The War On Terror
When there is a terrorist attack, why would you, or anyone, talk about or forward their message?
With domestic terrorism or global terrorism, who are the real casualties?
I believe that one of the best ways of combating terrorism is to not talk about it. Lately, it seems, though, social media and terrorism go hand in hand. If terrorists had no way of creating fear in the hearts of many, I’m quite certain they would not be so active.
This from Encyclopedia Britannica:
“The goal of terrorism generally is to destroy the public’s sense of security in the places most familiar to them. … and that terrorist acts are intended to create an overwhelming sense of fear.”
Every time you talk about an incident that occurred, every time you forward some news article, you let the terrorists win.
The Media and Terrorism ... or Suicides ‘R Us
There are a couple of places where suicides are known to occur in volume. One is on subway lines around the world and another is a place like Niagara Falls. People jump in front of trains and people jump into the Falls. These suicides used to be sensationalized in the press. This was stopped in most places as this type of media coverage normally resulted in an increase of suicide attempts. Usually a spike after any media attention. With less media attention, they still occur but to a much lesser extent.
If you knew that as a result of your promoting that someone jumped over Niagara Falls and committed suicide resulting in three other people doing the same thing, hopefully, you would feel somewhat guilty and not promote this thing any more. The media did stop, or at least put this type of news on page 23 and the number of suicides went down.
The same could be predicted for the war on terror. A terrorist attack that no one hears about is just some idiot killing people. If they are not creating a climate of fear and worry, if they are not alarming populations as a whole, then the terrorists are not winning.
Domestic Terrorism in the US of A
There are many examples of domestic terrorism in the US, but by far the most prevalent and obvious is the recent school shootings. And not so recent. There have been a lot over the years.
You may realize where I’m going with this…
If you insist on telling everyone on Facebook, Twitter or other social media how sorry and concerned you are about the shooting in whatever school then you are feeding the frenzy. You are doing exactly what they want. You are forwarding the fear and feeding the terror.
If you say on Facebook that your heart goes out to all those in Texas for some tragedy, I honestly believe that is a useless bit of sympathy. No one in Texas is going to read your post.
For every Tweet and Facebook post about some terrorist attack, whether it be a bombing in Paris or the Columbine Massacre one is just forwarding the terrorists message and creating fear and upset.
The media’s mantra ‘the people need to know’ is simply put just bullshit. That is just an excuse to spread and create a feeling that the world is a horrible place. Years ago someone coined the phrase ‘merchants of chaos’ as a moniker for the media. I think this is quite appropriate.
Big Pharma - The Real Terrorists
The media is pretty much controlled by the advertising companies. If you disagree, just try and get an article attacking Big Pharma in a woman’s magazine. Any pharmaceutical company is going to love these terrorist attacks in schools. The upset that occurs I’m sure drives their drug sales out the roof. They are going to milk this for all it’s worth.
If you really want to calm things down and fight terrorism, then don’t give in to it. Don’t forward the fear. 90% of the people in the USA would not even consider not talking about this. They will believe the media. They will feel that it needs to be talked about. They will feel that posting on Facebook, Twitter and other social media is going to help.
I ask you how? How is this going to help. You are upset about it and now you are going to upset all your friends? How does that make a safer environment? Please tell me how that is good and beneficial.
So, I would propose that the real cause of the increase in school shootings is social media. Twitter, Facebook and the like. The media in general has been feeding terrorism for years and years. Guns are a factor. Psychiatric mood altering drugs and street drugs are also undoubtedly a factor. But for the surge over the last few years of these domestic terrorists (school shootings), I can only thank (or blame) social media. Or the people using social media to stir up fear and alarm in others.
So, just stop! If you are fearful and alarmed and need to talk to someone, then talk to one person, don’t create fear and alarm in 10 or 20. As far as I’m concerned as soon as you do that you are partnered with the school shooter or the Paris bomber.
So, just stop!