A Brief History of the 21st Century: Part I

Having passed the halfway mark of this year, we’re now closer to 2050 than to 2000. How’s the century been so far? Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, we begin reviewing some of its key events.

Atlanta, GA

September 11, 2025

“We are continuing this policy of bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy”

- Osama bin Laden

In some ways it seems this century just started. In others it feels like the last one ended a lifetime ago. To more than 40% of the global population, it did.

About 3.4B people are under age 25. They never knew a world without the Internet or cell phones, “binge watching” or social media; where “text” wasn’t a verb, a garden hose supplied our sports drink, an electronic device wasn’t a permanent appendage, World Series games were played during the day, and arriving passengers could be met at the gate.

When asked in 1972 to assess the impact of the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai said it was “too soon to tell.” That attribution is probably apocryphal, but it makes a point.

The new millennium is still marinating. We’ll be gone long before it’s done. But while it simmers let’s step back from the stove, and review the stew from a disinterested distance.

One-Way Dead-End Street

It can be argued that when the century turned, America was at its apogee. The US was the world’s undisputed power. Public and private finances were deteriorating, but debt remained manageable.

Politicians were corrupt, but mostly coherent. The government butted into places it didn’t belong, yet at least pretended not to be at war with the world…or against us.

Americans generally got along, race was becoming an afterthought, things were relatively affordable, people found humor instead of taking offense, and politics hadn’t poisoned everything. We could laugh at each other… and at ourselves.

A quarter the way thru, the Twenty-First century is riding down a one-way dead-end street. As it weaves and careens, we pull it over, shine a light thru the window, and wonder what it has to say for itself.

It best be careful. Anything it utters can and will be used against it. There’s not much that won’t come across as more of a confession than a boast.

Like its predecessor, if this century were smart it’d take the Fifth. But it better do so quick, before that prerogative is ripped away. All the same, let’s put the last two and a half decades in the dock.

The Day Everything Changed

There was some debate about when the millennium started. Was it the first day of 2000, or of 2001? I’d argue it was neither.

Like most siblings, decades and eras have common characteristics but different birthdays. What we think of as “the 1930s” began on October 29, 1929, the ‘40s on December 7, 1941, the ‘60s on November 22, 1963, and the 1990s when the Wall came down.

As last century was launched when the Maine sank in Havana harbor, this one turned when the Twin Towers were toppled.

That was the day everything changed. The remnants of the U.S. Constitution went in the shredder, and the world we’d known was gone for good. That’s obvious in retrospect, but it was also clear at the time.

To anyone paying attention, the attacks were shocking, but not surprising. After decades of U.S. government mayhem in Muslim lands, a violent response was bound to occur.

Rather than be introspective and wonder what mischief could’ve provoked such malice, our “leaders” did what they always do: committed more of it. They doubled-down by stoking fear, intervening everywhere, and making everything worse.

Instead of blaming their own covert coups and military misadventures, government officials told us “the terrorists hated us for our freedom”. So to keep us safe, they stripped more of them away.

They invaded countries they’d already wanted to conquer, cracked down on the one they already ruled, and counterfeited trillions of new currency so we could pay for their “mistakes”.

This is precisely what Osama bin Laden wanted them to do. The 9/11 attacks were meant to provoke an overreaction, akin to how the bin Laden-funded Mujahideen (which a couple US administrations supported) made Afghanistan the Soviets’ “Vietnam”.

To quote veteran intelligence reporter James Bamford from Scott Horton’s indispensable book, Enough Already:

“[bin Laden’s partner] Ayman al-Zawahiri argued that al Qaeda should bring the war to the ‘distant enemy’ [to] provoke the Americans to strike back and ‘personally wage the battle against Muslims’. It was that battle that bin Laden and Zawahiri wanted to spark [with the 9/11 attacks]. As they made clear, … they believed the U.S. and Israel had been waging war against Muslims for decades. Now their hope was to draw Americans into a desert Vietnam.”

To borrow a phrase President Bush inadvertently made infamous: “Mission Accomplished!”

If anything, bin Laden got more than he could’ve wished. Since the Terror Wars started, Islamic radicals have proliferated, American puppet regimes have destabilized, Israel is ostracized, and U.S. debt has more doubled each decade.

The pre-packaged “Patriot” Act came off the shelf. This abomination gave the U.S. government the (unconstitutional) tools it needed to wage perpetual war. It would be fought on two fronts.

The Department of “Defense” would battle nebulous menaces abroad, and a creepy new Department of “Homeland Security” would tackle “terror” at home. The main target was the usual suspects:

Us.

Naturally, we’d be entitled to less liberty. Imbecilic “terror alerts”, color codes, asbestos scares, underwear bombs, deadly shoes, water bottle bans, and toothpaste confiscation frightened anxious Americans into forgoing their freedom.

Airports became giant screening depots, where identification became mandatory and passengers were groped or nuked to board a plane. Frisking, scanning, clear bags, and assorted acts of security kabuki also infested concerts, ballgames, and other popular events.

For Our Protection

As always when an “emergency” recedes, the State retained the illegal powers it grabbed based on fear it fomented. Despite early pockets of resistance (and welcome whistleblowers such as Ed Snowden), “terror” screening has evolved into ubiquitous surveillance Americans blithely accept.

The clamp-down was quick, and compliance coerced from the get-go... at home and abroad. Whoever resisted was suspected of supporting (or belonging on) a lengthening list of elusive “enemies.” As President Bush put it with typical nuance, “you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists. There’s no in between.”

He had no advice for anyone who couldn’t tell the difference.

This dopey dichotomy is a familiar tactic when degenerate empires try to consolidate control. Neutrality is an option they can’t abide. “Antagonist” or “ally” is fine. Bankers, weapons manufacturers, and other connected industries make money from both.

But neutrals don’t fuel the gravy train. That’s why they must pick a side. Either buy US weapons… or be bombed by them. The Empire can’t abide its global satraps trying to mind their own business.

Wanting to be left alone is frowned upon in the “homeland” too. For our protection (why else?), officials urged us to snitch on each other. If we saw something, we were supposed to say something. After all, can’t be too safe!

Throughout the century, this would be a recurring theme. Our rulers urged us to fear everything (especially each other), while doing what “authorities” said so they could protect us.

Naturally, freedom and privacy were intolerable threats. Like a driver ditching his weed when the cops give chase, the Fourth Amendment went out the window.

Americans’ bank accounts were scrutinized, transactions limited, identification digitized, communication monitored, travel tracked, and property confiscated.

To defeat “the terrorists”, the US government assumed all Americans were criminals. They may not be safe; but they’d certainly be secure.

More Cigarettes

Having escaped what remained of its leash and corralled its ostensible “owners”, the war machine was free to run wild.

After Americans were attacked by a pack of Shi’ite Saudi militants, the U.S. government did what we’d expect them to do: invaded countries other than the place the attackers were from… including one ruled by an enemy of the jihadists who struck the States.

For twenty years, that pattern has repeated. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Somalia, the U.S. government invaded, bombed, or overthrew regimes that posed no threat to any American state. In many cases, it funded every side of conflicts it helped create, fought groups it previously formed or supported, and often backed its avowed enemies… including al Qaeda and ISIS.

Since most Americans are unaware these wars are raging (and few complain when they find out), the ice cream cone keeps licking itself. Martial lawlessness has become second nature.

“Kill lists”, drone strikes, aerial attacks, proxy wars, missile launches, and the bombing of tiny boats off Venezuela are undertaken with the indifference of choosing the color of a Model-T.

The incumbent administration hardly matters. All of them kowtow to the military complex, bend a knee to the Israeli lobby, and fund several sides in these endless wars.

“Terror” is an ideal enemy… a tactic and emotion that can never be defeated, yet a great excuse to topple recalcitrant regimes. No one really knows what the word means (which is intentional), so the government instinctively applies the label to anyone it doesn’t like.

The “Terror Wars” were (and are) among the most catastrophic atrocities the U.S. government ever committed. The ramifications will roil the world for years to come. They cost trillions of dollars, created millions of corpses, unleashed hordes of refugees, and (most lucratively) fresh enemies for the regime to fight.

Those of us who’d warned that relentless bombing, invasions, meddling, and coups might provoke retaliation were ridiculed (or worse) for not advocating adequate “response” to this predictable attack.

It was like being criticized for not having a cure for cancer after spending years urging the patient not to smoke. To fight the tumor, tobacco companies’ only answer was to prescribe more cigarettes.

Predictable Phenomenon

As usually happens when governments make a mess, the people who cause the calamity are entrusted to craft a solution.

Rather than keep silent, cover their faces, and find a monastery to do penance, the culprits blame everyone else… then use their failure to justify more power for themselves.

And it works! Almost without fail, government gets more resources after catastrophes it creates, then makes new ones and lies about how they were caused.

The “War on Terror” was a glaring example of this predictable phenomenon. As we’ll see in upcoming installments, it wouldn’t be the last.

JD