I have not been hanging onto every announcement made about the mysterious Malaysian airplane that is missing. It isn’t that I don’t care. It is a problem of belief and experience with the media.
Most of the time when I read a headline and take the time to follow up with the article it turns out that the headline was an attention grabber with no facts to back it up. We have word for that: speculation. It is not news. I am not sure we will ever get the straight story because governments are not in the business of telling us what they know and journalists are after ratings more than informed listeners.
This plays into the hands of the terrorists. The point of terrorism is to change the behavior of the target culture. It isn’t about taking down a specific airplane or blowing up one car. It is about paralysis. If they can get us to focus on the sensational and generate fear, they win. If we stop traveling they win. If we allow the government to put more limitations on our freedom, they win. If they can ruin our commerce by these changes, they win.
So enjoy your news feed but go ahead and go out to dinner. Take that trip. Defy death by going shopping. Don’t give them the victory.
homo unius libri
And God help us.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace.