rant · moment 7 of 15
Growing Up on Long Island During 9/11
from 9/11, Netanyahu, & Artificial Annihilation | The Tim Dillon Show #512 · #512
6 min
Tim reminisces about being in 11th grade history class on Long Island when 9/11 happened, the pre-9/11 90s being apolitical and great, a classmate whose father died, and the strange communal unity and purpose that followed the attacks.
- 9/11 was the biggest event of Tim's childhood, the first time he became aware of American foreign policy.
- The 90s were a renaissance where not everything was analyzed through politics—people could enjoy art without worrying about its message.
- Tim was in 11th grade history class on Long Island when 9/11 happened and saw a friend crying because his dad died in the attacks.
- Bush told Americans to go shopping and jets flew over, and Tim says it felt good—the best the country has ever been.
- Food tasted better in the weeks and months after 9/11; people were civically engaged and sang patriotic songs together.
- After 9/11, interest rates dropped, everyone bought houses and big pools, and the country finally made sense because there was a common enemy and purpose.
- There was a clear war of ideas between a culture of freedom and democracy versus a fundamentalist, oppressive culture that radicalized men and abused women.
- Thomas Friedman's book about technology and trade creating a borderless global society shaped the belief that exporting American values would make the world safer.
- The logic was that only through global pluralism, rule of law, religious tolerance, and respect for individual rights could terrorism be stopped.
9-11 attacksGeorge W. BushThomas FriedmanToby KeithNew York TimesHoly Trinity DiocesisIranBill ClintonNorth KoreaSt. John'sKosovoLong Island