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Seems quite difficult to predict what would happen at a psychological level. Think what 9/11 did to the American psyche, that was 3k deaths, about the same as d

Seems quite difficult to predict what would happen at a psychological level. Think what 9/11 did to the American psyche, that was 3k deaths, about the same as die every year from accidental food poisoning and < 1/10 the number of people who die in car crashes every year. I'm not sure but I also wonder if you are under-estimating the overall supply chain complexity that underpins modern urban living. There might be 3 years of soybean supply in the US under ideal circumstances, but how do you distribute that to people when communications, roads, pipelines, electrical generation, fuel refining, private & commercial vehicles etc are all damaged at the same time? Plus the supply chain required to keep those things running? Not to mention record-keeping and the political fabric itself.

op00to 2y ago
For most Americans, 9/11 changed nothing. Hell, for most in NYC 9/11 changed very little in daily life after the initial attack.
nostrademons 2y ago
9/11 didn't do much to the American psyche. It did a lot to American discourse. But discourse != psyche, and most ordinary people just went about their business the way they did before 9/11 while rolling their eyes (privately) at the new government policies.
- xyzzy123 2y ago
  It seemed to have a pretty big impact on domestic and foreign policy. Perhaps homeland security, gitmo, TSA, expanded NSA powers and the global war on terror were just "on trend" and inevitable? I find it hard to tell. When people feel threatened there's typically a drive towards authoritarianism and top-down control, a desire for a sense of security and certainty. I find it hard to predict how this would play out vs the US's unique cultural takes on freedom.
  - nostrademons 2y ago
    Again, there's a big difference between "the government" and "the people". The government used 9/11 as an excuse to push through a bunch of surveillance-state policies. The people acquiesced at the time because, well, wartime & terrorism, but they didn't necessarily like it. One of the things it actually did was drive a wedge between the government and the people, fueling mistrust between different groups. And so here we are 20+ years later with a former president who was elected on the premise of "draining the swamp", openly feuded with the surveillance state during his time in office, and is now a convicted felon running for president again.

op00to 2y ago

For most Americans, 9/11 changed nothing. Hell, for most in NYC 9/11 changed very little in daily life after the initial attack.

nostrademons 2y ago

9/11 didn't do much to the American psyche. It did a lot to American discourse. But discourse != psyche, and most ordinary people just went about their business the way they did before 9/11 while rolling their eyes (privately) at the new government policies.

xyzzy123 2y ago
It seemed to have a pretty big impact on domestic and foreign policy. Perhaps homeland security, gitmo, TSA, expanded NSA powers and the global war on terror were just "on trend" and inevitable? I find it hard to tell. When people feel threatened there's typically a drive towards authoritarianism and top-down control, a desire for a sense of security and certainty. I find it hard to predict how this would play out vs the US's unique cultural takes on freedom.
- nostrademons 2y ago
  Again, there's a big difference between "the government" and "the people". The government used 9/11 as an excuse to push through a bunch of surveillance-state policies. The people acquiesced at the time because, well, wartime & terrorism, but they didn't necessarily like it. One of the things it actually did was drive a wedge between the government and the people, fueling mistrust between different groups. And so here we are 20+ years later with a former president who was elected on the premise of "draining the swamp", openly feuded with the surveillance state during his time in office, and is now a convicted felon running for president again.