1 in 3 Americans don't remember the year of 9/11

Well, since 9/11 was the spark that ignited the "War on Terror" I suppose this should go in here.

Sadly I read an article today that reveals just how little many of us Americans really know about that day.

Source
Some 30 percent of Americans cannot say in what year the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York's World Trade Center and the
Pentagon in Washington took place...

30%

Our soldiers are overseas, risking their lives, and one in three of us don't even have enough respect to remember what year sparked it off!

It was only 5 years ago, 2001!

We're not talking decades or centuries here.

I understand the memories of that day are painfull for us all, but don't we at least owe it to the people who died that day to remember?

Apparently one in three of us, not only doesn't care about the facts of that day but, doesn't even consider the facts that we can all agree on worthy of commiting it to memory!

I'm sorry but, what a bunch of sheep!

Ironically,

This memory black hole is essentially the problem of the older crowd: 48 percent of those who did not know were between the ages of 55 and 64, and 47 percent were older than 65, according to the poll.

the segment that has the most "trouble" tend to make up the conservative base (demographically speaking)!

Those who tend to "support" the current military actions being taken.

Have flouride and nutra-sweet finally taken their toll on this segment of society?

Or, is it just another example of how lazy and complacent much of our society has become. :shk:

[edit on 8/13/06 by redmage]

Relax. The over 55's aren't sheep or complacent - anymore than the under 55's at least. Dates just mean less as you get older, years just kind of run together in your memory.

My TV died the other week, WTF it was only a few years old and I've still got the receipt to prove when I bought it!! it was.. err.. 1992.

Could this be a result of the depersonalization of the event by calling it just "9/11"?

Was to much emphasis put on the date and the coincidences of the numbers 9 and 11, so people forgot the rest of the date?

And why they called it "9/11"? Was someone expecting another attack on another date of the same year?

And who start calling it "9/11"?

Too many questions for which I do not have any answers...

But it is funny that when people are asked "what were you doing on 9-11 at the time of the attacks" people usually remember.

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
Relax. The over 55's aren't sheep or complacent - anymore than the under 55's at least. Dates just mean less as you get older, years just kind of run together in your memory.

Dates just mean less?

Of everything that happened that day, the only thing I havn't seen debated is that it happened on 09/11/01, and it appears that roughly a third of the population doesn't even care to get that part right.

Many now say that "60 is the new 40".

This demographic is not 80+ and failing with age, these should be capable people of roughly "avarage" intelligence.

Dates may "mean less" with age but, this is a defining moment American history, and it's only been 5 years!

We're not talking about your, my, or anyone elses third cousin's birthday (or some other obscure date easily forgotten).

I'd bet that most of this demographic hasn't forgotten the year, or date, of Pearl Harbor and I don't see this as being all that much different when it comes to importance and signifigance when it comes to an American history standpoint.

[edit on 8/13/06 by redmage]

Well hell, over half don't even know who the vice president is or where Iraq is on a map. When I get into the field of economics and personal finance, I'd say maybe 10% have a good grasp of it.

The US is becoming a society of mindless jugheads and a culture that breeds unconscious consumers, and the leaders tend to want to keep it that way or you would see a bigger push towards education.

Sharecropper society: growing a new slave class, where brains are not necessary.

It surprises me that people are condemning people for not knowing the year the WTC were attacked. Is it particulary that important?

We know the attacks were horrific- but forgetting something isn't a sign of disrespect. How many times have members forgotten the date? Forgotten loved ones birthdays? Unfortunately forgetting is a fact of life!

Originally posted by Knights
It surprises me that people are condemning people for not knowing the year the WTC were attacked. Is it particulary that important?

Um, yeah............seeing how the war on terror began than, and it was the year of the most horrific attack in American Modern History.................

Saying its not important is like saying knowing what year the declaration of independance was signed, or the year the constitution was ratified, isnt worth knowing either.

And the fact that it was only 5 years ago, not 50 or 200, makes this even more disturbing.

I think it's unfair to draw the conclusion that a third of the population doesn't "care to get that part right". I'm sure they remember the events and the horror just fine, and for all of us there's no two words that define an event more instantly, than "nine eleven". And yes, there probably are more people that can tell you Pearl Harbor occured in 1941, but we didn't spend the last 65 years referring to Pearl Harbor as "twelve seven".

This poll just proves that the longer you live, the harder it gets to pinpoint dates. If you're 15, you've lived a third of your life in the last 5 years and it's pretty easy to seperate and order all the main events. If you're 60, those 5 years were only a 12th of your life and were probably pretty much the same as the previous 5 years. I'm guessing you're closer to 15 than 60 Redmage and haven't experienced it for yourself, but you'll understand when you do.

Originally posted by redmage

Ironically,

This memory black hole is essentially the problem of the older crowd: 48 percent of those who did not know were between the ages of 55 and 64, and 47 percent were older than 65, according to the poll.

the segment that has the most "trouble" tend to make up the conservative base (demographically speaking)!

those people 55-64 of age have been given other pressing problems to consider,

A: staying employed for as long as they can,
B: crossing their fingers & hoping to realize the pensions they once believed were 'guaranteed',
C: trying to decipher the recent medicare changes including the Prescription Drug part 'D'

~the list goes on...
also the +55 group have to plan for an extended life after retirement,
as they won't be given a quiet room, in the house of the sibling who drew the 'shortest straw', which was one general model for our surviving parent's retirement years for most of the 19th & (at least half of the) 20th century.

~~as for the oldsters remembering Dec 7th (Pearl Harbor), at that point in their
lives (being around Draft Age) the importance was burned into their brain because their whole immediate lives/family & future life-story was changed.

~~~even with "9-11", kids under 12 at the time or seniors over 65,
did not generally share the import & significance of the tragedy,
as much as those who were in the prime of their life, generally aged 15-55 years
(of course there's always exceptions to the 'average' or 'generalizations')

bottom line, imo, there's nothing wrong with those who don't recall it was 2001

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Um, yeah............seeing how the war on terror began than, and it was the year of the most horrific attack in American Modern History.................

Saying its not important is like saying knowing what year the declaration of independance was signed, or the year the constitution was ratified, isnt worth knowing either.

And the fact that it was only 5 years ago, not 50 or 200, makes this even more disturbing.

Perhaps i'm disturbed then. If I was asked randomly of such a date i'd have to think about it. I don't think a single American would have forgotten about 9-11 or any of the events which happened on that day. Remembering the year would temporarily make me think.

So Skadi- I presume you have never forgotten a loved ones birth year, birthday, even a date?

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
I think it's unfair to draw the conclusion that a third of the population doesn't "care to get that part right".

I'd tend to disagree.

And yes, there probably are more people that can tell you Pearl Harbor occured in 1941, but we didn't spend the last 65 years referring to Pearl Harbor as "twelve seven".

Nope, we call it "Pearl Harbor" and people still tend remember the full date (and year) without the month and date already being a "given".

This poll just proves that the longer you live, the harder it gets to pinpoint dates.

Again, we're not talking about a 3rd cousin's birthday.

This is a defining, and recent, point in American history.

If you're 60, those 5 years were only a 12th of your life and were probably pretty much the same as the previous 5 years.

"Probably pretty much the same"?

Do you live in the U.S.?

Do you read the paper or watch the news at all?

These last five years have been anything but "pretty much the same".

I'm guessing you're closer to 15 than 60 Redmage and haven't experienced it for yourself, but you'll understand when you do.

True I'm younger than 38, but I'm closer to 38 than 15, and I'm guessing you're in the discussed demographic if your memory is so bad that you feel the last five years in America have been "pretty much the same" as the 5 (or more) before.

[edit on 8/13/06 by redmage]

Ok son, most people over 55 don't care about what happened on 9-11.

Kids..

Originally posted by Knights
Perhaps i'm disturbed then. If I was asked randomly of such a date i'd have to think about it. I don't think a single American would have forgotten about 9-11 or any of the events which happened on that day. Remembering the year would temporarily make me think.

Seeing how it was only 5 years ago........that is pretty disturbing. The most devestating attack on US soil in history of peacetime......and the date is too difficult to remember?

So Skadi- I presume you have never forgotten a loved ones birth year, birthday, even a date?

Nope. Its one thing my husband and family appreciate greatly about me. But thats because I have a good memory for such things.

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
Ok son, most people over 55 don't care about what happened on 9-11.

A) I am NOT your "son".

B) I've never stated that, "most people over 55 don't care about what happened on 9-11".

Apparently your reading comprehension, or memory, is worse than you thought, and your snide misrepresentation of my point is not appreciated or humorous.

Just because most of the people that were polled, who didn't remember, fell into a certain demographic does not mean that most people in that demographic don't remember.

You would need an entirely different poll to draw a conclusion like that so do not put words into my mouth.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Seeing how it was only 5 years ago........that is pretty disturbing. The most devestating attack on US soil in history of peacetime......and the date is too difficult to remember?

I wholeheartedly agree.

[edit on 8/13/06 by redmage]

They might not be able to give you the year, but you can darn well bet if you ask them what they were doing and where they were on that date/time the majority will give you exact details of what they were doing.


Example. Where was I the day President Kennedy got shot. I was driving from Minot ND to Milwaukee. We had just gas-ed up in Hudson Wisconsin, I turned on the radio and heard "has been shot in Dallas" I turned to my wife and said someone shot the president without any mention of his name by the announcer.


Where was I on 911? I had just gotten up, had a cup of coffee in my hand and had just turned on the news to see the first tower ablaze. I then picked up the phone and called my wife to tell her in case she was not aware and while telling her about it to my horror a second plane came from the left and hit the other tower and I said OMG another plane has just hit the other tower.


Where was I when pearl Harbor was attacked? I was on the Living Room floor listening to Fibber magee and molly on the radio when they broke in with the announcement.


Now with that said, I am willing to bet most if not all of you can do the very same if you were alive and old enough to remeber at the time the events took place. It is not the year that sticks in ones mind it is the event.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

Seeing how it was only 5 years ago........that is pretty disturbing. The most devestating attack on US soil in history of peacetime......and the date is too difficult to remember?

In the same respect I presume you'd know the date for the Bali bombings? Perhaps the Madrid bombings? And the UK?

Then again it's all too easy to google and claim you knew all along- i'd have to take your word for that.

Oh and if you had no idea I think i'd be distgusted!

I'm (just) under 50 years old (Ouch!). And even I remember "December 7th, 1941. A day that will live in infamy...".

I also remember November 22, 1963.

I wish I could remember the exact date of the first Moon landing; but I was too enthralled by those images of man setting foot on Another Planet!!! to really care about the date.

What strikes me is that according to this, somewhat limited, survey, the demographic most likely to have forgotten this most important date are the very same demographic most likely to be in governmental positions responsible for making the policies resulting from the events of that terrible day!

Ah well, what can we expect? The Arabs and the Israelis are still fighting over a case of mistaken identity/fraud that happened several millenia ago!

Originally posted by Knights
In the same respect I presume you'd know the date for the Bali bombings? Perhaps the Madrid bombings? And the UK?

Your analogy would only truly apply if Skadi was from Indonesia, Spain, or the U.K. respectively.

Now, if you were to poll people from those areas and 1/3rd didn't know, I'd be equally disgusted as well.

What year was aids discovered?
What year was the Iran Hostage Crisis?
What year was Watergate?
What year was Bill Clinton Impeached?
What year was Waco?

All pretty defining moments in American history.

Did everyone answer all those?

Originally posted by redmage

Originally posted by Knights
In the same respect I presume you'd know the date for the Bali bombings? Perhaps the Madrid bombings? And the UK?

Your analogy would only truly apply if Skadi was from Indonesia, Spain, or the U.K. respectively.

Now, if you were to poll people from those areas and 1/3rd didn't know, I'd be equally disgusted as well.

Fair play, perhaps it wasn't the best of examples. I was refering to the whole 'war on terror' scenario, all of which are closely linked to 9/11. All have been major peace time attacks- surely you wouldn't forget that mind?