Terrorism has always been a problem in United States history. Over the last five years, however it has become the center of focus for many state and national governments. Terrorism strikes us at the very core because terrorists are universal; they have no age, sex, race, or nationality. They come from anywhere; have motives that are religious, political or racist. Terrorism is felt on every level, and especially three levels which locations are as local (within our own community, city and state) national and even globally. We feel the ripple effect of terrorism everywhere we are, and it affects us in every community. I will relate to the September 11th terrorist attacks as an example throughout the paper to view the scope of the terrorist attack itself, and the aftermath turmoil it left on each level.
Locally we see the effects of terrorism. During September 11th 2001 I woke up to the news of our nation being under attack. Churches filled up, as well as the lines to gas pumps. Rumors were going around that the world would soon end, it would not ever fathom on us that we were the scope of an attack on our own soil since that rarely happens in the United States, and especially not in the contents as September 11th. We fight wars overseas, across borders, but never on American soil, not on this continent.
Looking at this problem through the scope of a sociologist we must ask what the threat of terrorism does to us locally. From the Conflict perspective, known mainly by its spokesman Karl Marx, we can examine this line of thinking and come up with somewhat of a clear answer. I chose to examine this from this perspective because I do think it is the view that can closely relate to the topic of terrorism and its effects on local communities and cities. We can view the breakdown related to a terrorist event (such as September 11th) and study from this point of view the circumstances that arise from it. First, the biggest local event that took place during that ill fated day was the hike in gas prices that sent everyone to the gas pumps. Lines snaked city blocks around gas stores as people waited to fill up before the gas prices rose two dollars a gallon.
One of the claims from the conflict perspective is social class conflict. “The rich get richer while the poor get poorer” (Kornblum W pg 10 2004).The local suppliers of gas were later found guilty by the Governor of Mississippi for taking advantage of a dire situation. This caused conflict between people at the pump, and between the people of the state and the local gas suppliers. Fights broke out at the gas pumps over who was in line next; people began to act like animals. Grocery stores were rumored to have a shortage of food because of the problem with the gas prices (their trucks could not run) and a state of panic was felt by everyone.
There was mistrust in every eye as people sought to take care of themselves and their own families. It soon became a local war of “us against them” between the gas suppliers, the grocery stores, and eventually among the ranks of the public. This was the effect that the terrorist sought after when they flew those airplanes into the World Trade Centers and then the Pentagon. They wanted fear, but they also wanted public chaos. Thankfully we pulled ourselves together, took our attention off of the squabbles between brother and sister and started our focus on punishing those who did this to us.
On a national level, the war on terrorism started in the abrupt aftermath of September 11th attacks. It did not take us long to regroup and wage a war or terror, as President Bush stated, to go after these faceless cowards. On a national level we put forth a unified front on our retaliation towards gaining justice, and a blow back to the terrorist who took the lives of thousands. Singers wrote songs, politicians grasped this issue for their gain of public support of their campaign. We were united to fight back, however the ties of union soon began to unravel as fractions of the population began to mistrust the administration in his efforts to retaliate against the perpetrators of the act.
The media was used to promote the propaganda of all sides of the issue. People began to feel the after effects shortly after the surge of patriotic pride, such as fear of another attack, health consequences relating to such, as panic attacks, anxiety disorder, and the like. Health care cost taken on by governmental health care programs cost the working public millions upon millions of dollars to treat those who are mentally affected by the attacks. (Kornblum pg 502 2004) We began to racially profile anyone who looked like a middle easterner regardless of the facts that terrorism can be brought from any country or nationality. On a national level we have seen airports going bankrupt, as oil prices go up and the public become more fearful of flying. Many different theories on sociology can be applied to the crisis of the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. We are a nation of diversity, a group of people who have different nationalities who somehow fill in the ideology of the melting pot.
On the global level terrorism is reached in every nation, tribe and tongue. A few years after the attack on American soil, our allied nation of England was attacked by terrorist bombings, some say that this is in retaliation to their help for the United States in the war on terror. Besides the locality of hot spots (terrorist nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan) and countries that suffer, terrorism takes a toll on the glove through many factors. Terrorism is better known as the faceless enemy because terrorists can come in any shape or form, color or creed. Religion fuels it, and we have taken a second look since the fateful day five years ago and the Islamic religion. Radical religious followers seek for control over societies in the name of their god. They want people to be forced on what to eat, drink, wear, when to sleep and how to pray. They are fueled by interpretations of their religious text to view the victim of a terrorist attack as a subject, pawn, and the like to manipulate and use to gain this sought after control. (Kornblum pg 501) What could motivate people to not only take the lives of thousands, but take their own in the process? There is a huge dent in the logical functioning of the mind; however these men thought they were going to get their reward for their involvement in the September 11th attacks.
Another perspective that happens in all three levels, locally, nationally, and globally, is the economic perspective (Kornblum pg 501)of what terrorist attacks do, in particular 9/11. After that fateful day the stock market took a dip. The money belt of the United States had been hit and we felt the blow, even to this day, we are still feeling the crush of that day on our economy. Not only did our economy suffer, but those who traded with us also felt the dip, even though on a smaller level. As the saying goes, if the stock market in the United States gets a cold, the one in London sneezes. The effect on one of the largest industries in this nation, which is the airlines, added to the turmoil of our economy. Even to this day many airlines are still dealing with the effects, most are filing bankruptcy. This affects the globe as we are tied into countries on many levels.
The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United States and world markets. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. NYSE facilities and remote data processing sites were not damaged by the attack, but member firms, customers and markets were unable to communicate due to major damage to the telephone exchange facility near the World Trade Center. When the stock markets reopened on September 17, 2001, after the longest closure since the Great Depression in 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (“DJIA”) stock market index fell 684 points, or 7.1%, to 8920, its biggest-ever one-day point decline. By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history. U.S. stocks lost $1.2 trillion in value for the week. As of 2005 Wall and Broad Streets near the New York Stock Exchange remain barricaded and guarded to prevent a physical attack upon the building.” (Wikipedia)
In conclusion, there are many ways to examine the effects of terrorism and the causes of terrorism. The United States has had their share of terrorist that are Americans, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the events at Waco Texas, even to racial terrorism that includes White Supremacy groups such as the Klu Klux Clan who unleash their waves of terror on those who are not white. We have never thought in our wildest dreams that the events that took place on September 11th 2001 could have ever happened. We were shocked and caught off guard at the hatred of the “holy war” that Bin Laden waged against America. Not long after we were bombarded with mail that contained anthrax in a powdered form, a few months after that we witnessed the horrific events of the sniper shootings, surprisingly having no affiliation with what had happened in either the anthrax attack or the terrorist attack on September 11th.
Our world will be forever changed on the local level, in our communities, cities, and states. Each of us will bear the ramifications of living in heightened alert. We will be forever changed on a national level, policies that focus on terrorism are the most talked about and voted on. We will be forever changed on a global level because we now see the not so nice side of the Middle East.
Reference:
Kornblum W and Julian J (2004) Social Problems 11th edition New York, San Francisco, Pearson Prentice Hall
September 11, 2001 attacks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11retrieved on August 26, 2006.
