Winning the Battle

First of all, I'd like to start by saying that I'd much rather be writing this blog about the Rally tomorrow. Unfortunately, that plan was spiked before it started, because I have a musical to play in at two in the afternoon Saturday. Curse playing a musical instrument. Anyway...

I have to say that, after the lengthy discussion on terrorism and security that we had, that I feel as though my initial view is still the one a favor most. I strongly feel that our disproportionate fear of terrorist attacks has a place, and furthermore will eventually find itself sitting in the fabric of our nation and occupying a more rational place in our minds and our policies. This more lucid reaction to terrorism simply has to be internalized by the American mindset and institutionalized firmly into the American system.

Here I will reiterate the argument that I posited in class. As I see it, people are irrationally and disproportionally worried about terrorist attacks for the same reasons that many people are irrationally and disproportionally worried about airplane accidents. Both type of tragedies summon up images of massive destruction and near-certain death; both indicate a complete lack of control by the victim over the chain of events during the tragedy; and both seem to be completely random occurrences that do not discriminate as to who it kills - neither cares if you have money or not, are black or white, etc. They cannot be reasoned with. Add in the fact that terrorism on home soil is a new worry for Americans, and remembering that all new things (electricity, automobiles, and, yes, airplanes) scare people to death, and it's easy to see why terror is so terrifying.

Now, just as it is generally understood that we cannot undertake a "war on airplane tragedies", we similarly cannot expect to win a war on terror in general. However, just as increases in airplane technology, airtraffic technology, and standardized tuneup systems reduce the chance of individual plane crashes, new measures and institutions will decrease the chance of individual terrorist attacks. As I said in class, I have no idea how many terrorist attacks have been thwarted due to new security measures that were effected after 9/11. However, if that number is greater than 0, then a great number of lives have already been saved. If the recently derailed attack on the Metro met its end in a post-9/11 program, then the worry we put into terrorism has done its job.

Some say that America worries too much, that by putting so much into the terrorism issue we are giving terrorists exactly what they want and that we are making America weak. I say nonsense - another massive attack on America would be a far greater signal of success for terrorists than many failed ones. You know the old saying "They won't pay to put up a stop sign until somebody gets killed"? The World Trade Center was that kid, and our new attention to detail and clamping down on security is the safety we needed before but are getting now. Putting thought, ink, sweat, and political muscle into terrorism defense may have given terrorists "legitimacy" - but it has also given America teeth.

As for the fear that strikes Americans about terrorism, even though you should statistically fear the family dog many times more: this will go away. Fear about terrorism is abundant and fantastic because it is legitimate to fear it and because it - and the institutions that deal with it - are relatively new. However, people have legitimate fear of murder, of drugs, of gangs, but not disproportionate ones; that's because the institutions that deal with those problems have been around for a long time. They are trusted, they (and the problems they solve) are relatively well-understood, and they are a part of America's landscape. I predict that as the years roll by, terrorism and the institutions that deal with it will also be internalized by America; and in this fashion, constructivism will mean that we as a people will become USED to this problem, and we will know that it can and will be dealt with on a case by case basis, just as murders are. In time, fear of terrorism will ratchet down from one of a supernatural pitch to a more decent level. Maybe to the level of a fear of airplanes.