Changes After 9 11 example essay topic

"How has 9/11 changed our views on the 21st century and the representation of the city in global culture?" Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Usually, on average, you are an adolescent, making your way somewhere between middle school and high school, slowly creating your own social life, just waiting for your first "cool" things to happen. Then you finally meet her; The Beautiful Girl whom you " re always glimpsing at from across the classroom. It's only a matter of weeks before she's all yours. Saturdays at the movies, Sundays at the park, the love letters, the SMS's, and that magical feeling you get that makes you think you own the world. Nothing else matters, because you " ve got it all, love, friendship, family, good grades (because she "helps" you with your homework), you " re invincible.

And just when you think nothing can go wrong, she leaves you. And along with her goes all the self confidence which generated your shield of invincibility, leaving you only with the terror of weakness and solitude. The whole psychological world you " ve created around you crumbles to pieces, and from that day on you remember that episode as a lesson, and will try to prevent it from happening again. Before September 11th, 2001, the United States of America had been attacked only once, more than fifty years earlier, on December 7th, 1941 at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. What that means is that for more than half a century the enormous territory belonging to this nation had been left completely untouched from any violence caused from foreign affairs. This factor, plus the outcome of various historical events, added to an economy that benefits from one of the world's largest populations, multiplied by the strength of a huge army, gives an equation which to many people spelled out "invincible" with a capital I...

And then, as it so often happens in life, the unexpected occurred; a masterminded terrorist attack, which was aimed to destroy the political, economical and military headquarters within the nation, didn't come through, and instead demolished two world renown symbols of American culture. Needless to say, the USA had its heart broken. There is no doubt whatsoever that the events of September 11th are the most significant occurred in the past decade, but to understand how this episode of history has changed our views on the 21st century, it is necessary to analyse the effects it has had on each aspect of global society. From a political standpoint 9/11 has officially completed the transition of the major conflict that dominates the international scene. Until the early nineties the main issue to take the world as its stage was the ideological conflict between communism and capitalism, geo-politically represented by the United States of America and allies, against the countries partaking in the Union of Soviets Socialists Republics and its allies.

After various events like the Gulf War, 9/11 marked the passage towards the new era of international affairs characterised by a struggle which is no longer only based on political ideologies, but on civilisations as well. This conflict, like all conflicts, has many names; for some it is called "The War on Terrorism", for others it is "the conflict between the two worlds" and someone maybe even calling it "Globalisation". But more simply, the world has been ideologically divided into people who stand with the USA, and people who stand against it. This "a partied" is one that goes way beyond any geographical borderline, given the fact that there are people who are US citizens and openly oppose their nation's actions, whilst the lives of a majority of the worlds population is strongly affected by the wide spreading American culture. Although it may seem politically incorrect to generalize in such a manner, this separation exists, and it has become very hard to find opinions which are critical rather than factious.

This phenomenon occurs due to the polarisation of peoples ideas. When people are affected with important issues like this one, their opinions are pushed to extremes, usually due to emotional factors or more simply to be able to side with a group. Essentially 9/11 has changed the political topic which is on people's minds. But has it changed the way we view politics in the 21st century?

Or does it only confirm how we thought politics worked throughout the past one hundred years? When the United States were attacked, so was the balance of global economy. What many experts cleverly named "The 9/11 Effect", provoked an immediate downturn and recession of the economy worldwide. Indexes and stocks went plummeting, only adding to the poor economic atmosphere that was already in place prior to 9/11. When the number one strength in global economy has the wind taken out of it like the US did with 9/11, a situation like this is inevitable. The economy of the 21st century has changed after 9/11.

Today, especially because of the "War on Terrorism", the US still hasn't recovered from the financial blow, hence the balance of economical power has shifted, providing other nations with the independence and the opportunities they didn't have before. Advances in technology and seamless borders have brought more people to commerce with countries other than the US. Furthermore, the interests and values for certain products and services have drastically mutated. Immediately after 9/11, for example, sales in all types of security systems skyrocketed, whilst the cost for airplane tickets dramatically dropped, thus bringing to financial stardom the cheap airline companies like RyanAir or EasyJet. The noticeable change in both these markets is not to be under minded because it clearly demonstrates the heterogeneity of the world's reaction to 9/11.

In the end it wouldn't have taken an economical genius to foresee all of these changes after 9/11. Therefore many aspects did actually change, but they changed in the way the world is used to see them change after any highly significant disaster. Disasters like 9/11, which take place because of human conspiracy, are the most difficult to understand, and need to be explained carefully and attentively. This is why 9/11 caused many problems for the media. In a moment when more people than ever were in need for information, the media provided it through every channel it had at hand.

But as it so often happens, rushing things implies unfortunate sacrifice. The heat of the moment brought many members of the media around the world to make various errors: biased reporting, over intense coverage, exaggerations, and sometimes even false facts. It must be remembered that the 21st century is part of the global digital era, and that it has now become extremely easy to access multiple sources, and to therefore be able to form a personal opinion based on the experiences of different people from different cultures. A significant episode like 9/11 had many diverse reactions across the globe, given the broad number of emotional and socio-political standpoints which can be formed in relationship to a controversial country like the USA. One new aspect of the media which was brought to light after 9/11 was the exaggerated yet efficient use of the internet as a source for news.

The many different internet news websites were used almost more frequently than newspapers and radio. This is probably because the attack occurred at the beginning of the working day in North America while it was already afternoon in Europe, thus making internet and television the mediums of easier and immediate access. Many of these websites did experience difficulties due to the overwhelming amount of users who requested access, but on the day of the biggest news story of the decade, the news was there. This proves that even if the internet has a dark backside with alienating effects, it can be one of the most useful tools to provide information on a very broad scale of audiences.

Security is a very particular concept, especially when you live in a large metropolis. You can own the most expensive, most technologically advanced security system in the world, and still be in danger. As 9/11 demonstrates, danger can come from many different places, even from within. When living in a big city, the chances of someone doing something dangerous to you are definitely higher since there is a large concentration of people in one geographic area, but that still doesn't take away from great opportunities and cultural richness which the world's metropolis hold.

On top of all the fears that a citizen may have, 9/11 added terrorism; so when this summer's blackouts in New York and London happened, many fearful people pointed their fingers at terrorism instead of at the electric company. Cities can be considered dangerous places, but so can some English Universities. Essentially anything can be turned into a safety hazard if you look at it from a certain point of view. There are, of course, some dangers that you just can't prevent, and the security you can buy to protect yourself from these dangers is only available in your mind. That is what you generally try to do when you live in a metropolis; your security is the fact that in your mind you have accepted the possibility of danger as an everyday aspect of your life and are therefore ready to deal with it at almost any moment. Not only has that been a characteristic of city life throughout the 21st century, it has been there since the day cities were born.

So when whoever it was knocked down the Twin Towers on Tuesday September 11th, 2001, many things in this world did actually change, but as they changed they were just writing another incredible yet typical chapter in planet earth's history. Unfortunately, many people were affected directly. Fortunately, many people were left unharmed. The same goes for people's views regarding the 21st century and the role of the city: while the average Eastern European, whose territory has been the stage for two global conflicts plus an uncountable number of terrorist attacks, thinks to himself "hey, that's life. ". , on the other side, the average American has his heart broken, just like when your first love tells you "maybe we should just be friends". It must be remembered, though, that there are people in this world whose culture is composed of many different influences (Eastern European and American included). For these people (the so called "Children of the World") it is easier to understand that there are some good times, and that there are some bad times, and that both of these instances cannot exist without each another..