W.W.T.D.D.

I know.

What does the acronym stand for?

Let’s preface the acronym by saying this: the spring prior to 911, during one of my sister’s softball games in Mankato, MN, my dad and I were munching some sunflower seeds and talking about the state of America.

Now before we get squirrely, I’ll be upfront about the fact that I proclaim myself as a Democrat and if that means I’m a socialist, then so be it. My dad, as far back as I can remember has always been a Democrat too. I don’t know if those sentiments have changed over the years, but I’m pretty sure he swings the bat with the Democrats.

Anyway, we were munching sunflower seeds and talking about how America didn’t seem to be the America our forefathers perhaps envisioned. Something didn’t feel right. America spent more time trying to bend other countries and other peoples to different beliefs, different ways of life; a system that seemed to be more in line with what America wanted. While that was happening, we felt domestic interests were being overlooked, while abroad, America was no longer the brand name it once was. It began to feel like America had switched from being the plucky rebels-standing-for-what-they-believed-in, to the oppressive, we’re-king-shit-so-do-what-we-tell-you-to-do bullies.

I know.

We’re America. Wave the flag. Home of the Free. Yay, capitalism.

But sitting on those bleachers, four months prior to 911, taking in the warm spring air and spitting out sunflower seed shells, one of us – I forget if it was dad or me – said, “Someday, one of these countries is going to stand up, rear back and punch America in the face.”

Now, I’m not saying dad and I predicted 911.

Nostradamus we are not. Thousands, if not millions, of people probably had similar conversations that summer.

So on the morning of 911, when I fielded the call from my wife at work about the first plane hitting the WTC, I immediately thought back to that conversation from the summer. Ironically, I did feel like I got punched in the gut, but not as surprised, tragically wounded American, but as a self-aware human being that just figured out that all this time, we were NOT the Luke Skywalkers and the plucky rebellion, we were the Darth Vaders of the Empire.

Yeah, kind of cheesy analogy, but I’m not that academic and bright, so I tend to communicate things in overly simplified movie analogies.

Which brings me back to the acronym.

W.W.T.D.D.

What Would Tyler Durden Do?

The nihilist hero/villain in Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club, which was later made into a feature film with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, believed that the world needed a drastic change – a cleansing:

“In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway.”

All major religions have their own story about an earthly cleansing – most often a divine flood. I learned that in World Lit class (Thanks, Professor Dyer!). Lately, with all the political and economic turmoil going on in America and abroad, it makes me wonder if the current systems in place are really working. I have more doubts about America’s future than ever before and I find myself asking the question: What Would Tyler Durden Do?

I have a pretty good idea what he would do. It wouldn’t be pretty. But it would be necessary. Sometimes, when a forest grows too thick, a cleansing fire is needed to restore order. Another movie line from a villain. Why am I relating more to villains than heroes at this point in my life? Could it be that villains are not blinded by propaganda or pride, and actually see the bigger picture for what it truly is? Maybe not ALL villains.

Perhaps I need to get out more.