I'd be remiss today if I didn't take a few minutes to formulate my thoughts on today's terrorist attacks in Paris.
When something like this happens, we all go through a variety of stages. First, there is the shock which occurs when we can't believe something like this would happen. Then, there is the grief. The realization that nearly 200 people lost a mother/father/son/daughter/aunt/uncle/friend/fiance. After that, there is the anger. Anger at the evil terrorists who would cause such a massive loss of life for some twisted, depraved reason. And lastly, there is acceptance. An acceptance of the fact that in the year 2015, we live in a world where terrorists can go into a crowded concert venue and kill over 120 people for reasons we'll never understand.
Being a news junkie, I often will drift to Twitter when big news like this hits. However, tonight I found myself shying away from the site, in truth because of the inevitable reactions I would see from people throughout the world. For every "We Are All Paris" sentiment out there, there exists an equal and ugly sentiment of "Kill All The Muslims" or "No More Immigrants." Unfortunately, as has become tradition, there are those less than desirable politicians who will use this incident to further their own political agenda. I won't get into those this evening, but let's just say they took hate speech to a whole 'nother level tonight.
In addition to ignoring Twitter, I've also ignored many news sites I typically rely on. I've done so for the simple reason that the mainstream media is terrible at covering news. Ironic, seeing as it is their only job. However, in today's 24/7 news cycle, the mainstream media knows it's in competition for ratings, especially on a day like today. Because of that, they will either jump to conclusions or report unfounded conclusions in order to be the first media outlet to "break" the story. Unfortunately, this can have unintended and dire consequences as we saw with the Boston Marathon bombing in April of 2013. After that happened, a Brown student named Sunil Tripathi was "identified" by Reddit users as a potential suspect in the bombing. Eight days later, Tripathi's body was found and the cause of death was determined to be a suicide.
The truth of the matter is people are mad, and rightfully so. However, a madness like the one produced tonight won't benefit anyone in the long run. We've all, myself included, said things in the heat of the moment we instantly regret. If we had just waited a few minutes, or even an hour, we would have had time to reflect and realize that we shouldn't have said what we said or we should have found another, more apt way to say it. That's how I feel about tonight. People are upset, but aren't thinking clearly. Unfortunately, what that means is that people in Paris, and throughout the globe, will inevitably target a person or persons who had nothing to do with the events of this evening but they will harass them for the sole reason that they either look like or practice the same religion as the terrorists who committed the atrocities this evening. They will be deemed guilty by association. In that way, hate will beget hate.
Personally, I've never been afraid to travel due to the threat of violence. I have a little bit of family history to thank for this. During my sophomore year of high school, my school was closed for three days straight due to bomb threats. While discussing this incident with my father, he told me how his father (my grandfather) had received bomb threats while he was a dean of the College of General Studies at Boston University and rather than caving to the threats, my grandfather simply kept the school open as an act of defiance. My own father inherited this mentality. In the spring of 2003, I was scheduled to go to Spain for a week with a group from my high school. The trip had been cancelled the previous year and there was some talk of doing it again this year. However, my father was vocal about the trip proceeding and fought to ensure that we were able to go on what ended up being my first solo trip abroad.
Those early experiences have shaped my views on terrorism. I firmly believe that the world is safer now than at any point in world history. However, we hear about incidents like the one today and we begin to question our safety. Yet the only reason we hear about terrorist attacks with such frequency is that we live in a 24/7 news cycle where violence, death, and destruction are the mainstays of any nightly news program for the sole reason that it draws people's attention. We don't hear about the tens of thousands of successful takeoffs and landings each day, but we hear about the one plane that goes down. We don't hear about the tens of thousands of successful automobile trips each day, but we here about the fatal accident on dark and unkempt roads. And, my favorite example: Cows kill five times more people than sharks, but I don't see anyone avoiding cow pastures for fear of an attack.
What that means is, the world is safe to see and to explore. Granted, I don't think I'll be taking a direct flight to Damascus anytime soon, but you get the idea. When I spent my semester abroad, I never once feared for my life. Sure, it helps to be a White male, but I also was smart and avoided any situations that may have put me in danger. I was never robbed or threatened or put in a position where I feared for my safety. I stayed in well-lit areas and I was proud to walk my female drinking buddy home each night we were out because that's what friends do. If you do all that, and look confident, even if you have no idea where you are and where you are going, then people generally leave you to your own devices.
The whole point of terrorism is to disrupt a person's way of life. That's what they do, they intentionally target high-volume areas: Malls, restaurants, train stations, office buildings, and now concert halls. The aim is psychological in that the immediate loss of life is always terrible, but the greater aim is to get people to think twice about doing something they would otherwise be doing without having a second thought. By not living your life as you would normally, you are letting the terrorists win, plain and simple. If you avoid a crowded place, or traveling to a city, or studying abroad because you're afraid then you've let the terrorists win. The best way to fight terrorism is not with bombs, or drones, or weapons but by engaging in psychological warfare. If you can show them that you are not intimidated by their actions, then you've already won by showing them you will not cave to their wants and desires. That is how the world needs to respond to this incident: By having every Parisian out and about tomorrow living their lives as they would any other day.
That would be the ultimate revenge against tonight's terrorist attack.
