Carranza, Yes, that's exactly what I was pointing out. While it was an extremely successful attack, the actual attack results were trivial. It was people's reaction which did the real damage:
<What is more important is the reaction to it by the USA and world. I'd say the disruption due to 'Homeland Security' has probably exceeded that. Then, throw in the military manoeuvres and other drama and the cost zooms further. Then throw in funk and economic malaise and the cost goes up more. >
But even with the self-created aftermath costs, I think the bigger issue is the super bubble crash. Never before has such vast market capitalisation been reduced around the world by such a huge amount.
6 billion mainly urbanized people compared with 1 billion 90% rural people in 1930. Many $$trillions in imagined wealth gone poof. Plenty of adjustments to be made. Huge ones. The attacks are background noise by comparison.
If a hurricane had bowled the buildings with 30,000 in them, the consequences would have been much smaller and not noticeable in the grand scheme of things. It was the malevolence which made it so shocking and so disruptive in the aftermath. But still small out of a global 6 billion person, multi$$trillion economy.
Of events over the past 100 years, the attack was not a very big deal at all. It was by far the most spectacular that I can think of, but 10,000 road deaths are far worse and those are ignored as just a cost of doing business.
There was something about two aircraft and two of the biggest-ever buildings, in one of the world's pre-eminent cities, with the UN just down the road, the world's main financial node - Wall Street, right there, thousands of trapped people living in hope for a short while, all real-time on global television, with the Pentagon and other attacks thrown in and a global Jihad. Simply staggering. But, really, the impact on 6 billion people isn't that great.
You'd be interested in Fred's comments - he's abandoning ship and heading to freedom in Mexico... fredoneverything.net I have some sympathy with his ideas - there's more to real freedom than legal freedoms honoured more in law books than reality that matters.
Mqurice |
