This is just about my fill of politics that I need for the entire week:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-08-31/news/9-11-the-winners-profiting-from-september-eleventh/
Basically, this whopping 7-page Village Voice column is a ginormous laundry list of all sorts of non-profits and merchandising monsters who are making huge bank off of one of the worst tragedies the country has ever seen. Countless “charity” managers and directors making over $100,000/year each, sometimes barely paying out any funds at all to the actual survivors who their supposedly supporting, gift shops churning out t-shirts and coffee mugs and pretty much anything you can imagine that is fit to slap a flag or an NYPD/FDNY logo on, and don’t even get me started on the actual 9/11 memorial itself…
(this just kills me)
Cost of 9/11 Memorial – anywhere between $610 million and possibly $1 billion (translation: nobody really knows…)
Cost of WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2004) – $175 million
Cost of Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in OKC (2000) – $29 million
Cost of Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1982) – $7 million
I remember very briefly visiting the site of Ground Zero during my first trip to New York City back in 2006 and it was little more than a hole in the ground. That was five years after the attacks and the place didn’t even look like they had started building this so-called “memorial” that everyone gushed over. It seemed kind of sad at the time that progress was taking so long, especially in the city that never sleeps and with regards to the most talked about project in Lower Manhattan. I guess apparently they’ve finally got their acts together and plan on having something ready by the 10th anniversary of 9/11 this weekend … even though this something isn’t rumored to actually offer bathrooms at this point…
But now that things are coming around again, especially with the big anniversary, it’s just a shame that the capitalistic greed is so blatant and unapologetic, as if so many of these people who are skimming 95% of the funds from their charities are still convinced that the remaining 5% is going to do a lot of good for whatever causes they share those leftover crumbs with. I mean, it’s always been obvious that there was a ton of money to be made even immediately after the attacks – places that sold t-shirts and baseball caps with those same NYPD and FDNY logos couldn’t print the things fast enough.
Disappointing to me the most is what I’ve heard of the memorial, whose biggest draw appears to be their gift shop and makes itself out to be more of a tourist destination than a solemn place of remembrance. Anyone who’s been in the tiny gift shops along the National Mall (either at the Lincoln Memorial or in the center there) can vouch that those shops are educational centers at best – mostly packed full of books and postcards that explain the historical significance of the surroundings and their honorees, without a single t-shirt or commemorative bumper sticker in sight.
Does that say something about modern culture when people would rather buy a t-shirt with a flag on it than a book that tells a few inspirational tales of heroism?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure you’ll be able to buy both items at the new site, but it’s hard to overlook the overwhelming dollars and cents that will be swirling both inside and out on a day that should be about anything but money. Sure, some are modest and genuine with their intentions, but others are no doubt just in line to cash in on an easy money grab, and sadly, being the cynic that I am, the latter all but block my view of those who actually deserve our attention as we attempt to memorialize tragedy. Modesty is lost in the face of capitalism, and I think that we can do a lot better.
In other 9/11 news, The Onion had a nice, little parody of the media blitz that we can look forward to surrounding the 10th anniversary as well:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/responsible-cable-news-outlets-to-devote-sensible,21284/