One must understand that to forget is natural and a necessary part of life. If we did not have the ability to forget, then humans would not survive this largely harsh and brutal world. It is our ability to forget events, no matter how traumatic they may be, that allows us to reign over this planet as the dominating species. However, Rieff makes a rather clear and explicit point when he says it’s been ten years since 9/11 and many of us still have not even begun to forget this. This is, in my opinion, dangerous and potentially problematic, as not allowing ourselves to let go of the thoughts could lead us to harboring unwanted and unnecessary thoughts.

We must understand that when we force ourselves to remember 9/11 every single day of our life, and we forcefully try not to forget it, we are also inviting unwanted thoughts into our minds. For example, after 9/11, a concept I’d like to call “religionism” erupted. While racism is discrimination based on the race, religionism is discrimination based on religion. Many of us started inviting hostile thoughts about Muslims throughout the world and started acting strangely and suspiciously around Muslims. Such shameful thoughts could potentially lead us to act in a manner that is not only inappropriate, but ultimately illegal. It is when not being able to forget gets to this point that one must finally have the volition to forget.

In addition, it is important to understand that when we forget about an event, particularly something as traumatizing as 9/11, we are not letting go of the importance of that date, nor are we letting go of the people who died that day. Rather, we are training our mind in such a way that this day does not hinder us from our daily activities and does not impede us from successfully completing our lives. This is one reason why memorials are so important – they remind us that 9/11 happened and that we will not dare let go of all the people who died that day. By enacting memorials, we are able to live our lives normally and remember the tragedy of the day and mourn for those who died that day.