Your views on America and the world pre and post 9/11: Did they change?

[QuinnFillory]

With the upcoming 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, I have been taking a look back on life before and after the events. To me, life seemed a bit more innocent back then. Terror attacks were things that happened elsewhere. Hate wasn't something that can transform a country like America. However, after the attacks, the way that America had changed and has been changing since then ended up surprising me. I never saw the laws they ended up enacting and the wars they caused coming. Nor did I see it becoming so divided that till this day, literally one half of the country wants to see the other half wiped off the face of the earth.

How about you? How have your views changed?

[CosmiComic]

Tbh, America was always like that, but just to minority groups. Political division only arises because those groups began speaking out. But in many ways the tighter security and brutal tactics America used after 9/11 were unnecessary.

[Kirby101]

I've always had an uneven view of America. But the bifurcation came pre and post Trump, not 9/11. I have a much dimmer view now.

[Tien Long]

My view got worse, yes. Pre - 9/11, I (like a lot of people my generation) thought that the tragedies and the wars happened either a long time ago or "over there." 9/11 was a big realization that things weren't safe anymore. Sure, we have relaxed since then. But in the years afterwards, sights of soldiers guarding the Lincoln Tunnel or the Port Authority or ads on the subways and on TV stating "See Something, Say Something" have become commonplace.

As for me, the weight of 9/11 has only started to set in in the last few years. It's become history book material. An entire generation of kids have never had to go through that. The effects still linger. Indeed, the Freedom Tower has replaced the Twin Towers over in NYC. I've been the memorial and given respects at the reflecting pools. Whenever one visits NYC, there are ads to go up the Freedom Tower. However, I just can't go up there. Honestly, I'm shaking a bit as I type this. There's a trauma at that site that I don't know will ever subside.

[PwrdOn]

9/11 was, if nothing else, a stark reminder that even though we're separated from most of the world by two oceans, our actions abroad still have consequences, and even the most powerful military and economic force in human history isn't immune to blowback. Of course, this was a lesson everybody promptly forgot, as the military industrial complex decided to double down on the strategy of invading wherever and whenever expedient, and of course every drone strike that hits a wedding instead of a terrorist training camp just creates that lifelong hatred in the civilian victims, some of whom will grow up to become the next generation of insurgent fighters. And while the beefed up security apparatus has so far successfully prevented another major terrorist attack, there's no doubt that the enemies we face have multiplied exponentially since the start of the war on terror, and are better funded, equipped, and organized than ever, so really it's only a matter of time until something happens.

[shooshoomanjoe]

I think they got worse, especially in the middle east. There are very few wars that the U.S. did some good. Most wars we just made things worse.

[babyblob]

Things for sure got worse. Bush used 9/11 to have his revenge war in Afghanistan so America did not look weak. Send the strongest army in the world to fight some guys with machine guys in pick up trucks and 20 years later it did not work.

And he followed that up with his BS invasion of Iraq to finish daddies business and help make some friends rich with military contracts. And we are still dealing with all the fallout, Look at the mess in Afghanistan right now.

Afghanistan was never about justice for 9-11 it was a wave the flag watch while I bomb a couple 2nd world countries back into the stone age and mess things up there for decades.

If it was really about getting Bin laden that could have been done like it was after 15 or so years of fighting. With a seal team taking him out in Pakistan. Didnt have to invade Afghanistan for that.

What would have been the risk of doing a seal team from the start? Would have pissed of the leaders of a country hiding a terrorist leader who has killed thousands? Yea a lot of people will cry over that. What would have Pakistan done? Invaded us? Imposed sanctions? Yea some people around the would would have been pissed but the fall out could have been handled a lot easier then this mess now.

[CSTowle]

I'm old enough that I was an adult when 9/11 happened and I was already well aware of how much of the world views us and what we'd done to earn that perception/feeling. It's honestly a bit surprising it doesn't happen more often. Why we don't have large groups of Native American or African American freedom fighter/terrorist groups is a mystery to me, though there was a crackdown on groups that might reach that status in the '60s and '70s.

My awakening was realizing that the marriage of the military and intelligence agencies and corporations that relied upon them for protection as they pursued theft of resources from weaker nations and peoples around the world, as well as being the world's biggest arms dealer, sort of made us (and by us I mean the groups above or the "military industrial complex" warned about by Ike, and to a far lesser extent the citizens of the country who largely aren't aware of their actions and don't want to be), one of if not the biggest bad guy on the world stage. Growing up with the "rah rah", pledge of allegiance, flag-waving, chest-beating and the like I just assumed we were generally the good guys even if I didn't feel the same level of pride in having the good fortune to be born here.

I think the people are generally good, but I feel that's the case the world over. Whether that's here, in Canada, or in Iran or North Korea. People want to be safe/secure, they want to be able to raise their children without bombs falling on their heads or being thrown in prison for offending their government, and they're just as susceptible to being manipulated by con men/strong men and tribalist thinking when they start to feel insecure. I'd thought we'd stolen enough resources that what had trickled down over the generations would keep most of us from being as susceptible to that as someone living in one of the areas we bomb regularly or sell arms to the locals, but Trump showed me I was wrong about even that.

[Sacred Knight]

Got worse. But then again it happened when I was only 20 years old. I was just barely learning about "the real world" as it was.

[JackDaw]

9/11 was, if nothing else, a stark reminder that even though we're separated from most of the world by two oceans, our actions abroad still have consequences, and even the most powerful military and economic force in human history isn't immune to blowback. Of course, this was a lesson everybody promptly forgot, as the military industrial complex decided to double down on the strategy of invading wherever and whenever expedient, and of course every drone strike that hits a wedding instead of a terrorist training camp just creates that lifelong hatred in the civilian victims, some of whom will grow up to become the next generation of insurgent fighters. And while the beefed up security apparatus has so far successfully prevented another major terrorist attack, there's no doubt that the enemies we face have multiplied exponentially since the start of the war on terror, and are better funded, equipped, and organized than ever, so really it's only a matter of time until something happens.

That reminds me of something a work colleague said the day after the attack.

It was something like “Today I saw pictures all over the world of people cheering as the planes hit the towers. All the decent people in America ought to wonder why that’s happening.”

[Starter Set]

Well, it's a fact now that around the world lot of people are happy that Russia and China are there, even if they don't support the said countries' policies or views.

The world is a better place with other great powers, each one keeping the others on their toes.

[nx01a]

The world could stay on September 10th 2001 on loop forever for me.

[green_garnish]

With the upcoming 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, I have been taking a look back on life before and after the events. To me, life seemed a bit more innocent back then. Terror attacks were things that happened elsewhere. Hate wasn't something that can transform a country like America. However, after the attacks, the way that America had changed and has been changing since then ended up surprising me. I never saw the laws they ended up enacting and the wars they caused coming. Nor did I see it becoming so divided that till this day, literally one half of the country wants to see the other half wiped off the face of the earth.

How about you? How have your views changed?

Life didn't seem that innocent to me before 9/11. I would say the American Dream changed with the Johnson administration, a presidency that failed so bad he didnt run for reelection. Then we ran right into a president who honestly believed that being president meant he couldn't break the law. We had a couple of innocuous presidents after that, doing their best and taking the job seriously, but bot able to be effective due to circumstances beyond their control. Then we had Reagan, who knew there were circumstances beyond his control and negotiated with them rather than standing up for American principles, and attempted to assasinate personal liberties in the name of corporate advantate, contuned by Bush. Clinton then came on board and was unable to reverse that horror, and Bush II, in his idiocy, took it to extremes. Obama, the most presidential president in my lifetime, accompished amazing forward momentum despite capitulatng to the GOP on several occasions.

Trump of course was just stupid, like having Vince McMahon elected, or Rush Limbaugh. Nothing presidential, nothing intelligent, nothing pro-America.

And beyond the presidency, we now have federal Congressional and state officials largely agreeing with his idiocy.

Pre-2001 was not more innocent. It was the birth of where we are.

[PwrdOn]

Life didn't seem that innocent to me before 9/11. I would say the American Dream changed with the Johnson administration, a presidency that failed so bad he didnt run for reelection. Then we ran right into a president who honestly believed that being president meant he couldn't break the law. We had a couple of innocuous presidents after that, doing their best and taking the job seriously, but bot able to be effective due to circumstances beyond their control. Then we had Reagan, who knew there were circumstances beyond his control and negotiated with them rather than standing up for American principles, and attempted to assasinate personal liberties in the name of corporate advantate, contuned by Bush. Clinton then came on board and was unable to reverse that horror, and Bush II, in his idiocy, took it to extremes. Obama, the most presidential president in my lifetime, accompished amazing forward momentum despite capitulatng to the GOP on several occasions.

Trump of course was just stupid, like having Vince McMahon elected, or Rush Limbaugh. Nothing presidential, nothing intelligent, nothing pro-America.

And beyond the presidency, we now have federal Congressional and state officials largely agreeing with his idiocy.

Pre-2001 was not more innocent. It was the birth of where we are.

Yeah but if you go back before the Johnson administration it doesn't really get any better. You had Jim Crow in the South and Red Scare McCarthyism, and then before that you had WW2, while a great achievement from an American perspective, was arguably the worst calamity to ever befall mankind, and then before that you had the Depression, and before that the Gilded Age of capitalist excess paired with misery for the common people, and then before that you had the Indian Wars, plantation slavery, and all that good stuff. Where exactly is this mythical golden age of American greatness that people keep wanting to return to? The problems we face today were not caused by some singular tragic event that ruined an otherwise perfect society, they were there from the beginning and continue to fester the longer we neglect to address them.

And just to be clear, this isn't meant to just idly **** on America. I have lived in this country for most of my life and really enjoy the quality of life and freedoms that I have here that I wouldn't have elsewhere. However, I recognize that the only reason I have these privileges is because my government goes out of its way to make life miserable for the greater bulk of humanity so that me and my fellow citizens can reap the rewards and continue to enjoy the lifestyle we take for granted. And if there's ANY lesson to take away from the last 20 years, it's that bombing and sanctioning any country that looks at us funny to maintain American dominance over the globe isn't quite working like it's supposed to, and that we would be MUCH better served by gently stepping down from our self-appointed position of global leadership and focusing on improving our own society, rather than doubling down on a failed strategy and eventually suffering an epic collapse. If history is to be any guide though, the latter scenario certainly seems far more likely.

[Scott Taylor]

The poll results surprise me, but then again there is always a tendency to look back into the past with nostalgia. When questions like this come up, I can't help but think of the window through which we al receive information about the world around us. That has definitely changed since 9/11.

Due to the advent of smartphones there has been a huge change in the way news gets distributed and what counts as news. During the 1990s news came mainly from just the main TV networks and newspapers. The internet existed, sure, but it was not the beast it is now. Most of the more soft news stories from random people were was separated out as opinion. Now news can come from anyone with a smartphone. And there is just a ton more information available for consumption, its not filtered like it was before. Plus there is always the chance that what we see is faked by someone with an agenda, moreso than ever with the technology. This leads to perceptions that there is a ton more bad news and bad stuff going on out there, whereas before it was just fewer bad things being reported because there was a lot less reporting in general. No 24/7 news cycle.

Anyway, no change in my opinion. America has always been a land of contrasts of good and bad. Perception comes from what you focus on.