If September 11 Never Happened ... Die Zeit, Germany

If September 11 Never Happened ...
By Juli Zeh
Germany - Die Zeit

In democracies there is no propaganda, no incitement of hysteria against certain groups of citizens by the press or politicians. A democratic country protects innocent citizens. It doesn't take away his nail clippers, doesn't listen to his phone or read his e-mail. A democratic state controls its secret services, doesn't deploy the army in its own borders, takes fingerprints exclusively from criminals, and doesn't use cameras at tollbooths to film harmless vehicles on the highway.

Because a democracy trusts its citizens, it knows that it relies on the consent of its citizenry, because otherwise it doesn't deserve to be called a democracy. If a crime occurs, however dreadful, a democratic state turns all of its resources to fighting that crime without labeling it a "war." For "war" is a dreadful concept. War directs itself not against the individual criminal, but holds entire regions, entire countries, entire areas of the globe responsible for a few inhabitants.

That's not just what was explained to me: that's what I believed. Contrary to the concepts of God, family and native country, the democratic ideal had direct significance to me. No one would have dared insist that this was just a fair-weather opinion that darkened whenever a cloud crossed the sun. No one called democracy an ideology that showed its true face only when it was attacked from outside.

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