I've been thinking about what Terri said: "There are horrors on both sides of this conflict. Ascribing more or less evil to one or the other side is pointless"... and about the question "What matters most?"- the ultimate question that this week of horror has dumped upon all of our laps.

I think she's right, in that we cannot come up with a sum total per side, and I have been bringing up the U.S.'s terrorism only to level the scale, so that we all see that this is not the first act of terrorism on earth, only the largest upon U.S. soil.

So what does matter?

I think what matters is that we're much more appreciative of our loved ones, and our saftey.

I think that this will give us a much stronger sense of identity and community as a country.

I think that WTC911 will make us think about what our country does, for every atrocity on the planet will now be measured in its equivalent to the disaster. It's easy to permit warfare in other countries when there hasn't been any threat to your home in 189 years, but when Joe Sixpack starts losing friends and family he's going to start questioning whether whatever we're doing is worth it. It may be, it may not. Preventing a rogue nation from obtaining nuclear capacity is very worthwhile. Eliminating terrorists and then resolving the conflict that created them is worthwhile. Protecting Nike's slave-labor base is not.

I think that each of us may think about the sacrifices we make for our cell phones, SUVs, Stock portfolio, and $200 tennis shoes, and decide that maybe our family and friends are more important to us. Once the cycle of consumerism is broken (by an event that reminds us what is important), corporations will lose the consent that they've manufactured, and thus the control on our lives.

I think there will be anger for a while, but it will subside. Surviving this attack, by fixing NYC and not letting it tank our economy, will give us a sense of national pride. Those who are truly angry (and not just overwhelmed by emotion) will not be satisfied once the headlines read "bin Laden bombed to smithereens" and will always harbor a grudge against whoever they perceive to be the same as he. The rest of us will be enriched by the goodwill towards each other that has gripped this nation in the past week, and I'll be damned if I'll let it subside because I forgot what happened. That is my revenge.

This nation is the best place on the planet to be, but it was slipping away. This tragedy may be the slap in the face that wakes it up. It certainly won't cause us to lose what we have, and it may even cause us to improve on it. I'm going to start by eliminating every petty squabble I have in my life. Then I'm going to let those I care about know that I do. Then I'm going to let some strangers know, too.