Were most americans really changed by 9/11?

[ShyGuyInChicago]

Were Most Americans Really Changed By 9/11? : Discovery News (http://news.discovery.com/human/americans-change-911-110909.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1)

WERE MOST AMERICANS REALLY CHANGED BY 9/11?
http://news.discovery.com/contributors/images/ben-radford-49x49.jpg (http://news.discovery.com/contributors/benjamin-radford/)Analysis by Benjamin Radford (http://news.discovery.com/contributors/benjamin-radford/)
Fri Sep 9, 2011 05:37 PM ET
(6) Comments (http://news.discovery.com/human/americans-change-911-110909.html#view-comments) | Leave a Comment
(http://news.discovery.com/human/americans-change-911-110909.html#post-a-comment)http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef014e8b6a8370970d-800wi (http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef014e8b6a8370970d-pi)
Two beams of light soar up through the night sky at the site of the Twin Towers as a memorial to the World Trade Center tragedy. Credit: CorbisWe've heard the solemn words over and over:
“Everything is different.” “Everything has changed.”
To state that we live in a different world than we did before September 11, 2001, (or that America is “different”) is both self-evident and uninformative. Yet we hear it continuously, the speakers (often politicians and government officials) using the phrase as if expressing a profound truth instead of a trite platitude.
How much was America changed by the 9/11 attacks? It depends on whether you're talking about the American government or the American people. The government has of course changed greatly -- mostly in the realm of national security; air travel (http://news.discovery.com/human/psychics-and-airline-security.html) is the most obvious example, with reinforced cockpit doors, invasive security screening, and armed air marshals. The government's reaction (many would argue overreaction) to the attacks has cost blood and treasure unprecedented in world history. America as a country will certainly never be the same.
FULL COVERAGE: 9/11 TEN YEARS LATER (http://news.discovery.com/history/wtc-sept-11-anniversary-911-10-years-110902.html)But the picture for Americans is a very different matter. Contrary to popular opinion, very few American’s personal lives were changed.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted just three months after September 11, only slightly more than half of Americans surveyed said that the attacks changed their personal lives. Even more remarkably, two-thirds of those surveyed said the country had changed for the better; they believed the 9/11 attacks had actually done America more good than harm in the long term. (This probably reflected the popular but short-lived sentiment that Americans had unified around a common enemy.)
MY LETTER HOME AFTER 9/11 (http://news.discovery.com/human/9-11-letters-home-110831.html)Seven months after the attacks, only one in five teenagers said that the 9/11 attacks directly affected their lives, according to a telephone survey of 1,003 high school students conducted for the Horatio Alger Association. An October 10, 2001, ABC News article, “Lingering Emotions,” reported a poll that found that “Nearly half of Americans surveyed—44 percent—say the attacks…had no lasting impact on their mental health.” By January 2002 almost 90 percent of Americans in a CBS News poll (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/07/opinion/main323417.shtml) said that their lives had returned to normal or never changed after the attacks, and according to a study (http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/288/10/1235.full.pdf) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, six months after the attacks nearly 95 percent of Americans living outside of New York City reported no significant lingering symptoms related to stress from the attacks.
Thus the idea that most American's lives profoundly changed after 9/11 is simply a patriotic myth. That’s not to say that some people (especially those in Manhattan at the time) were not, and are not, sincerely devastated by the attacks—just that they are not representative of most Americans. For most who were traumatized in the months after the attacks, any lingering pain has faded in the decade since.
So why do so many people believe that Americans were -- and are -- so devastated? Sensational and biased news coverage is part of the reason many people overestimate the emotional impact of the attacks. In reporting tragedy, when there is any question of the extent of the damage (both physical and emotional) the news media consistently emphasize gloom and devastation. Journalists always focus on the most panicked and alarmed victims after any disaster. The majority of Americans who were temporarily saddened but recovered quickly and moved on with their lives are not newsworthy, and thus not represented in the news.
Most Americans are far more resilient than the experts and public gave them credit for. Perhaps that is the real legacy of the September 11 attacks.




For me, I do not know if it was because I was kids and did not understand completely the ramifications of the the events not to mention I was still growing and developing, but I have to say that many of my life's changes were not influenced by 9/11.

[Angel Androgynous]

Oh and some Americans became racist douchebags and ignorant towards Islam. Mulims are getting bullied in school for something that the individual did not do... being called terrorists... getting beaten up. There are Christian terrorists too... no one gives a shit about that because "in God we trust." Fuck...
What America needs to get into their heads is that:
Not all Muslims are terrorists....and not all terrorists are Muslim.

[Amnesiac]

Seven months after the attacks, only one in five teenagers said that the 9/11 attacks directly affected their lives, according to a telephone survey of 1,003 high school students conducted for the Horatio Alger Association. An October 10, 2001, ABC News article, “Lingering Emotions,” reported a poll that found that “Nearly half of Americans surveyed—44 percent—say the attacks…had no lasting impact on their mental health.” By January 2002 almost 90 percent of Americans in a CBS News poll said that their lives had returned to normal or never changed after the attacks, and according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, six months after the attacks nearly 95 percent of Americans living outside of New York City reported no significant lingering symptoms related to stress from the attacks.

Well, this explains why I don't know anybody who was actually affected by 9/11. People show their "remembrance" of it in public so that they look patriotic and make themselves feel better about being compassionate. It's all about being a "respectful" member of society; you have to go along with everyone else in remembering something that means nothing to you, and you can't voice your opinion about it because that opinion is wrong and bad.

Why can't the remembrance of 9/11 be left to the families and others who were actually devastated by the attacks? Why does it have to turn into a second Independence Day, where the media and the government use it to reinforce patriotism and their goal of "eliminating terrorism"? I've always thought it's wrong for somebody who hasn't been affected by something to act like they have been.

I have nothing against people being compassionate. But I think it's just disgusting that people are using an event like this simply because they want to look good. That's definitely what a majority of people on the Internet, who have never been touched by 9/11 and who have probably never been to New York City, are doing when they post something about "praying for the families" or "remembering the tragedy". When someone says that they don't care about 9/11, they get all offended, even though they secretly feel the same way. I bet nobody's going to remember the Japanese earthquake in 10 years, and nobody gives a fuck about the 2004 Indonesian tsunami – that killed 230,000 people – either, and it's been only 7 years.

Death is a very black-and-white concept. Either you care about it, or you don't. There's no such thing as "well, I care about these deaths, but not those". 9/11, ten years later, is now a day where people can pretend like they care about death, by focusing on one terrorist attack.

Fuck.

[aperson444]

It only made Americans more cocky and annoying -- and I would know; I live here.

[SosbanFach]

Oh and some Americans became racist douchebags and ignorant towards Islam. Mulims are getting bullied in school for something that the individual did not do... being called terrorists... getting beaten up. There are Christian terrorists too... no one gives a shit about that because "in God we trust." Fuck...
What America needs to get into their heads is that:
Not all Muslims are terrorists....and not all terrorists are Muslim.

I agree entirely. Had Anders Brevic been Muslim, the media would have instantly labelled him a terrorist. Due to the fact that he was not, it took about a week for that term to be used, and even then it was used with uncertainty. It's largely the fault of the media; the way these stories are reported on gives the public this view.

[sandyrip1]

Oh and some Americans became racist douchebags and ignorant towards Islam. Mulims are getting bullied in school for something that the individual did not do... being called terrorists... getting beaten up. There are Christian terrorists too... no one gives a shit about that because "in God we trust." Fuck...
What America needs to get into their heads is that:
Not all Muslims are terrorists....and not all terrorists are Muslim.

This

[Allbutanillusion]

Well , I will tell it as it is. To be blunt, no one except those who were directly affected by the act that happened on September 11 really cares about it anymore. Particularly in the group that this forum is comprised of. Unfortunately, It simply is a combination of narcissism and lack of respect for human life. Judging by the previous post I am sure many of you can conclude that.

[Neptune]

I agree entirely. Had Anders Brevic been Muslim, the media would have instantly labelled him a terrorist. Due to the fact that he was not, it took about a week for that term to be used, and even then it was used with uncertainty. It's largely the fault of the media; the way these stories are reported on gives the public this view.

I heard the words ''terrorist'' being used to describe him that night on CNN.

[Azunite]

Yes it did. Now for the Americans tornadoes and hungry tigers on the loose seem a lot safer than Muslims.

[Sugaree]

Well , I will tell it as it is. To be blunt, no one except those who were directly affected by the act that happened on September 11 really cares about it anymore. Particularly in the group that this forum is comprised of. Unfortunately, It simply is a combination of narcissism and lack of respect for human life. Judging by the previous post I am sure many of you can conclude that.

Oh yes, we're self centered and have a complete hatred for human life. You obviously haven't been reading the posts by this group you're talking about. Many of us have stated that while 9/11 was awful, there are many more tragedies happening every day that are ignored. Why? Because the prevailing attitude is that 3000 people dying on our own soil is much more important than 22,000 children dying from HIV/AIDS every day.

[embers]

Unfortunately, It simply is a combination of narcissism and lack of respect for human life.

Because caring about a larger number of people who didn't die on American soil is so much more self-centred than only mourning for 9/11. Have a fucking medal.

[Katzen]

I'm not American. I was 6 at the time

But I remember that Afternoon staying with my grandma and her friend, when they opened TV and saw a tower on fire, and then planes hitting them. At last they collapsed. It kinda didn't fit into my mind back then.

But, heck, you begin to see there was people; Like anyone who perished being innocent. Normal family people who earned their salary there, or travelers who happened to be hijacked.

I don't have any american patriotism and the "american way of life" is far from perfect, IMO. But a human tragedy is that and we're all humans.
A crazy fanatic is that, a lunatic. Whether they're Christians, Muslims, or whatever. There is no justification for a murder.

[SinisterMystery]

I'm not American but it affected a lot of countries. We realized what extremities people will go to to make a point. Even my friend Ronit gets called a terrorist because he has a darker skin tone (he's Fijian Indian).

[butty_92]

I was quite young and don't live in America, so I don't remember that much. All I can see in my head is images of the plane going into the towers and the look of shock on Bush's face when he was told the news infront of a classroom of children.

My heart goes out to all the families who lost loved ones and all of America. It's a shame that the reaction to it as been far from positive. What have America done to change their image?
Islamophobia still exists, Obama was supposed to be hope and that hasn't materialised with the US seeing it's worst debt crisis of all time and the failure of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Even groups like The Tea Party movement can thrive, USA is in a sad, sorry state.

[Eagle1]

I was and because of it I am planning on joining the air force after college

[Riku]

East coast, yeah. West coast.....not so much.

[Spectrum]

I don't really think about the terrorism or death that happened on 9/11 more than I do about any other death that I hear about outside my small family/friend-circle now. Although, my parents told me that when it did happen (I was like 3) I was traumatized for a few months and constantly drew pictures of planes hitting buildings. Now, I don't think about it at all, and don't feel it effects me other than increased airport security. I was just lucky I didn't lose anyone I was close to due to those attacks, and if I did, I'm pretty confident that I would have a long-lasting sorrow from the attacks.