It’s morbid, and I feel a bit awry for asking, but it’s been a nagging thought of mine. What would this forum have done if it had been around back then in ‘01? What would it do now? What can you really do in the wake of a disaster that completely decimates names like Cantor and countless others? It would be awful to lose contributors too; I can’t even imagine. Would we have memorials or something?
It’s a horrible thought, I know. Keenly interested in your ideas.
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I recently went to the 9/11 memorial museum, and it was really hard seeing everything there. The museum does a really good job of putting you in the position of an observer then, but I honestly wanted to cry after going there. It was really intense for me seeing all the photos of the jumpers and the sort. They had clothes, wallets, phones, and other personal belongings.
I think your question is kind of odd. What do you mean by "would we have memorials" Obviously people would feel bad, but I don't know what you mean by that. Some people here would know many of those who lost their lives. I'd even guess there'd be some morbid posts about missing persons too.
I posted in a more terse style not in a manic way, but more of a politeness way, which kept me from elaborating like I could have. You’ve got the right idea. Missing persons lists and in cases where maybe a user’s real-life identity were known, posting memorials to them that people could comment on. There would potentially ways of supporting rescuers, EMTs, fire personnel, and others. The actual details on a lot of this are difficult to fathom.
There’s something ineffable about the way the city has responded to this. I can remember being so moved by the murals in the WTC subway station the first time I went there. Same with the 20 years later performance of Verdi’s Requiem that the Met put on back in September. The whole idea of asking God to grant these poor souls rest 20 years later has moved me to tears as I type.
I had an MD come to my school from some bank (that wasn't Cantor) that was in the South Tower. He said that when the North Tower was hit, nobody knew what was going on. He said they saw papers flying in the air out of their windows and stuff. He said that his office consisted of bankers and traders and that all the bankers decided to evacuate but that the traders had to stay due to it being less than an hour to market open. He said that the traders ended up all dying. In hindsight, I'm not sure why he said this to a bunch of undergrads, but it kind of made me realize that I don't want to spend my career relentlessly pursuing the next big thing, and that there are other things I may want more, like starting a family.
Edit: I just checked, the firm was KBW.
I would hope like any community, we'd come together in some way and let each other grieve
I am European and never took a US history class, so idk much of the details of 9/11. Could someone help me understand why 9/11 is so important in American history and why it takes the place as the “most tragic event in American history”?
This is hardly comprehensive, but here’s my attempt. I don’t know that I would call it quite what you did, but here we go.
- Since the 1970s, the World Trade Center towers were the tallest buildings in NYC. They defined the city’s skyline. They were visible in practically every postcard and picture. They could be seen from nearly every vista. As it relates to “trade,” they were symbolic of American commerce and prosperity itself.
- The 9/11/01 was of course the deadliest attack on American soil by a foreign power (not trying to start a debate here). It was not 1, but 4 separate attacks that took place throughout the day. The thinking was “what a horrible accident” when the first tower was struck, then “this is intentional” on the second. This was compounded by the strikes on the Pentagon, the very emblem of America’s military might and the additional hijacking targeting the White House, the President’s home, untouched since sacked by the British in the War of 1812. The thinking across the country was “what’s next?”
- The wide impact on the regulatory environment from the TSA, the Patriot Act, and the increasing importance of the NSA.
- The whole casus belli for the two decade long “War on Terror”
Basically it was the Bataclan (with which you might be more familiar) upped by an order of magnitude and made more frightening by all the other attacks in concert. The finance industry feels it more acutely because they disproportionately died in these events.
Hope this helps explain at least a small portion of it. Cheers
Good summary, I'd like to add a bit of color:
Culturally it snapped America out of the idyllic dreams we had in the 90's. We were still in the post-war bliss, sure stuff like Watergate and Black Monday were dampers on the feeling, but America was still unrivaled in terms of prosperity. The trend towards democracy and the American way of life seemed inexorable, the USSR had fallen, the Cold War was over, we had a brief excursion in the first Gulf War and came out having succeeded in our goals, it looked like nothing could go wrong. We were at the forefront of the computer revolution and while the Dot Com Bust deflated some dreams and bubbles, it was clear the future was rosy and the world at our fingertips. We bought bigger houses, supersized our McDonalds, and reveled in the latest TV tech ("18 inches thick! That's so thin!").
Meanwhile none of our meddling had really come back to bite us, all the issues in Central America hadn't yet bubbled over into an immigration crisis, China was growing but it made cheap goods, not geopolitical power plays, the Middle East was contained (which really was the UK's and France's meddling, the US helped a bit in the 80's but goddamn the way Europe carved up Africa and the Middle East post WWI really fucked us) and terrorism was the occasional plane hijacker trying to free some prisoners or make a quick buck, no one was looking for mass murder.
9/11 changed all of that, it shattered our sense of security and idealism, suddenly exporting KFC and N'SYNC wasn't enough to convince everyone our way of life was better. People resented what we did and what we stood for, and now the result was at our doorsteps. Suddenly you had the National Guard in Penn Station with assault rifles, airport security sprung up and just got more restrictive, our boys were sent off to fight some nebulous group hiding in mountains, and everyone started arguing. People started treating their own neighbors with suspicion, and our distrust with government and our institutions collapsed even further. We realized our intelligence agencies weren't talking to each other and were missing clear signs, so we signed away our rights and let them listen to our conversations.
Plus the rest of the world wasn't so angry with America either, the world mourned with us, an attack on America was seen as an attack on modern life. Countries around the world offered their support. A tribe in Kenya donated 14 cows. It affected the world as much as it affected the US. It really was a pivotal moment in American history, up there with Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination and the Civil War.
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