I think it's less because of fear, and more because of hate and anger that drives people to act the way they do and the laws after 9/11. Yes, everyone claims the new laws are to "keep people safe", but they all seem to follow the same pattern of trying even harder to catch criminals, punish them more when we've caught them, and lower the standard of evidence necessary for conviction.
After all, most people in the USA don't live near high value targets, and I doubt most people are afraid of terrorism in their day to day lives (the occasional highly unusual occurrence being the exception).
The truth is terrorist have engulfed themselves in anger and hate, and as the saying goes, hate breeds hate. That's what is happening to the USA. People are too embarrassed to admit it. After all, the modern enlightened individual has grown past hatred, right? They leave such petty emotions behind, don't they?
So, no one wins. Not the terrorists, nor the people... well besides a few power hungry elitists who should be lined up against a wall and shot (just kidding), but I think you see my point.
It's just a instinctual lizard brain response to a instinctual lizard brain action. And the more we deny we hate, the more it controls us.
Frankly, I'm too lazy to find a citation, but IIRC (99% sure) revelations from Al Qaeda documents have included that they knew exactly what they were doing, and the plan was to strike fear and cause economic costs – they viewed it as a response to ever-decreasing availability of funds and a recognition they didn't have the backing of enough civilians or soldiers to do something as ambitious as found a nation.
ISIS' founding logic was Al Qaeda failed, and surely that was because it wasn't ambitious enough, and not pure enough. The solution was to rebase on fundamentalism and use the remnants of the Iraqi army to create a safe space for a caliphate to rule.
Of course, I'm offering absolutely nothing to back my assertions here, so it's fair to ignore this. :)
After all, most people in the USA don't live near high value targets, and I doubt most people are afraid of terrorism in their day to day lives (the occasional highly unusual occurrence being the exception).
This, "the terrorists won" meme is getting old, and I don't believe is true. If you read up on ISIS extremists, they believe their destiny is to take over the world, ex. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isi...
The truth is terrorist have engulfed themselves in anger and hate, and as the saying goes, hate breeds hate. That's what is happening to the USA. People are too embarrassed to admit it. After all, the modern enlightened individual has grown past hatred, right? They leave such petty emotions behind, don't they?
So, no one wins. Not the terrorists, nor the people... well besides a few power hungry elitists who should be lined up against a wall and shot (just kidding), but I think you see my point.
It's just a instinctual lizard brain response to a instinctual lizard brain action. And the more we deny we hate, the more it controls us.