From 9/11 to the Iraq War and a small recession, it seems like the 2001-2003 was a dark time. Maybe it's just my perception because it was kind of a dark time in my personal life. I know on here people tend to remember the good of that period.

From 9/11 to the Iraq War and a small recession, it seems like the 2001-2003 was a dark time. Maybe it's just my perception because it was kind of a dark time in my personal life. I know on here people tend to remember the good of that period.


From a personal perspective I was in elementary school and I enjoyed the early 2000’s a lot mainly because I was too young to understand the political side of things and as a little kid I didn’t care as much. I was too busy playing outside, going to amusement/water parks with my cousins, watching cartoons and eating glucose filled snacks haha. Politics were “adult issues” that I didn’t have to worry about nor feel responsible for.

Politically I can see how someone older would be affected by this time in a negative way. They were becoming/ were more conscious of the world around them, especially if you were a preteen/teen during this time. This would have been a very formative era in your life so witnessing the way our world worked especially with something as detrimental and tragic as 9/11 and the wars going on would’ve definitely shifted your perspective of the world and possibly ended the innocence you once remembered growing up in the US.

I was in my early 20s listening to club music, going to music stores, styling/and coloring my hair all sorts of colors. In 2001 I had my very first GOOD paying job as the florist at Shaw's. I loved working there. Culturally, 2001 was the darkest year.

During that time, I loved club music, early 2000's Dance music. Here's one I remember listening to:

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Maybe this is odd, but I've always looked back on the early 2000s (post Y2K, so 2002 to mid decade, however you want to define the start of the mid 2000s) as a bright and generally good period despite 9/11, and the late 2000s as dark (2008 onward, and maybe even beginning in 2007). I've also always looked back at the early 90s as a brighter period than the late 90s.

For the 90s, I think it's that the early 90s felt more genuine to me and the later 90s started to become more shallow. As to the 2000s, I think the early 2000s were pretty calm in the US despite the Iraq War and all the politics around it. The late 2000s is when people were getting a lot more fed up with politics, society, the economy etc. and culture underwent a big shift (rock music practically died).

The Y2K era I remember as rather dark culturally, what with nu metal, rave culture and ecstasy, but not dark in a bad way, just more of a dark aesthetic.

I think it was very bright before 9//11 at least.

I think it was very bright before 9//11 at least.


Yes it was, but I consider that period as still the Y2K era, while for the sake of this thread the early 2000's dark period was From 9/11/01 to 2003. 2004 still had some of pop cultural styles and trends from this period, but the vibe felt happier at it seemed to return to normal for the first time since 9/11. Either that or we were just used to the new normal. It's funny talking about that from the 2020 perspective, as that departure from normal was nothing compared to now.

I feel like I can't tell if the early 2000s were completely dark because I was very little during that time period. I could only remember glimpses of 2002 and 2003 and even then, I never really saw people as much being paranoid as much, let alone my parents after 9/11. They were somewhat worried about the economy, but it didn't necessarily affect them, not even after the Great Recession. I keep having obsessive thoughts over 9/11 since 2018 and it's mostly because I don't get of how I was so happy as a child during the 2000s when I could have been aware over stuff that has happened in the news. I did know about Obama's election, but not precisely why he won in the first place.

I always thought the 2000s were somewhat happier than the 2010s because of this, but now I feel like it's the total opposite. It just skews my mind in many ways and I just wish I have answers. I don't want to feel insecure over this for the rest of my life.

Its even darker now :(

I feel like I can't tell if the early 2000s were completely dark because I was very little during that time period. I could only remember glimpses of 2002 and 2003 and even then, I never really saw people as much being paranoid as much, let alone my parents after 9/11. They were somewhat worried about the economy, but it didn't necessarily affect them, not even after the Great Recession. I keep having obsessive thoughts over 9/11 since 2018 and it's mostly because I don't get of how I was so happy as a child during the 2000s when I could have been aware over stuff that has happened in the news. I did know about Obama's election, but not precisely why he won in the first place.

I always thought the 2000s were somewhat happier than the 2010s because of this, but now I feel like it's the total opposite. It just skews my mind in many ways and I just wish I have answers. I don't want to feel insecure over this for the rest of my life.


I also wasn’t  surrounded by much 9/11 paranoia being on the west coast. I didn’t feel a shift from happy to dark times because 9/11 didn’t personally affect me as much as I was a little kid enjoying my childhood not paying attention to politics. I remember it but  I was too young to really be emotionally impacted by it. Plus my parents sheltered me from a lot of it. I remember initially people on my end were more shocked.  Most people I was surrounded by still continued to live life normally but one thing I really remember was that our nation had a sense of unity that I have not seen since the early 2000’s. US flags were everywhere. I do think  people seem to think 9/11 changed the world but it mostly changed the US and the middle east more than anything. I feel like the people who over exaggerate its impact on the ENTIRE world are those who were sheltered 80’s/90’s kids waking up to the reality of what the US has done to other countries and are coming from a very US centric perspective.

I always associated the darkness of the 2000’s with the late 2000’s and the recession.  That was a GLOBAL cluster f**k. A lot of music stores, toy stores, movie stores, etc. went bankrupt and it seemed like the US was losing a lot of creativity in the late 2000’s. This is just my opinion not factual.

Politically, yes!

For my personal life, it was kinda fun. Compared to the Covid-19, race protests, stock market downturn, and Trump, 2000 to 2003 seems bright and bubbly in comparison! Honestly, 1988 to 2004 was fun for me. By 2005, I was now 16 and deep in adolescence, so all the kiddiesh energy in me died out from then.

I was a kid then but I could tell all the adults around me were on edge–probably from having to deal with me! :D (just kidding, I was relatively well-behaved).

In 2003 everyone in Canada was afraid we were headed for war. When I was in Grade 5 my teacher made us kids watch George Bush's speech on WMDs while my teacher heckled "lies, lies, lies!". I could barely pay stay awake. When Jean Chrétien, our Prime Minister at the time, announced that Canada would not be going to war we will filled with relief. I think 10 year old me literally thought there would be bombs falling from the sky, and that we averted a disaster.

In 2001 after 9/11 a Hindu temple in my city also got arsoned. 8 year old me thought it was an American who did it, and I was scared Canada and the US would go to war. :P

I was a kid then but I could tell all the adults around me were on edge–probably from having to deal with me! :D (just kidding, I was relatively well-behaved).

In 2003 everyone in Canada was afraid we were headed for war. When I was in Grade 5 my teacher made us kids watch George Bush's speech on WMDs while my teacher heckled "lies, lies, lies!". I could barely pay stay awake. When Jean Chrétien, our Prime Minister at the time, announced that Canada would not be going to war we will filled with relief. I think 10 year old me literally thought there would be bombs falling from the sky, and that we averted a disaster.

In 2001 after 9/11 a Hindu temple in my city also got arsoned. 8 year old me thought it was an American who did it, and I was scared Canada and the US would go to war. :P


You lived in Hamilton? That sounds interesting. I've been there once and it looked pretty run down compared to Toronto. Which already looks kind of rundown in many places that aren't suburbs. The people seemed more social than Toronto, as in their eyes weren't glued to their smartphone screens, and I had more conversations, despite the pandemic, but it still felt kind of empty because there weren't as many people on the streets, even during the day time hours. This was near the GO station, I'm assuming Stoney Creek is different.

I was a kid then but I could tell all the adults around me were on edge–probably from having to deal with me! :D (just kidding, I was relatively well-behaved).

In 2003 everyone in Canada was afraid we were headed for war. When I was in Grade 5 my teacher made us kids watch George Bush's speech on WMDs while my teacher heckled "lies, lies, lies!". I could barely pay stay awake. When Jean Chrétien, our Prime Minister at the time, announced that Canada would not be going to war we will filled with relief. I think 10 year old me literally thought there would be bombs falling from the sky, and that we averted a disaster.

In 2001 after 9/11 a Hindu temple in my city also got arsoned. 8 year old me thought it was an American who did it, and I was scared Canada and the US would go to war. :P

Where were you. I lived between Mississauga and Brampton and nobody was fearful of any bombs or attacks. Especially after Chrétien averted Canada's involvement in Iraq.

You lived in Hamilton? That sounds interesting. I've been there once and it looked pretty run down compared to Toronto. Which already looks kind of rundown in many places that aren't suburbs. The people seemed more social than Toronto, as in their eyes weren't glued to their smartphone screens, and I had more conversations, despite the pandemic, but it still felt kind of empty because there weren't as many people on the streets, even during the day time hours. This was near the GO station, I'm assuming Stoney Creek is different.


How did you figure I lived in Hamilton? Was it the Hindu temple story?  :-X

Hamilton is a lot poorer compared to Toronto. It's a proper rust belt city, it took a while to recover from steel production and other manufacturing moving to China. Although even before that happened I don't remember it being that prosperous.

Torontonians only see the rough side of Hamilton, the industrial plants while driving to Niagara Falls and downtown where the buildings are really old and rundown, as you said. Downtown has its charms but the Mountain/Niagara Escarpment (where I grew up), Ancaster, Flamborough and the surrounding areas are beautiful. Next time you're headed towards Hamilton or Niagara I recommend going down Highway 403, it's one of the most scenic drives in Ontario!

https://i.imgur.com//qmJI4UR.jpg

And yes, Hamiltonians are a lot friendlier and talkative than Torontonians. It's because it's a smaller city, people are laid back and not too busy like people in Toronto. Pre-pandemic I went back to Hamilton every 2 or 3 weeks to get away from the hustle and bustle of Toronto, it can get pretty stressful!

Where were you. I lived between Mississauga and Brampton and nobody was fearful of any bombs or attacks. Especially after Chrétien averted Canada's involvement in Iraq.


The bombs were just my overactive imagination, lol. People were indeed scared of getting involved in Iraq though, and the period after 9/11 was tense. There was a half that became America-worshipping, started waving their flags and wanted to go to war with them, and another half who thought 9/11 was an inside job and America was evil.

A lot of the "Rock Against Bush" bands were Canadian. It was the music of my childhood, as sad as that sounds. ;D

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I thought the early 2000s were a pretty upbeat time. 9/11 happened but we bounced back relatively quickly. With a surge of patriotism and togetherness unlike anything I remember seeing before, it didn’t matter what party you were. I really enjoyed the music of 2003. After that I don’t remember much music wise, it seemed to be darker and mostly the same. I didn’t have current TV at any time in the 2000s.

I thought the early 2000s were a pretty upbeat time. 9/11 happened but we bounced back relatively quickly. With a surge of patriotism and togetherness unlike anything I remember seeing before, it didn’t matter what party you were. I really enjoyed the music of 2003. After that I don’t remember much music wise, it seemed to be darker and mostly the same. I didn’t have current TV at any time in the 2000s.


I agree with this. Music was really good during that time.

From 9/11 to the Iraq War and a small recession, it seems like the 2001-2003 was a dark time. Maybe it's just my perception because it was kind of a dark time in my personal life. I know on here people tend to remember the good of that period.


We have distanced ourselves enough from the 2000s that people now view it with rose tinted glasses now

I remember hearing about how the world changed for the worse because of 9/11 and now people on this forum are overlooking it like it was nothing

All the xenophobia that came out of 9/11 that was targeted at Muslims seems to be pretty forgotten or ignored on this forum during that time period.