Fear Every Thing

So I was going through Facebook and stumbled upon this little gem written in the wake of the Virgina-Tech massacre:

I have spent the past two days just reading, re-reading, watching the videos, and listening about the tragedy. But it’s not enough. I still feel so much confusion, frustration, anger, hurt, and grief. Where’s the catharsis?? I have so many questions still and the answers just aren’t available. I have this overwhelming ache to know: Why did this happen? Is it possible it will happen again? Why are some people so troubled and is there ANYTHING that I can do?? What if it had happened here? Does everyone know that I LOVE them?? I can’t help but cry just thinking about it. But thinking is ALL I can do!

9-11 didn’t hit me this hard. Maybe because I was so much younger. Maybe because of the blatant brutality of these shootings. Maybe because I fit the profile of the victims, and so do you. Maybe because now it seems so much closer, all the more personal. All I know is that now I’m feeling the vulnerability of someone just “going about their day”…but waiting for the ax to fall. Where next? When will it end? This is such a scary time…Please pray, folks.

I think this has struck a nerve in me that’s been festering since Thailand.

There’s a distinct reason why I only met one American girl in more than a month of traveling in Asia — compared to the hordes of European girls — and I’ll tell you why here.

Fear rules this country’s population. And it absolutely rules the lives of girls in the 18-30 age demographic in a horrifying way I’m only beginning to understand. The celebrated “girl power” mentality the media portrays is a sham. When you consider that its been more than 8 years since Columbine (without any repeat performances on a similar scale), the language used in this girl’s post is very revealing.

“Waiting for the axe to fall” or “Where next?” “This is such a scary time.”

Another example — the girl who cut my hair the other day vented to me about how scared she was picking out an apartment since last year 3 girls were killed and their murders never solved.

This in a city of close to 700,000 with another 3 million people living less than three hours away.

Even more amazing is that in geographical relation to the American Midwest, where the quoted writer hails from, the VT massacre took place more than 1,400 miles away. If you go, oh say, 5,000 miles away you’ll encounter a country called Iraq where students can’t go to class because of our country’s actions. You’ll also find a lot of American college kids called “General Infantry” who are choosing to serve their country to pay for their education without going into debt. According to icasualties.org, we’ve lost 226 people of the same age group as died in the last 76 days alone.

However, there is no mass outpouring of sympathy in support of their lost lives and family. No special events on campuses across the nation to mourn these lost friends. And certainly, no fears that an IED will cut short our lives on the way to work or school.

American girls are unable to coupe with the fact that in life bad things happen no matter how many safeguards are in place along with selectively choosing (hypocritically so) on who and what to sympathize with. Despite how stable our country is, despite how much better we have it than the rest of world.

Fear without perspective.

After all, if random violence could happen to someone you never even knew on the other side of the country, it probably will happen to you!

I can’t help but wonder; what happened to that indomitable spirit that propelled our grandmothers across the wild west? What became of the endurance and grit that sustained American women through the Great Depression? Where did the ambition and drive that helped win two world wars on the home front go less than two generations later?

Our lives are not so difficult in comparison to our ancestors. Have we really come that soft and so adversed to taking a risk?

I hope living their lives in fear works out for them.

As for me, I’m going to go research investing in pharmaceutical companies that specialize in the production of anti-depressants.

Yeah, that’s the ticket!

April 18th, 2007 in Commentary, Journal |