How 9/11 Radicalized A Generation Of Americans

[@jessetorres8738]

Keep in mind, the 4 countries that the 19 terrorists came from (15 of which were Saudis) we never actually went to war with.

[@MoSec9]

Because we don’t need to. The US owns Saudi Arabia. That’s the whole reason why they were from Saudi Arabia. The US has been appointing and depositing Saudi rulers for that country forever. The last ruler to rebel on the US was King Faisal who reacted to Nixon’s disrespectful actions when the latter told the Saudi foreign minister that he was committed to an “honorable” peace exactly the day before he submitted his request to congress for a $ 2.2 billion of weapons for Israel. This was an unsolicited 2.2 billion of weapons because Israel had inly asked for only $859 million worth of weapons. So you can see the disrespect it took for a Saudi King to do something of any significance for the first time- not to mention that King Faisal was a different man, he was someone the Americans and their zionist allies would never allow to get even close to the palace much less rule. Anyway, I digressed a bit but it was relevant to mention a tiny bit of relevant history in case someone is not familiar.

[@Johnywang1]

American owns SA domestic and foreign policy because it owns the economy (opec) and owns the king. Since 9/11. (I am a muslim and lived in SA) . The kings have been trying to distance themselves from the Islamic identity. That Islamic identity threatens their power and legacy. The us could extrajudicially kill whoever they wanted within the country (even now) Iraq/Iran were becoming military powers in the region and had both the oil and intellectual power to become a "threat". They wantes to go after iran after Iraq but it became politically and financially inflatable to. Pakistan. Is a regional player who for this argument most of the same arguments for Saudi arabia apply . They did bomb, murder and kill a shit ton of people in North waziristan. They did go to war... most Americans never cared enough to ask about the dead on the other side

[@Colonel-Sigma]

Hitler is also from Austria, yet Germany is depicted as "that one nazi country".

[@HOSTISHUMANIGENERIS-b7f]

So some other oppressive Muslim country? Ok😂

[@SDwilly]

what about the Sudan

[@camillapalmer82]

Watched it live on tv as a 19 year old in Australia. Was up late smoking a joint when it came on my little telly. It definitely shaped me as a young person and opened my eyes right up to the geopolitical illusions we are conditioned to believe. I look at young people of the same age today and I wonder if they have any idea of how it really changed everything and how it completely derailed any notion of freedom for so many of us in so many ways and on so many different levels. The war on terror, the war on drugs, all of it has been constructed and designed to curtail our freedom for the illusion of safety with the ultimate goal being to control us all.

[@ey67]

True

[@meganmbleed]

@@camillapalmer82 the sad thing, stripping us of our rights started a long time ago, the government loves to offer its protections, in place of our rights and freedoms

[@greensleeves32]

Well said. I too was 19 and feel the same way. To this day I complain about TSA every flight

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

I was 17 and also in suburban NJ. I am half middle eastern. Our house got egged. The cops never left my dad alone after that.

[@LA-84-FM]

I live in Central Jersey, I’m Muslim and I was 7 when this happened. I don’t blame people for being scared tbh

[@matthewbrooks1556]

Sorry to hear that. I remember a cabby with a turban pointed at it and said “ok?” As we got into his cab. Like, “is it ok that I wear a turban?”. It was really sad to me.

[@LA-84-FM]

@ Yoo that’s crazy. I understand why people are scared but some were just doin the most man

[@mtljin]

I was 14-15 when I watched 9/11 happened. war has been around most of my life. what radical ized me was graduating in 2009 trying to find a job was impossible. occupy wall street was my defining radicalization.

[@FromDesertTown]

I remember the 2009 job market. What a nightmare. Folks like you and me will probably always feel like the next financial crisis is just around the corner. Those damned investment banks are always up to something risky, expecting us to bail them out if their gambles go south.

[@MajorHickE]

It took me almost 3 years to find steady work after that crash. So much fun trying to enter a job market with a diploma and a part time job to my name.

[@RoccoRyg]

I was in the same boat. Graduated with a masters in 2009 and it took 3 years to find a state job with full benefits.

[@kupalisky3553]

I was freshly 14 on 9/11. Up until then I was really into learning about UF0s and paranormal stuff and stayed up at night listening to the art bell show on AM radio where they would talk about that stuff. After 9/11, and during the war on terror they shifted topics to include illuminati and other related conspiracy theories surrounding the Bush administration. Also around this time I was heavy into the Metal Gear Solid videogames which had a very anti war, anti military industrial complex messaging and had its own in universe version of the illuminati. When I got to college I studied polisci and thats where I was introduced to Marxism, material analysis of history, class politics, etc. That's when the world started making sense to me.

[@kevindonahue2251]

It wasn't the war that radicalized so many people, it was the justification for war and the rabid jingoism of the time. I don't know where you lived, but I was in Missouri at the time and was 17. It completely changed the way people around me talked about America and the world. Any criticism of the war was treated as treasonous, which was certainly new to me at the time. Instant radicalization.

[@Okijuben]

Rush Limbaugh was a huge factor. That's why Trump gave him the Medal of Freedom.

[@Clintsessentials]

Yep.

[@whotakesallmynames]

I remember my aunt listening to Rush Limbaugh in the car when I was a teenager in the '90s.. even back then, before I knew anything about anything, I knew something wasn't right about him

[@Why_So_Serious_279]

@@whotakesallmynames I'm right there with you... my parents listened to Rush almost non-stop. I can remember all the Clinton bashing, all the NAFTA bashing, all the immigrant bashing and how the world was going to hell (not much has changed today). I can't quite explain it, but I just KNEW that THIS was NOT how I felt about the world, about politics and about people in general. I was DEFINITELY a different kind of animal. But as a teenager when Rush had first started on air (late 1980's) I knew to keep my mouth shut because both I didn't want to stir the ire of my parents and also, I didn't 100% understand the full depth of politics at the time. Oh how times have changed. Both my parents are gone now, but I haven't changed how I feel about Rush and his ilk. I'm still a progressive and will never change. You're not alone.

[@jonathanbeatrice8317]

I’m GenX. Limbaugh was our Joe Rogan.

[@miraafloyd]

This is such a fascinating discussion. Pre & post 9/11 America are such radically different countries. I completely agree with Obama disillusioning a lot of Americans across age groups and the political spectrum. People really thought Obama was going to usher in a new era in America and he turned out to be more of the same status quo people have been tired of for years.

[@zeppelin0110]

Obama was one of the most effective and captivating speakers since JFK. Consequently, the mismatch between the rhetoric and what he delivered was massive.

[@kupalisky3553]

It was even worse than more of the same, it was under Obama that the cost of living crisis really began leading to our current moment. Now it wasn't necessarily all his fault, this was mostly a consequence of the financial crash, but he was the one person in history most positioned to fight against the billionaire class and end the Reagan era, but instead he bailed them out with 800 billion dollars in taxpayer money. The only good thing about his legacy policy wise is the ACA/Obamacare, which is basically tablescraps that were thrown to the American people.

[@Clintsessentials]

It was difficult for him to make change, having to work with the Republicans.

[@WilliamN86]

​​@@Clintsessentialshe in theory had a super majority but Lieberman was the Sinema of that era.

[@MrIndiemusic101]

He also disillusioned the rest of the world especially african nations. People thought his election would mean the dismantling of american imperial ambition, then Libya happened. Then people scratch their heads wondering why African nations are allying with the russians and chinese.

[@StarDust-vm1qs]

I was returning from a 7+ month deployment in the Navy when 9/11 happened. I miss the pre 9/11 America, it was less toxic in general.

[@dmonee6196]

See, I’m mixed on this as the crassness was there before 9/11 only we were slightly more flowery about it. Unless we were talking about rappers, LGBTQ folk or drug users. And this is from outside the anti-choice movement that has LONG been this level of crass.

[@CrystalBahamut]

​@dmonee6196 I'm not mixed at all. It's a privileged opinion to have thinking things were better before some arbitrary moment in time. The amount of blatant homophobia I recall in nearly every facet of media that was just accepted is revolting. Not to mention slagging single parents, especially mothers. And of course the constant rascism, probably one of the only things that never really changes.

[@kevindonahue2251]

@@dmonee6196 Yeah America wasn't great before 911, but it does seem to have gotten noticeably worse and less coherent. Granted we were being coherent about some shitty things, but we don't even do that anymore.

[@suburban-vampire]

The America full of people with brain damage from lead exposure and which did violent empire all over the world to preserve a sexist and racist culture of evil is still pretty bad, but it was easier to avoid and ignore the truth back then

[@Kingnome]

I was born in 1975 and was 26 in the US Air Force during 9/11. I wasn’t into politics because my life was the military life. During the 1st Obama administration, I “woke” up a little and learned that basically 9/11 was a lie. Invading countries that weren’t involved in 9/11. I feel cheated & lied to when I retired in 2014.

[@thecoolestbro]

I was 10 when 9/11 happened and I distinctly remember, before 9/11, thinking "why doesn't History happen anymore?"

[@alexricky87]

And we've been experiencing history ever since. Thanks a lot 🙃

[@thecoolestbro]

@alexricky87 I mean, history *was* happening, I was just a kid and wouldn't be aware of it until it was on my doorstep.

[@thiscannotbeyourname]

I can finally put a name to the reason. @thecoolestbro ruined the world.

[@vulcanfeline]

reminds me of a (joke?) ancient chinese curse: may you live in interesting times

[@darksaint0124]

You did not think that. That thought was incepted into your head, because the government was doing the whole end of history thing, and also the project for a new American Century. I can't believe you are trying to pass of government initiatives as your own thoughts. That's lame.

[@MichelleLanghout]

Phil Donahue had the highest rated show on his network, and they canceled it because he questioned the narrative.

[@liesalllies]

I'm the same age as Mr. Beck, however i come from an activist and labor union family so i was already quite politically aware at the time compared to my peers. Between the total crushing of anything deemed unpatriotic (basically everything I believed in) and the 08 financial crisis, i feel like my life was completely stunted. I'm almost 40 and only in the last 2 years have i started to make what can conceivably be considered a living wage, yet i still cannot afford to buy a home in my hometown. There's no sane way for me not to be a leftist. All I've ever seen my entire life is greedy corpos and politicians sowing hatred and robbing us blind.

[@XeroCool420]

It almost radicalized me. In fact when I had turned 18 which was about a year later I went to go and enlist in the Navy, and the only reason that I didn't was because my recruiter wanted me to lie on my recruitment papers so that I could be accepted into seal team training. But I didn't do it because I refused to do my time in prison after she would have most likely told her superiors that I lied on it and then acted like she didn't know about it. I never did go back to sign the papers

[@CheddarBayBaby]

I’m the exact same age. Was a HS Freshman on 9/11. I remember very early on being confused that people thought the terrorists we’re trying to ‘take our freedom’, I remember being concerned about a draft, I remember thinking that dying in this war was going to be a meaningless way to die. I also remember Bush basically telling everyone to keep buying things and thinking how strange that was. It really was the perfect age at which to see the situation clearly. Old enough to see what’s happening, not to old to already have set ideas

[@LazyCloud9]

I still remember my middle school teacher showing the event with no blurs or anything in history class. Surreal moments of death to be shown to kids in a dark room.

[@starproxy_exe]

I remember it vividly, I was actually very young still in elementary school.

[@annepascoe3029]

As an Australian grandmother I have definitely thought that 9/11 changed so many people and made America a place to avoid

[@JHimminy]

Oh you were going to visit Disneyland were you? Americans has been shit forever. Read more history.

[@ryans4877]

I was a senior in high school on 9/11 I remember sitting in class realizing that the world I had been raised knowing and expecting was gone forever.

[@scout-187inf]

Same here. I enlisted and spent 20 years fighting terrorist in the Army. America may have forgotten 9/11 those of us who spent the last 20 years never did, we were constantly exposed to it.

[@toast_busters]

I was a sophomore during 9/11 and I agree with a lot of this. Other than the initial rush to support George Bush that I think a lot of Americans felt, I very quickly felt that sense of pride in this country fade. I think a lot of kids growing up in the '90s and '80s had that same old fashioned American patriotism, but 911 occurring in front of your face as a teen really puts a perspective on that. Watching all of the adults go crazy in one direction or the other definitely made me realize that I could never support Republicans and I should be suspicious of Democrats going forward.

[@majorlazor5058]

I am about 5 yrs older than the gentleman in this interview. In my early 20’s I lived in a deep Red county of California and the Hummer and large SUV explosion surprised me, because though there is a lot of money in that area the average person couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining and gassing up these vehicles. I also remember a few years after the Hummer and Giant SUV craze, conservative friends of mine were scrambling to sell their oversized vehicles. A side note: the mid-sized SUV officially replaced the minivan as the family vehicle.

[@chadlieb2437]

I am 8 years older. I was driving a ‘93 Silverado at the time. I traded it in on a 2000 Silverado in 2004. In 2007 I traded it in on a Honda Civic

[@crystalmacmillan7854]

I was 15 & in history class with my teacher who was wearing his military uniform that day. Idk what he was, maybe national guard. He wheeled a tv into the room & we all reacted as it happened. 9/11 didnt radicalize me so much as Bush's response to it. My grandfather was a WWII vet. I grew up learning about authoritarianism and the red flags around that sort of thing. So as soon as i saw Bush manipulating our hightened emotions and using it to do things like the patriot act. You couldn't speak freely, in my high school or anywhere without recieving threats. It was crazy. I became an anti war activist then, participated in marches and joined political groups. Later I helped create Occupy Wall Street. In part it was done the way it was b/c the anti war protests were so ineffective at communicating with the rest of America. You would get your little permit for a time of day when everyone was at work, so you'd be walking through mostly empty streets, at least in where I lived, then it would maybe get an article on page 42 of the local paper about how a mailbox got tagged. Everyone across the country did actions on different days, so they mostly got local attention. We wanted to make sure the revolution would be televised or at the very least that it would be harder for average folks to ignore & using this newish technology, the internet, to organize on a massive scale. Disillusionment with Obama def played a role & the financial crash of 2008. As Noam Chomsky said, “People not only don't know what's happening to them, they don't even know that they don't know,” so we set out to spread narratives/information that were unknown to most Americans at the time. After it was put down I got very depressed thinking it had failed, but years later I realized we did change the dialogue of the country. There are topics that are common now that would have never happened pre-occupy. People say oh yes of course corporations are corrupt, politicians are bribed, climate change is real, the many injustices, etc. Now there is a push back, defamation & suppression of the ideas we proliferated. We have to figure out what our next moves will be to combat that.

[@Divine_Health_And_Fitness]

Thank you for your service

[@JHimminy]

Your grandfather was a totalitarian. They wouldn’t then, and he wouldn’t now tolerate any criticism of that war or the dictator-for-life who ruled a quite anti-liberal regime. Do your research ask questions. You live in a totalitarian country. This didn’t start with Nixon, you dolts! FDR and Lincoln both banned their opposition. Ain’t war swell, boys?

[@JHimminy]

Keep voting for democrats, see how that works.

[@BaronCadwa]

I was 12 on 9/11. Never seen so many cars just piled in lines out to the street getting gas because they thought Saudi Arabia would cut us off. Jeez, I didn't know I was over 4 years older than Emma, look at what she's accomplished and look at me, damn, WTF have I been doing with my life?

[@aethelflaed6814]

I was in 11th grade for 9/11 which means I was also 1 year out of grad school and just starting student loan repayment in 2008. As an extra bonus trauma, 9th grade when the Columbine shooting happened. (One of my college roommates actually went there, though I think she said she was in 8th grade when it happened). My whole life since I was a teen I’ve felt the world shifting and sliding away from what I had been told it was supposed to be, then told to be quiet because I didn’t understand what was really at stake. I’ll tell you one thing tho, as a white woman from the suburbs, everything that changed -TSA, PATRIOT ACT, militarized police, all of it - was supposed to make ME feel safer, and it only ever made things worse. (To this day I don’t know how so many people didn’t see it. There was a weird kind of ugliness over everything that happened. I once said we shouldn’t have allowed the museums in Iraq to be looted and was shouted at by a random classmate for not supporting our troops enough.)

[@Rosquilliam2]

I was 19 in 2001. I remember that morning like it was yesterday (cliche, but it’s true lol). Went to my 9am class and the professor wasn’t there. Come to find out that she has family that worked in lower Manhattan and she no-showed last minute. She didn’t lose anyone that day, but I can only Imagine her absolute fear.

[@greensleeves32]

I can empathize with this. I was 19 when 9/11 happened as a freshman in college. It definitely radicalized me (as a staunch progressive now) and I do remember life and what it was like beforehand. I actually grew up in a Republican family and saw the exploitation and lies of a crisis in order to enrich themselves.

[@tonywords6713]

Americans across the country reported symptoms commonly associated with PTSD/CPTSD in the days following 9/11

[@ThatWitchYouKnow]

It didn't help that the media showed the footage endlessly. There was no escaping it.

[@heavymetalpermaculture]

Gen X finally gets mentioned, but in the most embarrassing way possible...oooooof.

[@6dragondaddy913]

I'm sad at the downfall of my generation.

[@theflaggeddragon9472]

The leaded gasoline generation is not sending their best

[@heavymetalpermaculture]

@@theflaggeddragon9472 I thought we were the 'cancer from superfund sites' generation...we got all the fun.

[@wanderer85295]

I keep hearing people lamenting how gen x swung to Trump however neither myself nor any of my gen x friends voted for trump those older and younger yes but less so those my age .

[@Kingnome]

@@wanderer85295Agreed!

[@JasonHansen-t4r]

The removal of the fairness doctrine was the start of all of this crap

[@teeellecee]

Fox News & CNN were built for 24 hour reporting on Iraq & Afghanistan. Without those wars, they turned to 24 hour culture war analysis. Social media put it on steroids

[@JHimminy]

Lolol you heard someone else say that

[@chadlieb2437]

That allowed for right-wing radio. It was the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that allowed for Fox News to take off. It’s also what allowed for the complete corporatization of popular music.

[@JHimminy]

@ The New York Times worked intimately with the Bush II administration, specifically Cheneys office, to sell the war to American elite public. Limbaugh is a left-fetish. A distraction. You’ve got more powerful enemies in your camp. Fairness doctrine is what the auto industry used to get The NY Times to stop reporting on Nader and his band of PIRGs. Be careful what you wish for. How is my indi left wing rag going to survive when I have to include right wing, conservative, fascist, or monarchist voices? Even the NY Times buckled under the fairness doctrine.

[@eoinc9511]

Looooool the YT algorithm working overtime in this one! 😂😂😂

[@ashleyjade5607]

The conversation about Batman near the end was really interesting tbh, I'm a Gen Z person who was born after 9/11, so a lot of this context of the before and after is lost on me, but Gotham being an analogy for how we treat the world feels incredibly apt. Great convo all around

[@fromulus]

Yeah I agree fully with this Sam, I was 22 that day, old enough to remember what it was like prior, and what's different since. It changed the entire psyche of most of us, not for the better. Those failed wars don't lead to Obama, which doesn't lead to the tea party, which doesn't lead to trump. It changed it all.

[@Dana-pq7ke]

Obama bailed out the banks. Nothing changed. He could have governed in a way that made a difference. But he just skirted the whole thing and did nothing. Made investments in a terrible and failing healthcare model.

[@Therealannemorgan]

I was in kindergarten the day of 9/11 (born in ‘96) I remember getting off the bus and just watching my mom cry and sob at the TV. I was confused and didn’t understand for a few years until I started social sciences courses and then I understood why she was 😭

[@lich109]

Even up here in Canada there was fear mongering about being the next target. Even though nobody had any reason to believe we would be, it reached the town I grew up in, but thankfully nobody took it nearly as seriously.

[@zdlax]

I was 13 and an immigrant kid. Never developed a normal social life because i was too scared to say anything that didn't have to do with schoolwork.

[@MichaelTorres-b2v]

I was 19, almost 20. I remember thinking that I was going to be drafted for sure. Because I knew going into a knot her country and fighting an insurgency would essentially be an endless endeavor. Then, when they started looking toward Iraq, that’s when I started paying more attention to politics. Because even then I knew there was no reason for us to attack Iraq, and people ignoring what politicians were doing was what allowed them to get away with it.

[@JohnPhillips-2024]

As a firefighter that was at ground zero, I want to remind you that it was minimal but a few people were saved.

[@francescosticchi3817]

Brilliant stuff, thanks for all your great work!!

[@generaldilvry69]

Aw man that was just getting DEEP < 90 secs right from the end. Is there more ? Joker is the false dilemma of anarchy in the absence of the international world order. I wish there was more discussion of propaganda in art, design, and culture. That’s where the critical subliminal messaging is happening.

[@LMLewis]

The description of Rumsfeld's new military basically describes a guerrilla army--small, light, mobile--or a "terrorist" army when our enemies deploy it.

[@kupalisky3553]

Rumsfeld was like a real life Metal Gear Solid villain

[@AdobadoFantastico]

​@@kupalisky3553 the lalilulelo is modeled on the RL chiefs of staff/ washington insiders/ special interests/ lobbyists. Kojima loves Che, idk if he's a revolutionary but he's definitely not an imperialist.

[@namenamename111]

I would argue that the dark knight and Ironman were less stand ins for America, and more stand ins for the privatization of the military industrial complex. Both movies featured institutions that were corrupt or infiltrated by unreliable actors, and the only solution was to put the power in the hands of one singular wealthy arbiter of right and wrong.

[@FeralAunt]

I was in the 4th grade and we were just starting school for the day. My teacher had it on the TV. We thought it was a movie. Then a year + later Virginia Tech happened and my teacher had to have a conversation about it with us and what the plan was if something like that happened. I distinctly remember her saying that it would more than likely not happen but it's information that we needed. These two things, along with the fact that I have been horribly empathetic my whole life, really shaped how I see things.

[@milkcatdog394]

I was six years old when 9/11 happened. I do remember how the media portrayed Bush as a comedic dimwit…. Dejavu

[@madhippy3]

I was 8 on 9/11 and while I didn’t understand society I funnily enough traveled enough to recognize the before and after of airports even at 8.

[@OnsenDreamscapes]

it's wild emma is so young. not cause of her appearance but she is so mature. well i'm 39 lol

[@hargibson18]

I was 9, I have a little bit of memory from before 9/11, but that and the following years of the Bush admin fundamentally formed my politics and worldview. It got me to be critical of the government, the establishment, of war, etc.

[@DaveDDD]

I think the thing that turned me against Republicans/reactionaries was their endless fight against marriage equality. The vitriol that came out of their political leadership was so repulsive and downright illogical that I was forever turned away from their party. It took me longer to become anti-war, or at least anti-intervention (insofar as recognizing that sending in US troops to conflicts would almost always lead to mission creep and make things worse), but I needed a broader understanding of the world before I could override my patriotic brainwashing.

[@ghostrider_414]

I was in 8th grade, first hour class when 9/11 happened. Our teacher turned the TV on and let us watch it unfold instead of doing any classwork. Most of the class didn't even pay attention, just used it as time to socialize. I didn't really start paying attention to politics until maybe 11th or 12th grade when a friend of mine introduced me to Ron Paul and I started listening to the Alex Jones show. In 10th grade (in 2003) I had the band Anti-Flag written on my hoodie and got pulled out of class and harassed by security about "being a terrorist" because they wouldn't believe me that Anti-Flag was a band.

[@mj6866]

I've always felt the oil embargo of 1973 and the energy crisis of 1979 radicalized America. Those were awful years. Inflation skyrocketed. Inflation went up to about 15%. Interest rates went up to about 20%. In 1973 the price of oil went from $3 a barrel to $12 a barrel. Many companies went out of business. I always felt the US was radicalized by the those tough years.

[@radicallyrethinkingrailwaysina]

I think right wing politics favors the low information voter. You don't need to know WHY the 1970s or recent inflation happened or who caused it, just blame Carter and Biden for it.

[@Kingnome]

I was born in 1975 and was 26 in the US Air Force during 9/11. I wasn’t into politics because my life was the military life. During the 1st Obama administration, I “woke” up a little and learned that basically 9/11 was a lie. Invading countries that weren’t involved in 9/11. I feel cheated & lied to when I retired in 2014.

[@Grymgar]

My grandma was 11 when Pearl Harbor happened. The only thing she had access to were newsreels. That moment sealed her support for the nukes already. I was 11 during 9/11. I had the modern news world to show me a different picture.

[@christinabeaty8938]

I think for Millennials & older, we knew what life was like in this country before 9/11. There were happier times, the economy was thriving, and everyone was still able to afford things. There were millionaires, but the cost of living was not as bad as it is now. In the last 20-25 years, there has been a vast divide - rich 1% got richer, majority working class got poorer, and the poor became homeless. Gen X grew up cognizant of the Orange man & the revealed racism, and possibly less educated, more exposure to religion - make them easier to indoctrinate into the right wing ideologies. The 'war on terrorism' as well as the horrible imagery of the twin towers coming down definitely radicalized the youth.

[@christinabeaty8938]

The youth have been dumbed-down (de-value education by right-wingers), encouraging consumerism to stay in debt, keeping wages low while corporations keep making profits in the last few decades, squashing unions, and the rise of so many right wing "entertainment" media (Fox lost the lawsuit for being news - IDK why they're still allowed to have that word behind their name) helped brainwash Generations of people - think Rush Limbaugh

[@christinabeaty8938]

See the documentary "The Brainwashing of my Dad" (2016)

[@Dana-pq7ke]

My family was destroyed because of 9/11. We divorced, pretty awful. He worked for the airlines.

[@whymilky8086]

Same, my dad was in the Air Force. He was supposed to be at the Pentagon that day. He became a full-tilt military careerist after that, parents marriage didn’t survive it. I think in his mind, the attacks were almost personal.

[@patrickmcdonnell8835]

As someone who was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 9 my family has always steered towards left. My mother protested the Iraq War in Orange County, California which was deeply red compared to know we’re it’s purple. When they removed the public option from the Affordable Care Act my mother screamed at the top her lungs when she was listening to a left wing radio show can’t remember the name.

[@francisstephens9828]

Chris Hedges talked about the Milerterisean of the police. Over 10 years ago.

[@Woke_White_Woman]

It is horrifying to me that those in Gen Z consider Trump to be “Normal” But this ugly reality needs to be faced

[@Odinarcade00]

This speaks to my millennial experience so much. Also it was harder to get a full time job after 2008. I urge anyone to watch the very single Michael Moore documentary and Oliver stones “untold history of the United States”. They are required watching for my generation

[@silkcitysocialist420]

I was 21 living in North Jersey. I watched the towers fall stuck on a highway. Every vehicle just stopped. Like the world stood still. After I witnessed my Arab and Muslim neighborhood be harassed by the FBI and other agencies. Some of the hijackers lived 2 blocks away from me

[@Damacles9]

PNAC: Mission Accomplished!

[@Urza9814]

Oof. I was 11 at the time and this is my first time hearing something about people who were growing up during 9/11 and realizing it's talking about people younger than me lol

[@broadcastbard]

I remember watching the 9/11 coverage when I got to school (8th grade). As a leftist I resonate with this interview and the path from young and apolitical to disillusioned leftist.

[@majorlazor5058]

I am about 5 yrs older than the gentle in this interview. In my early 20’s I lived in a deep Red county of California and the Hummer and large SUV explosion surprised me, because though there is a lot of money in that area the average person couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining and gassing up these vehicles. I also remember a few years after the Hummer and Giant SUV craze conservative friends of mine were scrambling to sell their oversized vehicles. A side note: the mid-sized SUV officially replaced the minivan as the family vehicle.

[@Tristan14578]

After visiting some of these places i can say they aren’t that friendly to us. And it was the first time I had to learn just how much we are hated by some. Even now im reminded.

[@disonefx]

I remember. When middle school current events classes before 911 were about should america be the policeman of the world?

[@docbrown9054]

As a mushroom poppin, weed smokin senior in high school during 9/11, I definitely started down a dumb Alex Jone, Loose Change, conspiratorial rabbit hole. The main reason why Jones never got me was I was already an athiest and he wouldn't shut up about Christians and demons and shit... but the real reason I pulled a 180 and dove deep in the science and critical thinking instead was from the help of a college friend in a critical thinking course and using basic critical thinking skills. He helped me find a love for skepticism, inflection, etc, and I think it really saved me from a life of weirdness, paranoia, and what now is utter insanity. My friend went on to get his PHD. in biology and travel and teach, his name is Dr. Colin Wright, and 20 years later, he is now a successful RightWight talking head who makes regular appearances on Fox and Tucker Carlsons show.... my god how the world has lost its fuckin mind...😑

[@dsm7014]

This is the best thing I've read all day. Equal parts inspirational and deeply depressing.

[@fdfischer]

As someone who is Gen Z, part of the issue is that the Democratic party does not reach out to young people on purpose

[@HkFinn83]

Neither do republicans. The political reason is demographics. There are fewer young people than ever, so they simply don’t matter as much. In 1960 half of the population was under 18, that’s why the flower children got their way on so many issues.

[@Mandelasmind]

No they do. Many of us just aren’t dumb. Our parents are educated and we value what they tell us. Our family loved Obama until we slowly figured out he’s just like everyone else.

[@HkFinn83]

@ iq is highly heritable. You and I disagree on the details in your case, but the general principle is solid hypothesis.

[@Mandelasmind]

@@HkFinn83 I agree you with on the republican side. The republicans do not market to younger folk at all. However I was originally disagreeing with the gen Z guy who thinks that democratic party does not reach out to young people. I’m gen Z as well, and from what I’ve seen the Democratic Party markets to us HEAVILY. It’s to the point where I’ve lost all trust.

[@banonKING]

I'm about 5 years older Richard Beck, but all of this tracks for me too as the oldest milliennial.

[@kevindonahue2251]

@@nexussays Psssh, the oldest millennials are too old for pogs and Pokémon and power rangers. It's funny thinking back that I was too old for those trends by like 6 months, but it felt significant back then.

[@JustSomeGuy]

@@kevindonahue2251 No, we aren't. I was 11 when Power Rangers debuted and in high school when Pokemon came out. I don't remember when pogs came out, but all of these were massively popular with older millennials.

[@patrickmcdonnell8835]

Just a FYI Emma and I were on the cut off date. Most traumatizing thing that I remember is the fighter jets flying over my house when I was in the bathtub. I was 6 then. Was 7 two months later

[@godhimself1128]

As someone who was in literal diapers when 9/11 I'd like to express my trauma of not watching tellietubbies that day due to all the tvs being used

[@vulcanfeline]

@@godhimself1128 sounds like my trauma of not being able to watch the flintstones at lunch nov 22, 1963 (jfk btw)

[@LOSTnerd815]

I felt like I was one of the only people in my high school that didn't think we should be attacking Iraq and Afghanistan. I used to walk around with a backpack with the words "free Iraq" painted on the straps. I think as a gay person, I've felt scapegoated before and could see it happening with whole nations of people. Fascism is a helluva drug.

[@disonefx]

Those self assumed values evolved into a Clash of Civilizations narrative, for educating the citizens.

[@daysofhalcyon]

I’m the author’s age and I remember the phrase “blame American first” being deployed to silence anyone who objected to the invasion of Iraq even tepidly

[@SuperlunarNim]

As someone who was in middleschool during 9/11, this is kind of a depressing perspective if true. If that's what it took to "radicalize" me into simply being what is essentially a centrist (anti-fascist, pro-nationalize healthcare, anti-racist etc.) and the generational pendulum is already swinging to the right then there isn't much hope for this country.

[@rworded1]

It's all connected, but I suspect the failures of the Obama administration during the Great Recession had a greater impact on informing the political perspectives of young Americans.

[@aaronwilkinson8963]

I was 13 and about to turn 14 in October. On 9 11. I remember coming home from school the news was on the TV but nobody was watching my mum was in the kitchen. I throw my bag in the corner and I see the video of planes crashing into the buildings and they are on fire. I shout to my mum come here quick. She runs in whats wrong. It really did change the world.

[@thomasdidymus1393]

As a member of GenX im so disappointed in my generation...THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!!

[@Milaperadotti]

I was 19 in college when 9/11 happened. The world has never been the same. I’m a millennial elder. Things were better for some before 9/11. Dems and republicans were not so divided. You didn’t care if someone was a democrat or a republican

[@poindextertunes]

100% Divide and Conquer has been their MO ever since and sadly it worked. very well in fact ☹️

[@historybuff1483]

Isn’t this old? Why was it re-posted?

[@jacquespictet5363]

Seen from abroad, post-9/11 was crazy. So was 2008, but at least it was of your own making...

[@amremorse]

Weren’t they both?

[@KaiLivi]

I was maybe 11/12y when 9/11 happened, I watched it happen live… the screams still haunt me.

[@juanjoseguva]

Great interview, interesting and well spoken guest!

[@Raydensheraj]

I was just in my second year in America after literally growing up in Berlin, Germany...I grew up in a phenomenal time in Berlin after the unification. I felt like this live over there was real freedom. The electronic music scene, tolerance, great healthcare, great public transportation....and the thing that really saddens me was the abundance of insects, birds, frogs....warm summers and a lot of snow in winter. But ok....I moved to Indiana. Experienced 9/11 working for the Indiana State - and things did start changing. From a rise of racism towards Muslims....to the opioid crisis (Rudy Giuliani defending the Sackler family as lawyer should never be forgotten....)....the housing crisis....then the little things= background checks became ridiculous....getting employment just walking in a employer was replaced with ridiculous online applications and staffing services started popping up everywhere. I experienced the American lunacy of Christian nationalism by visiting a scary cultist Pentecostal event and was surprised that my American girlfriend was mind blown of the fact that I was an Atheist (which was totally normal in Berlin)....young people were listening to the Marshall Mathers LP which also broke boundaries....and slowly people's mistrust for their own neighbors started getting worse. People stopped sending their kids to playgrounds o parks. Cell phones and the Internet slowly changed people to the worse.... And now....here we are. A depression of the soul and spirit of America followed by a Culture War that is on its way of turning the once secular liberal democratic republic into a illiberal neo Confederate Christian nationalist Trumplican authoritarian hellhole. People have became more divided and partisan....plus people are giving up on dreams like ever owning a house....opening a business....having a career.

[@marymcnabb7149]

My Grandson was born on that day. I don't know if he knows what happened that day.

[@benketengu]

Thank you you help me understand a lot

[@bkbland1626]

Yikes! His guest said "cohort". Sam's gotta be stoked!

[@devawnbledsoe462]

excellent guest. Thank you.

[@nik4456]

When I saw The Dark Knight in theaters, I thought it was total 9/11 propaganda. It just felt like it in every way. I'm surprised to see it talked about here (but happy to hear it acknowledged), as most people shrugged it off when I mentioned it years ago.

[@persephonelipuma9691]

i was born in boston in 1996. i remember 9/11. it was actually my first day of k2. I remember the tragedy, the pomp and circumstance and the islamophobia and the rise in conservatism and then the financial collapse. i think our experiences are all very similar.

[@WonderfulCoyote-0313]

The H3 Hummer was not a repurposed military vehicle

[@jordant.teeterson3100]

The dark Knight is an NSA propaganda movie

[@crmesson22k]

Emma probably watched 9-11 happen in class just like I did and most American Millennials that day.

[@jasonashley4579]

If you're gen X and were in the military it was straight to the sandbox.

[@nickymo]

I’m the same age as Emma and have no lived frame of reference of pre-9/11 america, this is fascinating stuff to hear.

[@kupalisky3553]

It was a time when nobody paid any attention to politics or current events, even adults. The 90s was all about pop culture: Nickelodeon, MTV, Seinfeld, Friends, SNL, etc. People in their 20s could afford their own apartments working as cashiers. I was just a kid in the 90s but I envy my older Gen X cousins who experienced that life as young adults.

[@jacksonsmith2544]

Dam 10 seconds and under 500 million likes, bro fell off

[@NicholasSeamans]

Joke is getting stale

[@OnsenDreamscapes]

The idea that 'this is the new way we fight wars' after 9/11 or after the cold war is a bit of cope on the part of the military and related observers; the fact is, these 'small wars' aren't any different than proxy wars during the cold war, like vietnam. it's just that the US didn't have the proper strategy to respond to guerrilla warfare, which is all he's really describing there - that we will now fight with proper strategy. They pretend it is unique to the war on terror and not a lesson learned after getting our asses kicked in vietnam. i mean we never had a war directly with russia, and once nuclear proliferation ended, we weren't even directly trying to spook them too much

[@lovetolovebooks]

Hummers were out in the mid 90s for people who could afford them.

[@faebalina7786]

Not to mention the rise of the Call Of Duty game and how big that was

[@kristophermichaud4467]

Tangential thought, i think its very un-American to not see any body shoot down the drones in NJ

[@andysawyer647]

It kind of blows me how lefties ignore context when it comes to Obama or Harris, but don't with Bernie or previously Tulsi Gabbard.

[@Christopher_Bachm]

1963 1980 2000 2021 2024 - can stop ... Stop now ... Trump is not 🇺🇸 We Need Real 🇺🇸 Now

[@DogBagOfficial]

I like your music

[@dash_frame]

I was 10 on 9/11

[@rebeccarittenhouse2203]

As a Gen Xer that has been arguing with my millennial male kids and their friends for years now about Trump being a bad person. I find it odd that is the opposite of what Emma claims to be the case.

[@TheAwesomeYouTuber1]

I was in California when it happened and I just graduated earlier that year. Yeah I know I just Aged myself.

[@sailordaigurren8225]

Great discussion, but didn't appreciate Emma's "that would be so nice" comment about no MCU

[@TacoTacoYum]

I love how they are waaaaay overthinking Batman. Exactly what I tuned in for 😑

[@arielhamm-flores6893]

i dont no i Rember the building lost a bike messenger friend ive talked to nyc and new jersey locals all over its way more then that you never saw the city's in the 80ds its cameras everywhere and city's used to be half abounded so we had cheap music just wow you guys it was bad by 911 bush was in it was almost a given it would happen i am one that was against both wars in gulf you kids did not see the states when it had real riots with punks and real fighters in the inner citys i was in tenderloin les Hollywood i saw it all and grew up when it was fun