It’s hard to watch the news without feeling hopeless. Before Jon Stewart left the helm, I was a regular viewer of The Daily Show. Sometimes I would let several accrue on my DVR and sit down for a binge watch, but I’d only get through two or three episodes before feeling really sad about the state of things. A lot is going wrong of late.

This is never truer than in the aftermath of something terrible like the terrorist attacks in Paris and Baghdad last Friday and in Beirut on Thursday. A phenomenon occurs when something like this hits the news. It’s true when there are school and community shootings domestically, but something officiated by an organized group of terrorists really cuts to the core of people’s fear.

And that phenomenon is that people respond by not feeling safe anywhere.

“You’re going to the Santa Monica Pier this weekend? That’s a pretty significant landmark – what if it’s attacked?”

“The Staples Center doesn’t feel like a very safe place to be.”

“Are you sure you want to put yourself in the position of being at the Hollywood Bowl? It’s a lot of people in one place – kind of a prime target for terrorism.”

 

The Impact of Terrorist Acts

Fear is a really natural response to these sorts of horrifying stories. The thing about these acts is that they’re random and unpredictable, and feeling fear in response to things that are terrifying means your emotions are responding the way that they’re supposed to. What terrorism does is exploit that natural response.

Yesterday I posted a blog article about the problem with always worrying about what could happen. Although it went up a few days after the shootings in Paris, Baghdad, and Beirut, I actually wrote it on Wednesday – two days before these headlines broke. And what that means is that although this is a problem that’s reignited by the devastating news of those attacks, it’s not a new problem.

I think when most people think of the word “terrorism,” they would define it as the act of killing or torturing a lot of people, but that’s not quite accurate. The suffix “–ism”, according to Merriam-Webster, means the act, practice, or process of doing something. So in short, terrorism is the act, practice, or process of spreading terror, or extreme fear. What this means is that the end goal of these shootings, domestic and abroad, isn’t death – it’s systemic fear.

So when we respond to these instances by posting a police presence at public gatherings, it makes us feel safe – sort of. But it also reminds us that we should feel afraid.

And when we stay home instead of venturing out and living our lives, we’re responding to our terror.

And that’s exactly the aim of these sorts of horrible acts.

Yes, it’s possible that someone could bomb the Hollywood Bowl. Yes, if you’re there and that happens, that could be how you die. But if you worry about that every single day, and you die in a bomb at the Hollywood Bowl when you’re 75 years old, you will have spent 74 years living in fear.

I’m not saying don’t take precautions. If there’s a bomb threat, don’t go to the place where it’s issued. If a fire alarm goes off, walk down the stairs immediately instead of hanging around to gather more information. Don’t walk down dark alleys at night by yourself. Don’t get into an elevator with someone who makes you feel nervous. Have supplies on hand in case of an emergency. In short, trust your gut and be sensible.

But live your life.

 

 

Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to address systemic fear that often follows a terrorist attack. I in no way intend to minimize the recent tragedies in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad, or the less recent horrors of the London subway bombing, September 11th, and other terrorist actions.

Featured photo courtesy of Gadjo_Niglo – CC 2.0