This article needs to be read in full for complete understanding, especially since there are several graphs.
Americans Sense a "New Normal" After 9/11
Most say U.S., their lives, still not back to normal
by Lydia Saad
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' current perceptions of the effect the 9/11 attacks have had on the United States and on themselves, personally, are similar to what these perceptions were on the first anniversary of the attacks. Even four years after the attacks, an Aug. 28-30 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds most Americans feeling that neither the country nor their own lives have fully returned to normal since terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
While these evaluations haven't changed since 2002, Americans appear a bit more pessimistic now than they were then about the likelihood that normalcy will ever be fully restored to the country or to their own lives. Nearly two-thirds now say the country will never completely return to normal, while close to half say the same for themselves.
Evaluations of Current Conditions Since 9/11
When asked to evaluate how the country is faring since 9/11, a slim majority of Americans (54%) say the United States is not back to normal, while 42% believe it is "somewhat" back to normal. Thus, 96% of Americans perceive that the country remains changed by the event. Only a scant few (4%) say things are "completely back to normal." These attitudes -- collected before the full scale of the Hurricane Katrina disaster was known -- are virtually identical to previous measures in 2002 and 2003.
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