Saturday, April 20, 2013

The right to bear pressure cookers

So the main import of the events this week in Boston is a demonstration that the US is not invulnerable to another terrorist attack. Of course it was never invulnerable, but a lot of people thought it was. A mythos had developed that US authorities have been able to keep the terrorists at bay. Surely nobody still believes that.

Does this change anything? Will Americans become more fearful? Will terrorists be emboldened? And in the end, why do a few people killed by terrorists matter so much more than the thousands killed in other sorts of American violence?

I don't want to sound unsympathetic. I'm an American by birth. I don't want to see anyone hurt, ever. But there are some bigger issues here than outrage at the actions of two young men.

2 comments:

kitt said...

As Justin Trudeau said.... need to find the root cause of this action

EdtheTed said...

I think "find the root cause" is both true and facile. In this case the "root cause" may be as much disillusionment about the American Dream and the promise of opportunity (to box, to excel) than too many drones in all the wrong places. Certainly the invasion of Iraq created a terrorist training ground.