Jason Farago: 9/11 at 11 ... Where the Real Ground Zero of a New American Century Lies

Jason Farago is a New York-based writer and critic who contributes to the London Review of Books, Monocle, n+1, and other magazines. He is also editor of The Bugle, an American publication on culture and ecology.

9/11 was the day America has promised never to forget, but today, 11 years on, is the quietest anniversary of that terrible day we have yet seen.

Last year, the tenth anniversary and the first after the death of Osama bin Laden, felt almost like the final one. Today, most newspapers have some pro forma editorial on the importance of "pausing to reflect", and the two presidential campaigns are suspended. But here in New York, the commemorations are minor, and the nation's politicians are not in town. In Washington, the National Cathedral isn't even bothering to hold a special service.

September 11, as we never expected, is close to becoming just another day.

If you go down to the World Trade Center site, you'll see some propaganda that the reconstruction process is "picking up speed", and that the city and the nation are "honoring the victims". But it won't feel that way...