25 years ago nineteen al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four airliners, slamming two of the planes into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. 3,000 lives were lost that day.

And America has spiraled downward since that terrorist attack.

The rules-based international order and America’s soft-power-forward policies were slowly but surely replaced by the “Patriot” Act, enemy hunting, taking shoes off before boarding planes, and distrusting “immigrants.” Not kindess. Not openness. Not fairness.

These policies have been costly. To our reputation. To our leadership. To our treasury.

That’s a lot of collateral damage.

 

We can strive to improve.

We can’t change the factual record, but we can choose to confront rather than embrace hate. We can choose a capitalism that isn’t about winners and losers, but gains through trade. We can choose a democracy that isn’t about winners and losers, but about inclusion. We can choose leaders who include rather than divide. We can strive to improve.