The World That Ended On 9/11

Let me tell you about the world 25 years ago this morning. In Scotland, I was 20. Newly disabled but still thinking my life would get back on track. My generation had grown to adulthood in one century and were forging forward in the next. By 2001, we’d seen the fall of Thatcherism. The first drugs to treat AIDS were making a huge difference. The Scottish Parliament had been reconvened for the first time in centuries and we were freeing ourselves from the Kirk. We watched the Berlin Wall fall, countries gain their independence. We saw the Good Friday Agreement signed, ending a war none of thought could be ended. We’d found out about the hole in the Ozone Layer and dealt with CFCs. We had taken lead out of petrol. Smog in major cities had been cleaned up. People had come together and fixed things so Y2K was not the disaster it could have been. The world had signed the Kyoto Protocols, and obviously were taking climate change as seriously as we had all those things. There was still…