In the face of horror, there’s one answer: Live
Protesting everything, from the legitimate to the ridiculous, seems to be America’s newest pastime, replete with vitriol from all sides.
But in a strange way, the Las Vegas massacre – the worst mass shooting in American history – may yet bring us together.
We need to fight the SOBs who commit such atrocities. But how? By not living in fear. By not letting them win. And by not allowing them to change the very essence of who we are, and how we live our lives.
We need to go to – rather than avoid – Vegas. We need to walk the Strip, stay at the Mandalay Bay hotel, attend outdoor concerts, and unabashedly embrace other human beings in large crowds. It doesn’t mean we won’t be on edge – and yes, even afraid – but to run from these things with the mindset that “I don’t want to be next” is capitulating to the bad guys and succumbing to victimhood.
And that’s not who are.
Whether it’s the 64-year old whack-job from Vegas whose name will not be dignified here, to lone wolf terrorists, to ISIS regulars, we must not give them what they want – we cannot cower.
We need to protest their evil actions, defiantly and unified, while not ceding civil liberties that would further restrict our freedoms. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have discussions – even very passionate arguments – about everything we from gun control to mental health to security checks, because they are all necessary. But in the same way that all of civilized humanity loses if we stop traveling to London, Paris and Manchester, we cannot become afraid to walk out our doors right here in America. We must never stop living valiantly, and never cease teaching our children that evil will not overcome – if for no other reason than to honor those who perish so tragically at the hands of madmen.
Sure, writing those things is easier said than done. But if we want to live rather than just exist, what choice do we have?
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, this author took significant flak for taking his young daughter on a transatlantic flight the day the airports reopened. “It’s one thing if you want to kill yourself,” some screamed, “but how can you so callously jeopardize your child’s life by flying now?”
My response was simple: I asked if they could A) guarantee that the plane would not crash because of mechanical failure or mid-air collision, B) assure me with absolute certainty that I would not be in any kind of fatal incident here at home, and C) tell me precisely when it would be “safe” to fly again with zero possibility of a terrorist attack.
Fact was, the months after 9/11 were by far the safest time to fly. That doesn’t mean that I, along with every other passenger, wasn’t white-knuckled. It was a scary time, but the answer was to forge ahead.
In response to the attacks, President George W. Bush made the bold proclamation that we should continue flying, traveling, going to ballgames, and living our lives to the fullest extent, lest al-Qaida win the day. It took time getting over the initial shock, but Americans rallied instead of retreated. We were unified (at least for a while), and we vowed never to let such evildoers take what they desire most: The American soul.
If we are to be true to ourselves, and our children, the answer lies in the words of the legendary John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death – but saddling up anyway.”
There are many angles to the Las Vegas latest attack that must be explored. Here are some aspects to consider:
1) Innocent human life is sacred, so it makes no difference how people are ripped from our arms and murdered. Why then are we not employing the fullcourt press to stop the staggeringly large number of killings savaging our inner cities? In September alone, Chicago saw 57 murdered and another 273 shot and wounded (compared to 58 dead and 500-plus injured in Las Vegas). Neither tragedy trumps the other, but the critical difference is that Chicago experiences those numbers every month. And despite what some may believe, it’s not just “drug dealers and criminals shooting each other,” but young children, the elderly, and innocent parents often being gunned down. Ditto for many other cities, including Philadelphia and Chester.
It’s finally time to shelve partisanship, leave the derisive labels at home, and create a real-world, concrete plan to deal with the genocide occurring every day on America’s streets.
2) Inner cities aside, we must remember that we are living in the safest time in human history. I’ve written about this before. You can read it here: http:// www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20170530/chris-freindwhy-we-are-living-in-safest-period-in-history. Yes, the magnitude of individual attacks is growing, as is our ability to see developments unfold 24/7. But it is imperative to remember – and obviously this is not to slight the victims and their families – that the odds of experiencing this type of attack is statistically non-existent.
Over a billion (that’s billion with a “b”) people have enjoyed the Strip in Las Vegas without incident. The next billion will undoubtedly do so too, as the odds for another massacre are virtually nil.
The numbers reflecting our safety bear it out: There have been 160 million flights since 9/11 without a terrorist hijacking, and crime in America is at an all-time low. There are fewer wars than at any point in history, and scientific advances have eradicated diseases that once killed millions. And yes, mass shootings, while occurring more so than in the past, are still beyond rare.
We cannot allow ourselves to become paralyzed by isolated incidents because we mistakenly believe they are commonplace. They are not. Vigilance, not paranoia, is the answer.
3) The gun control issue will be front and center, as it always is after such shootings. This time, though, because an automatic weapon was used, we are in new territory. But cooler heads must prevail, because what won’t be helpful is a “tactical” win by gun control advocates (more gun bans) at the expense of a “strategic” victory – such as discovering why these events are occurring.
Should we look at the laws governing the highly regulated ownership of automatic weapons? Of course. And should conversion kits, where one-shotper-trigger-pull weapons can be transformed into machine guns, come under intense scrutiny? Absolutely. But as much as some think such measures will be the panacea, the reality is otherwise.
4) Instead, we should be looking at consequences of when a society overly coddles people – young and old alike – and instills in them a massive sense of entitlement, where many believe they are “owed” things that they most certainly are not.
Combine that with the dangerously naive movement to eliminate risk and sanitize all potential adversities, and the result is generations of people unable to function, let alone cope with life when things go awry.
The vast majority of these people are “merely” dysfunctional. But for some, any type of rejection leads to violence against anyone and anything, snapping when offended or something doesn’t go their way. Someone doesn’t like them, they get fired, a teacher or boss disciplines them, they chronically lose money at casinos – and they go on a rampage.
You cannot solve a problem until you know what it is. Perhaps our most important job is to figure out how to reverse the mindset that going out in a blaze of glory – while killing as many as possible – is the best method for dealing with problems.
If we fail, ISIS will be the least of our problems. And that’s the scariest thought of all.