Back around 2002 to 2003, it was common for people to debating the role of government in the national security area to say that “9/11 changes everything.” The idea was that the attacks of 9/11/01 had so substantially changed our sense of the terrorist threat — or at least should have — that it called for a new set of responses to traditional problems in the area of national security. Of course, this was a hotly contested idea: Some people believed that 9/11 changed everything, and others strongly disagreed. But it was a common phrase that was frequently invoked in debates over privacy and security.
I’m curious to know if VC readers agree or disagree with this statement today, almost 8 years after the 9/11 attacks. Here’s a reader poll on the question that asks if you agree or disagree, how strongly, and where you generally fall on the political spectrum.