In his article, “Disaster and decentralization: American cities and the Cold War,” Matthew Farish points to reasons for suburbanization during the early 50’s and the growing fear of crowded cities. He mentions ” What made such scenarios [ nuclear attacks] so chilling to American readers was not necessarily the gruesome of the bomb’s victims… but rather the location of the destruction, in the middle of a crowded city.” Matthew argues that the American emigration out of cities was influenced much by scientific reasonings of the dangers living in a city brought with it. In the early 50’s, scientists and researchers developed a theory based on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, suggesting the vulnerability of condensed and “crowded” cities. The lavish bourgeoning way of life the city offered, was overdriven by the fear of “the location of the destruction,” fearing a big city such as New York or Washington would serve as a target. This quote portrays the state of paranoia amongst Americans at the time, emphasizing the location of the attack as most frightening. According to Matthew, this phobia was one of the driving forces of middle-class Americans to move to suburbia, and eventually promote decentralization.
The 9/11 attacks affected a unique aftermath in America. These attacks touched upon America’s greatest nightmare, an attack on American soil. 9/11 evoked a constant fear in Americans of the Other carrying out an attack. This paranoia is reminiscent of Cold War era, however, today, Americans have a vivid memory of an American icon, the Twin Towers, destroyed. Since 9/11, the American society is more tolerant for the usage of certain measures, some of which are very invasive to one’s life, in order to prevent similar attacks from happening. One might argue that these “precautions” have the flavor of Cold War strategies, and that is to enhance the feeling of safety amongst Americans, but lack efficiency. Whether one agrees with the capability of different techniques to prevent future attacks or not, it is clear that America will be forever changed after it has witnessed the vulnerability of New York, America’s iconic metropolitan.
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The Rhetoric of Containment 