9/11
I do sometimes wonder whether the appalling degradation in American culture, morality, and intelligence that we have winessed in the last twenty years (including in universities) was caused by the horrific events of 9/11. At the time I feared that the American reaction to these events might exceed in harmfulness the events in question. Can there be any doubt that American paranoia has increased markedly because of that day?
One can not discount the impact of 9/11 on the American psyche, but I feel that the real causation is more attributable to the relentless drive of far right billionaires to take the nation back to the 1920s. They embrace fascism, that utilizes racism, misogyny, Christian Nationalism and endless greed to create the world. I would also contend that we are now in what many refer to as Neo-Feudalism.
Generating paranoia and fear is useful to achieve total control and to suppress actions a counter to the vision of the billionaire lords.
Is sometimes look to China and Favelas of Rio, or even Blade Runner as prototypes for where we will be by 2050.
Bin Laden sure succeed beyond his wildest dreams. The hot over reaction to 9/11 gave Russia and China the justification for their own authoritarian policies. Was 9/11 the point the USA’s star began to fade? I’d argue the seeds of that were sown in the treatment of Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.