Google Why is 9/11 the event that bonded us?
Posted by Odd_Distribution7852@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 32 comments
9/11 was horrible for us even though the oldest of us were 35 and the youngest of us were 20? This was a horrific event for the US leading to extra scrutiny for flying. We didn’t need to go through security in airports and our friends or family could walk us up to the gate.
Now we all stand in line for security to either have our bags and ourselves scrutinized whenever we fly.
It may be the same for trains or buses but I haven’t had to use them.
So yeah why isn’t 9/11 our significant event that binds us together?
IMTrick@reddit
Funny, but a couple decades later I'd have to say it didn't bond us at all, other than the temporary horror Americans shared. Otherwise, I'd say the long-term result has been quite the opposite. And no, I will not be elaborating on that
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Well, I respect your commentary and opinion.
Don’t know why you won’t elaborate.
For the time frame that Gen X’ers were born into the US went to war with Vietnam and excited that war.
The majority of us don’t remember that happening because we were too young (once again, Gen X is between 1965 to 1980) .
I’m also referring to US history as I was born in the US.
I personally don’t see any significant event that happened in the US except what I’ve mentioned because I was too young to take note of it except the 1979 Iran hostage crisis which was, once again a US. Matter with Iran, earliest major news event that i remember.
All I’m saying is that 9/11, even though it happened outside of our time frame is that it united many countries with a specific goal. To end terroism originating in Afghanistan.
Which failed miserably for very many reasons
IMTrick@reddit
Because Rule 7 exists.
Optimal-Ad-7074@reddit
it wasn't.
there are genxers in the world who aren't American.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
I agree but I wanted to add to my original post that 9/11 even though it wasn’t during our generation’s time frame it still affected us.
I can’t edit my original post, I’ve tried.
What I can say is that a lot of countries went to war to support the US, which I think the IS is grateful for.
I highly doubt many countries would come to support the US if 9/11 happened now
Optimal-Ad-7074@reddit
yeah, I hear you, but honest to (insert deity), a LOT of people living outside America have just never been as interested in America as Americans seem to believe.
a lot of what we in the global community just think of as basic good manners gets taken by some Americans as evidence that our lives do revolve around the US and its tragedies. ofc we were polite about 9/11; it was horrendous. but we're polite about other terrible events around the world too.
and that war was illegal. Bush and Blair went ahead and did it anyway.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
As of now and several years before now, after I’ve traveled outside of the US, I respect and appreciate the candor
Significant_Ruin4870@reddit
Because the horror of it something we want to forget (though of course we cannot). I was 3000 miles from home when that happened, and there was no bonding, no sense of "we're in this together". There were people in public spaces yelling their anger and wacky conspiracy theories. So a lot of people retreated to private spaces to process. Getting on a plane home days later was terrifying. Few people were talking to each other. It was an incredibly isolating experience. Why would I want to bond over that?
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Because it happened to many of us. Me for example was rushing to NYC to a friend that was heavily pregnant and her husband was working in the financial district. I was terrified for my friends lives
DPax_23@reddit
I thought it was parental neglect.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Probably that too, we became much more self aware when we moved away from our parents
Reboot-Glitchspark@reddit
Maybe you were more sheltered?
We had lots of terrorism in the 70s and 80s, which I was mostly too young to remember but knew about. And things like the MOVE bombing, the Beirut bombings and Kuwait, etc.
But straight up through the 90s we had the first World Trade Center bombing, the Waco massacre, the Ruby Ridge shootout, the Oklahoma City bombing, the North Hollywood shootout, school shootings like Columbine, Bloods and Crips having gang wars in the streets, there were wars in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and yes even Europe, that we were tangled up in.
9/11 was a sad day, but it didn't really stand out as much to a lot of us. (Unless you or someone you knew was at the scene or involved.) For most of us, it wasn't all that different from the usual news. The fallout from it was pretty awful, but that came later and affected us gradually.
A much bigger event was the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet Union. That was a moment both to celebrate, and to feel uncertain, because no one knew what would come next.
Since you mention airports so much, maybe it stood out more to you because you flew a lot? I had never flown back then and didn't until years later. I was annoyed when NYC port authority searched us during a Greyhound transfer and confiscated the pocketknife my mom had given me. Made me never want to go through New York again. But that was not a defining moment in my life.
Top_Pirate699@reddit
Because Bush was the president and rather than rally us (although he certainly did better than the Orange one would) he used it to tell us to shop instead of connect and then we attacked Iraq and none of it made a lot of sense but it did soften us up to be the broken, disheveled country that we are now. So, cool. The terrorists totally didn't win.
Stompya@reddit
I think it was Rick Astley who brought all the generations together.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Never gonna give you up, never going to say goodbye
tnic73@reddit
Well briefly it did but it just didn't last very long. So much has happened since then and none of it has been good. Starting with the invasive patriot act and the ill advised war of terror followed shortly after by the 2008 financial crisis people were sent reeling and fending for themselves then finally the death blow of covid and the social and political divide of the last decade there is nothing left to bring us together. It's hard to fathom how much stronger and healthier an nation we were when we woke up the morning of September 12 2001 then we are today.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Yes, it’s just a spiral of people not being enlightened enough to understand that everything has changed and all countries need to start supporting the individual who then supports the local and national government!
After 9/11 or some have responded that the Challenger exploding in 1985 the world has COMPLETELY CHANGED.
It’s really time for the governments and the world to change to face the new challenges of the 22 century
tvieno@reddit
I thought our moment was Challenger.... or Michael Jackson's hair catching on fire.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Well yeah, Challenger for sure but 9/11 even though it was based in the US 9/11 was much more
Norse_By_North_West@reddit
As a Canadian, challenger was more of a thing to me than 9/11. It was the first big event I remember. We were all adults when 9/11 happened, and I feel like childhood events make a larger impact.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
I was born late 69. Challenger explosion was pretty bad. To me 9/11 was pretty damn bad. The US and other supporting countries went to war.
Life also changed for traveling.
America had always experienced a golden age of traveling.
Family members could walk up to the gate but 9/11 stopped it.
So yeah to me that is really our significant event, at least for the US people.
I’ve heard also after I posted this about the Challenger space shuttle explosion which is also a US event but that didn’t lead to war with other countries going to war with us.
So that’s why I think 9/11 is our defining event even though it happened when Millennials were up and coming, even though they were kids at the time
Norse_By_North_West@reddit
Yeah, that's why I said as a Canadian. I can absolutely understand 9/11 for Americans, but for me the challenger was a much more notable event. It was the first real space launch disaster in the west, and after it, there was a lot of questions about the future of space.
CaydeTheCat@reddit
Honestly I always thought our generation's bonding moment was Challenger.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Only for the US
apc961@reddit
This right here, since most of us watched it live in a school classroom
CaydeTheCat@reddit
Yup I was in Mr. Webb's 4th grade science class.
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Was it honestly something that bonded all of Gen X people together?
CaydeTheCat@reddit
I would say if you asked Gen X what was the moment of their generation that defined them, I'm willing to bet a lot of money "watching Challenger blow up while I was at school" would be 1, absolutely top 3.
Ihaveaboot@reddit
Challenger, HIV and 9/11 were all pretty impactful to many of us.
9/11 sticks with me because I was an adult when it happened. I remember thinking "this is our Pearl Harbour".
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Completely agree!
Skatchbro@reddit
I’m not sure exactly what your point is. What exactly do you mean by bonding us?
Odd_Distribution7852@reddit (OP)
Bonding is by 9/11. Even though it was a US event it affected the world. A lot of countries at the time reached out to help the US