Walmart Charging For Plastic Bags, Delta Increasing Price Of Checked Bags, Sarah Palin On Fox, The 2010 Auto Show; I Have Bigger Worries About Terrorist Attacks
I awoke this morning and for the first time I was worried. Was it a nightmare? Was I dreaming? Was I nuts? Was I paranoid? The critical question in my waking moment s was, “How safe are we in America? How safe are you where you are. How safe are we when we fly, shop at the mall, attend ball games or walk in the park? I know that the president is saying that Americans will live their lives and not be intimidated by radical acts of violence perpetrated by fundamentalists. Are they fundamentalist or people doing their business a smarter way? What is deplorable to us is adorable for them. We have to reframe and rethink the way forward in order to keep innocent people, safer. There was a time when the very people who are now governing South Africa were branded terrorists. They achieved their goal. Many people in South Africa are still bitter. Acts of terror have been replaced by organized crime. Go figure.
I once was taught the difference between goal directed behavior and goal behavior. It basically means that when I am hungry nothing will stop me from satisfying my hunger. Once my hunger has abated, some sort of balance returns to my life. Do not pick a fight with a person who is desperate because there is no guarantee what that person will do when trapped in a corner. If they have nothing to lose, what can they lose?
Why have the radicals developed an appetite and hunger for the destruction of America. They will not stop. Can their hunger be satisfied? A billion times, no! What then is the alternative? Is it something that America has or is it something that they do not have? Is it America, is it the West or is this a group of smart business people going about their daily business?
We left South Africa in 2001 because we wanted to get away from the gun powder control of our lives. We were tired of driving through gunpowder lit neighborhoods. My children were not even scared of gunpowder anymore because they thought that it was just firecrackers going off. As long as we could hear the sounds and not see the carnage, we were okay because what the eye does not see the heart does not grieve for, my late mom used to say. We left South Africa where we used to sit in restaurants expecting the unexpected, anytime. We lost friends in the St. James Church massacre perpetrated by the Azanian Peoples Liberation Army in 1993. The attackers were granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. My own daughter was the victim in a car hijacking ordeal in 2001.
The Christmas Day airline bomb explanation by President Obama underlines the fact that US intelligence is not intelligent enough, yet, for the radical agenda of the terrorists. The terrorists have a new supply chain of suicide attackers who stand ready to answer the call of duty. These are not stupid people. They are educated. They have no past record of violence, crime or terrorist activity. They come from connected, respectable families. They are religious. They are successful in business and in practicing their profession. They are young. They are risk takers. They are educated. They are willing to trade all that they have for their ultimate pearl of great price. They too are human. They are civilians. They have family. They are smart. These are all values that we hold. What makes them different? Go figure.
I remember the Scottish Social Worker who worked in the program that I directed. She was newlywed when she came to me one morning after a traumatic event and cried. She said how can I trust my husband? How do I know that he is not a terrorist? How do I know he will not kill me? How will I know that he is not killing other people? I could only comfort her with a hug but had no answer because I do not know my neighbors, their activities, their political agendas or their alliances. I do not know who I can trust. An elementary school student walks into school with a gun. A sports star hides a gun in his locker. A gunman goes on the rampage in court, in a mall, in a church, in a park, on a plane, and on an army base. Women are now suicide bombers.
While we are debating who invented gunpowder and while Walmart is charging for plastic bags, Delta is increasing the price of checked bags, Sarah Palin will be on Fox and the 2010 Auto Show continues, I have bigger worries about terrorist attacks.
We cannot undo the invention of gun powder but we can redefine or re-conceptualize what to do with the human spirit that utilizes gunpowder in order to operationalize a political or business agenda. One thing for sure is to stop judging them for the evil they scheme and the carnage they sow; learn from them, match them, outsmart them. Vigilance is a village effort. One person on his or her own cannot make America safe. We have to work together not just to combat terrorism but work together, period!
On another level, we have to refrain from exploiting others because it is becoming a frenzy to utilize gun powder just for the heck of it. On yet another level, we have to eradicate poverty. It is common knowledge that 10% of the population controls 90% of its wealth. Education is no longer enough. Employment does not guarantee safety. We have to create a world that is meaningful for all. Be patient. Be tolerant; but take a stand because the adage holds that if we stand for nothing; nothing will stand.
