Breakfast was on my mind when I woke up on the first day of sixth grade. Could middle school be that much different than elementary? I didn’t know when I walked into the kitchen that the world had changed forever in my sleep.

I can still see the morning news of September 11, 2001 in my head. Less than a month later, the war in Afghanistan was declared. It all happened so fast.

Tens of thousands of troops are still in Afghanistan today.

Modern history has found its divide. We live in what is referred to as a post-9/11 world. B.C. has become A.D. in front of our eyes.

For many, the shock of that Tuesday morning still unknowingly lingers. Conflict in the world has seemed to snowball since that pivotal day.

Bush. Twin Towers. Bin Laden. Patriot act. Weapons of mass destruction. Iraq. Saddam. Guantanamo. Torture. Blackwater. Obama. Israel. Palestine. Egypt. Libya. Gaddafi. NSA. Syria. It’s overwhelming.

There has always been international conflict, but never has an American public had information so readily available, and never has an American public been so apathetic.

Americans have remained in the dust cloud that charged through Manhattan on 9/11.

Does anybody really know why there are still troops in Afghanistan or Iraq? What’s really happening on the other side of the world? Besides a whole lot of democracy and freedom.

Democracy and freedom seems to mean, “shut up and let us do what were going to do.” And for the most part, the public has obliged.

After countless lies and conspiracy theories, most Americans have thrown their hands up. There’s no trust. But we can depend on TMZ to make us feel good, because lies about Kanye West are far more interesting than lies from Secretary of State John Kerry.

Who can Americans trust? After watching an episode of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” watching the news seems pointless.

After the public was told WMDs were a certainty in Iraq, listening to leaders beating the drums of war is like background music at the grocery store.

It wasn’t just the New York skyline that changed that day. We don’t only mourn the 2,000-plus people that passed away; we mourn the old soul of a nation.

The country that rallied to sell war bonds to save the world for a second time is gone. The country that raised hell to stop hell on earth in Vietnam is gone.

The 11-year-old boy that thought war was a rare occurrence has come to know and forget that it’s an everyday thing.

Maybe it’s time to shake the dust off. Maybe if we get loud again we can remember who we were.