Terrorism is a threat that plagues our world every day. People are constantly warning travelers to beware of the threats of other nations, but terrorism and violence do not exclusively happen in only a few countries. Unfortunately, violence can be found all around the world. In “Thinking Rationally About Terror,” Lawrence Krauss reports his own experience of dealing with the reality of terrorism in the San Bernardino shooting. I have had a similar experience to Krauss’s when I took an educational trip to France this summer. We were both shaken at the realization that there are people in the world who aim to hurt others, but at the same time we cannot let the radicals achieve their goal of scaring the world.
My French teacher from freshmen year,
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I was amazed at how much knowledge she had accumulated because of her travels, so I thought it would be valuable to accompany her on her biannual trip to France. My parents were afraid to let me travel to a foreign country because of all of the recent issues with safety, but according to Krauss, statistically, they should have had nothing to worry about. I originally believed this too, but I now know that this was not the case because while I was in France, there was a terrorist attack in Nice. After leaving the city of Nice only two days earlier, I was fearful for my safety, just as Krauss was frightened by the shooting in California which he described in his essay. Even though we were both at a safe distance, the situation was still frightening. We did not know if there would be more violence to follow in other cities, such as the city we were staying in, or my next destination, Paris. My parents’ initial cautions had been proven correct. Although I was not physically affected by the attack, like Krauss, I was emotional about the close call. Luckily, there were not any other …show more content…
I wonder how effective the state of emergency was because of the fact that they had an increased national police presence, yet another attack occurred. The police were not at all prepared to detect or stop someone who was driving a truck through Nice and purposely ran people over in the street. The government had given a false sense of security with the increased police presence. Krauss explores this topic and the effectiveness of the laws against violence that are created by the United States government. He informs the audience that the real problem is shootings that are not considered “terrorism.” I do not necessarily agree because I think any form of violence should be taken care of, but I do not think that the actions by government are making a difference. Politicians, the media, and the terrorists themselves use the violence that occurs in the world for their own personal gain. The politicians and media should be spreading truthful information to make the world a better place, not use it for their own power. When I was in France, the news channels began to speculate that the attack in Nice was terrorism when they did not even know any details about it yet. This tactic happens all the time with news channels trying to get more viewers and have more dramatic stories. A logical reason not to let other people control your
Despite Hasselstrom’s personal characteristics of being a peace-loving, caring woman, the distance that she lived from town, being alone, and a series of unfortunate dangerous situations caused her to feel the need to protect herself. She states in the ar...
Many people say that because no one knew 9/11 was going to happen there’s not much that could have been done to help prevent the attacks. Many others agree that the attacks that took thousands of lives were As the 19 hijackers made their way through the three East coast airports, on September 11, 2001, planning on executing the world’s worst terrorist attack in history, they test the U.S airport security. At almost every step along the way, airport security posed no challenge to the 19 terrorist hijackers. Not to their ability to purchase tickets, to pass security checkpoints while carrying knives, and other objects that be used as weapons on them. Not one step of airport security posed as a challenge or threat to the terrorist.
The reason I picked this book is because I have always been curious about terrorism. Truthfully, I really didn’t expect the book to take the stance it did, which focused mainly on the religious implications of what influences people to commits acts of terror. I liked the fact that the book takes new angles in approaching the search for truth, by focusing on case studies and performing interviews with the people who have committed terrorist acts. This is like getting the insiders view of the inner workings and frame of mind people have before, during, and after they have unswervingly performed the acts of violence.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
Presidents and other people of high power have the ability to do many things that some may disagree with and walk away with very minimal consequences. In the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore, shows how George W. Bush manipulates his power to fool the American people and enter into an unnecessary war. “There are some who feel like that if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don 't understand what they are talking about if that 's the case... There are some who feel… that they can attack us there. My answer is bring 'em on.” Bush creates a sense of fear among the American people that the nation is under attack, but is very patriotic and confident to the point that Americans will trust him. Moore shows that the war is pointless and invading Iraq does not make sense. In the film, Moore goes around D.C. and asks senators and other officials of congress to sign their child up for the war and none of them signed the forms. That clearly shows that members of the government do not support and want their children in a
In the 12 years since the terrorist attacks on the world trade towers in New York city, thousands of hours of research and interviews has been conducted, scores of books have been written, and countless documentaries and films have been produced in an effort to help us understand how and why terrorists were able to carry out the massacre of nearly 3500 people. Despite the plethora of religious and nonreligious beliefs represented by the friends and family of those who died, one universal belief binds them all: the belief that an unspeakable act of cruelty has changed our nation and our people for all time. The name ascribed to this act of terrorism is debated widely. Some call it evil. Others call it nothing more than supreme cruelty.
In June of 2016, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States happens at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In the aftermath of Sunday morning when covering the shooting, News 13 a local news channel from Orlando used pathos in their news to create fear about terrorism to the audience. On the other hand, The New York Times used eyewitness videos and expert interviews to appeal logic.
Terror management theory (TMT) asserts that human beings have natural tendency for self-preservation if there is threat to one’s well–being (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). It notes that we are the cultural animals that pose self-awareness on the concept of past and future, as well as the understanding that one day we will die. We concern about our life and death but aware that it is unexpected by everything. The worse matter is that we become aware of our vulnerability and helplessness when facing death-related thoughts and ultimate demise (Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1992). The inevitable death awareness or mortality salience provides a ground for experiencing the existential terror, which is the overwhelming concern of people’s mortality and existence. In order to avoid the continued existence of threats, people need faith in a relatively affirmative and plausive cultural worldview and meaning of life (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1995). Cultural worldview is a perceptual construction in the society which explaining the origins of life and the existence of afterlife. We have to invest a set of cultural worldviews by ourselves that are able to provide meaning, stability and order to our lives and to offer the promise of death transcendence (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2004). On the other hand, we hold a belief that one is living up to the standards of value prescribed by that worldview and social norm shared by a group of people. This belief is derived by self-esteem of individual. We maintain the perception and confident that we are fulfilling the cultural prescriptions for value in the society and are thus eligible for some form of personal immortality (Landau & Greenberg, 2006). We Together with the assump...
Michael Walzer is an esteemed retired professor from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Walzer has written many books, essays, and articles. His essay, Excusing Terror, is one that best relates to the current events happening around the world. In this essay, Walzer talks about different reasons that people would want to resort to terrorism. In this essay I will argue Walzers view on Terrorism is correct in that terrorism is wrong because it is akin to murder, it is random in who it targets, and no one has immunity. I will also offer an objection to Walzer’s theory and explain why it is not a valid one.
The third section of the story returns the reader to the calm security, but then quickly sends the tone of the story into a frenzy. These constant tone changes show the reader how strong and resourceful the woman is, but it also shows us how she can be thrown into a panic easily. We come to have little confidence in the main character's ability to react well if a dangerous situation arises.
The threat of global terrorism continues to rise with the total number of deaths reaching 32,685 in 2015, which is an 80 percent increase from 2014 (Global Index). With this said, terrorism remains a growing, and violent phenomenon that has dominated global debates. However, ‘terrorism’ remains a highly contested term; there is no global agreement on exactly what constitutes a terror act. An even more contested concept is whether to broaden the scope of terrorism to include non-state and state actors.
Many may agree with the old saying that “beauty is only skin deep,” but does beauty come in a particular shade of color? This question is very debatable for many, but the fact of the matter is that human beings are born in array of skin tones. These differences in skin tone are used to categorize people into different ethnic groups. Lopez proposes that“ethnic identity is a type of group identity that is related to a better outcome because it provides a sense of belonging or cultural embeddedness.”(p.102) Dr. Ronald Hall (2006) suggests that in America minorities or people of color are called black in relative terms to the majority who are of European descent i.e. white. Some studies have discovered that a more “ethnic appearance” is usually assessed by a darker skin color i.e, black and is associated with a worse outcome in life (Lopez, 2008) In contrast, beauty, wealth and overall appeal are associated with physiological proximity to the white power structure i.e., light skin. (Hall, 2006) It appears as though desirable skin complexions are culturally relative.
The political views and opinions that Doris Lessing's character accumulate in The Good Terrorist are most likely fueled by Lessing's real life experiences with communist parties and her unsatisfying life in the suburbs in Rho...
Terrorism Definition: Shedding tears at the rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania 9/11 memorial while listening to the heart wrenching air phone calls from heroic passengers on Flight 93 to the answering machines of their loved ones, not only provides a deep emotional understanding of the tragedy of terrorism, but also provides renewed appreciation of the importance of international cooperation required to combat terrorism. Fundamental to creating and sustaining an international coalition to fight terrorism is an understanding of what constitutes terrorism (Ganor, 2002). The United Nations and other international organizations have struggled to develop an accepted definition of the term “terrorism” because one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter (Ganor, 2002).
The need to defend nation from terrorist attacks is a daily struggle. We have improved our security in airports, public and government building, sporting events and venues were large crowds are present. We have put protective measures in our theaters, schools, and places of worship. It doesn’t seem to be enough to add security personnel, metal detectors and body scanners. Terrorists still find ways to get passed the toughest security measures in place and cause mass casualties and destruction worldwide.