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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 busine
by 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 agoIt 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 agoAgain, 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.