Towers has always been. That was captured by these words written on an official comment card during the 2002 process of “Listening to the City”:

Just as I want my wife back, people want their towers back.

That’s what they want… don’t let today’s fears control tomorrow’s dreams.

Looking back at the years that followed the attacks, the overriding flaw in all the efforts to recover was that so much of the planning was fear-based: Today’s fears were allowed to control tomorrow’s fears. As if it is possible to be free without being brave. Truly existential threats to civilization have proliferated since 9/11 and joining forces to successfully learn the post-9/11 lessons at the World Trade Center would give us the tools to effectively tackle every one of them.

Sometime prior to 9/11, it was reported that a US Marshal who was transferring the mastermind of the 1993 WTC bombing to the Metropolitan Correctional Center for trial said as they flew over the Twin Towers: “See you didn’t get them.” To which Ramzi Yousef replied, “Not yet.”

In February 2002, CNN published the transcript of an interview Osama bin Laden did with an Al-Jazeera correspondent in October 2001, in which he boasted that: “The values of this Western civilization under the leadership of America have been destroyed. Those awesome symbolic towers that speak of liberty, human rights, and humanity have been destroyed. They have gone up in smoke.”

An early comment on the TTA petition pointed out that “Nothing has rewarded the jihadists more than the ongoing sight of a world landmark wiped off the face of the earth.” And another one explained: “Terrorism is a war of symbols. That is why the Towers were targeted and that is why they must be rebuilt.”

When 2,977 citizens of the United States and more than 60 other nations were brutally murdered and two monuments to the American spirit were cancelled from the world’s skyline, they were destroyed by arrogance, intolerance, and blind hatred. Only by rising above our differences and unifying can we defeat the hatred that is still trying to destroy us.

Democracy is not an empty buzzword to be used to bash fellow Americans. There will always be work to do to make the American Dream more real and true, but we will never improve the country by dividing the American Family.

Twenty years ago, the Towers and those who died when they collapsed took the hit for all of us. We must remember that we still have sworn enemies who never take their eyes off the ball. In the months before 9/11, the pervasive bitterness and rancor over the results of the 2000 elections were still fierce.

As Americans turned on each other, our enemies took advantage of the opening to strike. All the anger and division vanished in the grief that followed 9/11, but the lesson wasn’t learned.

Maybe “United We Stand and Divided We FAIL” might get more attention — because a pancaking country would crush everyone’s freedom. Democracy requires civility and persuasion to function. It is defeated by aggression and coercion.

North and South Towers finally rising above the World Trade Center would signify a commitment to unity that transcends division and hostility. It would be a monument to the American genius for doing whatever it takes to succeed. New Twin Towers would stand for excellence and transcendence, but above all, they would stand for tolerance and respect.

It is a fallacy to think we can repair our wounded country (or wounded world) without being staunchly committed to cooperation — give and take. And that is what the Twin Towers were dedicated to from their inception.

Shining Twin Towers would be powerful sentinels, reminding us to be vigilant. We are not proposing rebuilt replicas of the two towers that were destroyed on 9/11. We are proposing even greater Twin Towers that would, in every sense, enshrine the daring and ingenuity of the fabulous originals.

That would be the ultimate homage to the loved ones and the world that was lost on September 11, 2001.