Where were you on the day the world changed? For a lot of you reading this I can imagine you were probably still a toddler. Well that’s the response I got recently when I asked a 26 year old student of mine not realizing that the attacks took place over 23 years ago.
National 9/11 Memorial: Where one of the twin towers once stood.
Where was I? I remember being at work. I had took a break after high school… well I kinda lost interest in school and decide to work at my father’s and uncle’s accounting firm. Yeah it sounds real rich but it was an extremely small firm.
The entire firm, once they caught on to the news were glued to the TV 📺 watching what looked like a scene from a Hollywood movie. It was unbelievable to say the least. But I can only imagine what the people
In NYC were going through, especially the ones in and around the tower.
How did the world change? The most noticeable change I saw was stricter airport security measures including the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the U.S., and the introduction of body scanners and stricter passenger screening worldwide. Biometric and facial recognition technology became widespread.
In the wake of 9/11, governments around the world also expanded surveillance programs. The U.S. passed the Patriot Act, granting broader powers to intelligence agencies to monitor communications, financial transactions, and other activities in the name of preventing future terrorist attacks. And this is why governments really don’t like crypto currencies. Though it is easy trace, it isn’t easy to stop.
Many other changes took place and the attacks continue to shape the world to this day. Here is a list of things in bullet form but of course there are many more we can’t even fathom.
- Global War on Terror as all countries were and are on the edge up to this day.
- Shift in Geopolitical Alliances as the US began to form stronger alliances with the UK and NATO.
- Deterioration of relations with the Middle East as they were no longer trusted.
- Human Rights and Civil Liberties concerns as suspected terrorist were tortured using advanced interrogation techniques never heard of before.
- Muslim Discrimination as many saw them as enemy.
- Cultural and Social Impact as a surge of patriotism ran through the affected countries.
- Global Security Paradigm Shift as all countries started to beef up on military spending on all fronts with the focus now being on cybersecurity.
- Changes in Refugee and Migration Patterns as the conflicts that followed 9/11, especially in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, created refugee crises as millions of people fled war zones.
So you can see how the world we now live in was and is being impacted by the events that took place 23 years ago.
Where were you when the world changed? Comment below 👇🏾