Getting back to normal
Peter Bradley, Editor in Chief -- Logistics Management, 9/1/2002
A year after the terrorist attacks that so shocked, saddened and angered the people of this nation and the civilized world, it's astonishing how much life for most of us has returned to something like normal. The newspapers are full of political and business stories. We've watched the markets reel, recover, and plunge again in response to news unrelated to terror. Issues of corporate crime and reactions to it dominated the headlines for months, and it's likely that there's more to come. In too many places around the globe, hatred breeds violence that breeds hatred in a sad cycle that is as old as mankind.
With the U.S. economy still struggling, almost all of us have seen friends and colleagues lose their jobs through no fault of their own, and we worry about our own financial security. Through much of the nation, the long, hot, dry summer caused lawns and farms alike to dry up and forests to burn, while in Europe the problem was too much water and deadly floods. Another U.S. election cycle is heating up, and along with it debates over energy, the environment, health care and a host of other issues. Good news is too rare, but at least most of the news is within bounds that we can absorb and comprehend, in contrast to the unfathomable horrors of last Sept. 11.
Of course, for many people, life does not go on so normally. Here at Reed Business Information, we again mourn the loss of Jeffrey Mladenik and Andrew Curry Green, two of our employees who were among the innocent victims aboard American Airlines Flight 11. All the deaths that day in New York, in Washington, and in a field in Pennsylvania affected uncountable numbers of people. Those of us fortunate enough not to have lost loved ones that day, those of us who have not had to endure the sudden and violent death of someone close to us, cannot really fathom the pain of those who did.
For the rest of us, many things have changed in the last year—some subtle, some less so. All it takes is a trip to the airport or an attempt to ship goods by air to remind us that the rules have changed. The opening News & Analysis story this month outlines how a new trade law will place new demands on importers and exporters. Many of the changes in law and regulation and security practices were necessary, although sometimes the response has gone too far for the health of either commerce or, more importantly, our liberty.
But at least we're debating again what's appropriate. That robust, loud and contentious argument about who we are and where we should be going is a welcome indication that despite the terrible shocks of the last year, we have returned to some semblance of normal, and that is good.
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