Mad at the world, with nothing to lose

Re I may never understand a suicide bomber’s motives, Hepburn, May 25 Normal people have difficulty understanding extreme stupidity, like suicide bombing. But I have to admit, I understand suicide bombers a little bit. I understand that much anger at the world and the desire to go out in a blaze of glory.

I can remember my youth, drowning in student debt, unable to afford a family, living near Parliament Hell and thinking about jumping from the top of the Peace Tower, with a note in my pocket explaining why I was so angry at “Them,” whoever they were.

Times have changed and life is better but I remember one thing from these hard times. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. There are lots of people in the world who have nothing: no food, no family, no love, no home, no job, no democracy, no hope, no nothing. These Nowhere People are victims of a failed social system.

It’s a sad world out there and I’m still angry at rich people who think they own the world, while mismanaging it for profit — people like Trump, who have all the money and no heart.

On a more positive note, I don’t feel suicidal anymore. I’m too busy being happy. So my world is getting better.

But half the world still lives in hell. I only wish we could manage the planet better, before someone explodes a bomb in our neigh- bourhood. The mad bomber won’t be my friend but I might understand him. Max Moore, Toronto

I absolutely agree with Hepburn’s confusion about why young men of Arab descent are blowing up themselves and killing innocents in the West, where they enjoy opportunities and freedoms that perhaps are not available to them in their homelands.

However, my canvas covers the entire humanity. I do not understand the rationale of many things that the West has been doing as a matter of policy. It is most unfortunate that the common man is paying the price around the world for the policies pursued by Western leaders. Why don’t they realize that security of life is a fundamental right of every human being on the planet? Anis Zuberi, Mississauga