Discussion for article #247697
While sad to hear that some Americans were injured in this attack it’s an infinitesimally tiny part of the horror in Brussels and irrelevant right now…
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Well, maybe irrelevant is a little harsh, but I get your point.
That noise you hear is the Thoughts an Prayers machine ramping up…
Its sickening to hear when any innocent human beings are randomly caught up in a terrorist attack. Its psychological warfare. We all can imagine the horror of finding ourselves or loved ones in such a situation. However, the point made above, is how do we feel when the victims such attacks are not Americans but the other? All human beings have a tribal instinct – and while we can intellectually rise above that – its still an active force in our lives, in our hearts – and thus in our media coverage. Makes me wonder how we all feel differently when we hear about a bombing in Brussels or Paris – it feels closer to home because we share the same basic culture. And its even closer yet when American citizens are the victims. Its harder to compartmentalize that its over there now – just as it was after 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombings and San Bernardino – while its still an abstraction to hear of yet another bombing of civilians in Iraq or Syria-- places where most of us outside the military will never step foot. But many of us have or might have considered traveling to Europe or Israel. I can guarantee, we’d all reconsider if it felt unsafe to even take the subway or go out in public. This is how terrorism works – it creates a climate of fear in which we contract and cripple our own lives in response.
EDITED TO ADD: Curiously, the deaths of our soldiers barely register until it hits people we know – we do not as a nation get completely outraged – until we see the maimed. The dead just disappear from our radar.
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One of the proudest moments of my life was when I got a momo misshie to call me “an asshole”.
19 and 20 year old “elders”? Bite me.
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