Introduction
The September 11th terror attack in the US remains to be the most traumatic experience for American citizens I History. The war on terror, which began after 9/11, was meant to avenge Americans on the perpetrators of the September 11th terror attack in New York. Attacks on the US soil meant to instill fear and terror to citizens have occurred on very few occasions, with the primary attacks being the attack by Japanese soldiers on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and the September 11th terror attack. The US governments in all regimes have continued investing heavily in preventing a shooting inside the US and employed several measures to deter the occurrence of an attack similar to the September 11th terror attack.
Psychoanalytic lens
The loss of life, material damages, and the social, economic effects of the 9/11 terror attack resulted in mass post-traumatic stress for American citizens. The fear of the possibility of a second terror attack was precise and impacted military enrollment in the following years. US military enrollment was highest after the September 11th terror attack; an inclination can attribute the high numbers towards vengeance by young Americans. The declaration of the War on Terror by the then-President George Bush and the idealization on collective abort of the ongoing mourning of traumatic grief by going to war impacted on young adults and can explain the high turn out to military enrollment.
Psychological trauma was also evidenced by the immortalization of the New York firefighters by Americans immediately after the September 11th terror attack. The immediate response and involvement of the New York fire department in the search and rescue operations shortly after the September 11th terror attack was emotionally documented by mass media outlets reporting on the scene. American society being virtual witnesses of the events of 9/11 created cultural consciousness that generated national heroes from the immediate responders of the attack that were the New York firefighters (Castor, 2019).
Before 9/11, the US economy had been growing at a steady pace, which was attributed to the growth in the technology industries at the time. The economic and technological growth can be attributed to the mass increase in mass media outlets and the ease of owning a television or computer in the majority of households in the US. Americans were emotionally compelled to reliving the events of 9/11 as they were being replayed in the mass media for the following weeks after 9/11. Reliving the events of 9/11 through mass media transmitting the rescue operations created collective helplessness amongst Americans. Americans being virtual spectators through the mass media imprinted the image of the destructive power of airplanes, making them a symbol of American weakness (Alpert et al., 2016).
Cultural lens
The US military superiority was evident throughout history from the US victories in World War 2 and the cold war, as well as the declaration of the US as the world superpower. Before the 9/11 terror attack, Americans had only felt unsafe during the second world war when the Japanese naval ships were docking in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The reaction to Pearl Harbor was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and from that moment since, Americans would see from war and violence as occurring to other countries. 9/11 exposed the US’s vulnerability to the changing tactics of terror, allowing the enhancement of national security measures to prevent the occurrence of an event similar to 9/11 ever again in the US.
Before 9/11, the US was viewed as the land of opportunity by the outside world courtesy of the continued economic growth, political stability, and technological innovation. The vulnerability of the US was exposed to the outside world, changing their perspective towards the US. Post 9/11 also saw the increased profiling, detention, and deportation of a large number of immigrants from the US on terrorism claims. As a measure to create reassurance among Americans, the Bush administration immediately reacted by declaring war on terror by sending American troops to Afghanistan to eliminate Al-Qaeda. This terrorist group took the responsibility of the 9/11 attack. The profiling, detention, and deportation of American immigrants on small terrorism claims harmed the American multicultural social environment (Grewal, 2003).
Conclusion
The 9/11 terror attack was also a wakeup call to reconstruct the US National security protocol; for example, the introduction of US marshals in every American flight has deterred hijackings in the US and improved air travel security in the US. The 9/11 terror attack led to increased unity in the US. During the tragic event, every American identified as American disregarding cultural, racial, and religious differences. The mass turnout evidenced the increased integration to military enrollment across all American cultures, religions, and racial groups; However, it may be argued that there was no constructivism in terror that enhanced unity amongst Americans and had a positive impact on the quality of life amongst Americans. The American government is mandated to ensure that Americans remain safe in American soil and by allocating every resource needed to combating terror and ensuring that 9/11 or an event similar to 9/11 never happens in the US again.