What if 9/11 never happened?

[Free Bird]

Not just politically. I think America has taken a turn for the worse since then. We are becoming more and more intrusive and controlling out of fear. So, how would they be different? Using September 11, 2001 as a split, how would the US, politically and otherwise, be different had it not been for 9/11?

[Never]

Politically, the economy probably would have been anemic, not necessarily a full-blown recession, but enough for the public to be unhappy. That was the main focus in the days before 9/11 (I remember watching a recording on YouTube from the Today Show before the attacks on that morning indicating that economic growth was sluggish, and that Bush was proposing some measures like lower taxes as a solution). Bush trudges ahead with his domestic policy initiatives, like No Child Left Behind, and they do pass, but Democrats end up with full control of Congress after the 2002 elections. Kerry would have won in 2004 and been mildly favored for reelection until the 2008 financial crisis, after which McCain (who nominates Tim Pawlenty instead of Palin as his VP candidate, since there is no real need for a game changer) becomes the victor. Currently, McCain would be our president, the economy would be okay, we would be at peace similar to the late 1990s, and Hillary Clinton would probably be our next president. At this point, the fictional and real timelines might start to merge.

In general, I think Americans would still feel safe the way they were in the 1990s. We might not think of terrorism as a serious issue, instead focusing our concerns on specific countries, similar to how as a nation we were concerned about the Soviet Union during the Cold War and Japan in the late 1980s/early 1990s when their economy was very strong compared to ours. There might be more rhetoric about China. We might still have the freedom of movement in airports and public buildings that we had before 9/11, but another event could have happened later that would restrict our civil liberties.

[Mr. Morden]

With no US invasion of Afghanistan, al Qaeda would have eventually pulled off some other large scale terrorist attack, which would have ended up with a similar result in the end.  So something like 9/11* would have happened eventually.  It's just a matter of when.

* By "something like 9/11", I don't necessarily mean something with that large a casualty count.  But a terrorist attack within the US that killed 300 rather than 3000 probably would have had similar ramifications.

[Del Tachi]

What Mr. Modern said.

Lax security in the United States combined with strengthening anti-Americanism abroad meant that a 9/11 was "due" sometime during the 2000s. 

Of course, if it gets pushed to 2007 or 2008 to coincide with the global financial crisis then that of course opens a whole other can of worms. 

[Person Man]

What Mr. Modern said.

Lax security in the United States combined with strengthening anti-Americanism abroad meant that a 9/11 was "due" sometime during the 2000s.  

Of course, if it gets pushed to 2007 or 2008 to coincide with the global financial crisis then that of course opens a whole other can of worms.  

Maybe the Democrats gain in 2002, get cocky, nominate a weak candidate in 2004 and Bush and the Democrats in congress get reelected in 2004 and 2006. A terrorist attack happens just before the general election campaign starts up in 2008.

Was the financial crisis even inevitable?

[Never]

What Mr. Modern said.

Lax security in the United States combined with strengthening anti-Americanism abroad meant that a 9/11 was "due" sometime during the 2000s.  

Of course, if it gets pushed to 2007 or 2008 to coincide with the global financial crisis then that of course opens a whole other can of worms.  

Maybe the Democrats gain in 2002, get cocky, nominate a weak candidate in 2004 and Bush and the Democrats in congress get reelected in 2004 and 2006. A terrorist attack happens just before the general election campaign starts up in 2008.

Was the financial crisis even inevitable?

I think so. The crisis was rooted in actions already taken in the nineties. I doubt that anyone before 2008 would have had enough foresight to confront the problems with how mortgages operated in America, even if we didn't have the distraction of terrorist attacks and wars.

[Person Man]

What Mr. Modern said.

Lax security in the United States combined with strengthening anti-Americanism abroad meant that a 9/11 was "due" sometime during the 2000s.  

Of course, if it gets pushed to 2007 or 2008 to coincide with the global financial crisis then that of course opens a whole other can of worms.  

Maybe the Democrats gain in 2002, get cocky, nominate a weak candidate in 2004 and Bush and the Democrats in congress get reelected in 2004 and 2006. A terrorist attack happens just before the general election campaign starts up in 2008.

Was the financial crisis even inevitable?

I think so. The crisis was rooted in actions already taken in the nineties. I doubt that anyone before 2008 would have had enough foresight to confront the problems with how mortgages operated in America, even if we didn't have the distraction of terrorist attacks and wars.

I guess it is possible that the current economic meltdown is already in progress with a lot of speculation  in the boom/bust fossil fuel industry?