London Bombings, Part 2

Another thought about this tragedy: The Metro's page 3 headline is: "World caught by surprise."

Um, pardon me for being obvious, but duh. We'll never be ready for a terrorist attack. Ever. We just aren't a race of beings capable of fully understanding or accepting acts of cruelty and slaughter. Yet we've somehow managed to engage in it, both actively and passively, or allow it to happen out of negligence and indifference.

Maybe we should all stop being surprised and start realizing these things are happening for a reason. Maybe we should stop saying "yeah, they bomb us because they hate our way of life and everything our free and happy and prosperous country represents," and start thinking about how we actually got to be free and happy and prosperous.

Maybe we should stop trying to pin the blame on liberals, or people who worship other gods, or people who "aren't patriots," or homosexuals, or coloured people, or people who don't think like us. Maybe we should look in the mirror and think really hard, beyond the last greasy hamburger meal we had, and ask ourselves, "Could I have done this?"

Well let me tell you something: No. You didn't do it. You didn't carry the bomb to the bus and push the detonator button. You didn't swear revenge on the ones who bulldozed your house, killing your elderly mother within. You weren't the one who bulldozed that house because it might have been a hive for terrorist cells. You didn't even throw any rocks at the soldiers who raped your 14-year-old sister.

You didn't shoot the 8-year-old boy dead in the street because you thought he was a teen with a gun. You didn't give the order to have tonnes of explosives dropped onto a tiny mud-hut village. You didn't send hundreds of sons and daughters to a war no one needed to fight. And you didn't draw up the plans to annex the oil sluicing under your enemy's country. After all, it's so deep underground that if you dug just a little deeper, you'd end up in Satan's bedroom.

You didn't do any of these things, and you probably will never have reason to.

But maybe you drive an SUV.
Or you don't recycle.
Or you decide it's okay to leave all the lights and appliances in the house on while you're gone because, heck, it's your money, your rent covers utilities, why should you have to turn out any lights? We'll never run out of energy! We're one of the world's richest countries! I belong here! I work hard to make money and feed my family and you can't take that away from me! Now bring me a double bacon cheeseburger and an extra large side of fries and turn up that air conditioner, will ya? I'm sweatin' like a pig here!




Sorry, I get a little angry sometimes and it all comes gushing out.