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was reading friendslist. Many comments about 9/11. Which I don't tend to think about all that much, just being incredibly tired and frustrated with anything to do with terrorism after all the shite that's been perpetuated in the misguided name of a religion or cause, too many innocent people hurt just to get someone's jollies or attempt to manipulate a response as it is.
For the idiots deciding that their life is worth giving up for the cause, I still go with Terry Pratchett on this one, two quotes of his.
'No cause is worth dying for, you can find another ten causes on the next street corner and you've only got one life.'
'When someone says 'Forward, brave comrades', you'll notice that he's hiding behind a very big rock and is wearing the only really arrow-proof helmet.'
But... one thing I suppose I have difficulty comprehending is the change to their lives that some of the Americans talk about.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kindkitwas saying about how the fact that she now lives in DC made her pause about getting on the Metro on the 9/11 anniversary. Living in the UK, I'm one of the generations that grew up used to bomb threats and scares and no bins at every station in case a bomb got put there, so every station has discreet collections of cans and coffee cups on ledges and in corners, and warnings about not touching a bag that was left in a public place, as well as almost unrivalled airport security.
Because terrorism was already going on in so many other parts of the world, we thought it was someone else at first. And no, it's not nice that another country got introduced to the concept of people on their own soil being killed because some far-off (or not so far-off, see Oklahoma) nutter decided that it was a right thing that they should die as an example. I just can't see how it changes anything beyond stepped-up paranoia that does no-one any good, as all politicians use it for is to scare people for political gain and justify infringements on personal liberty.
For the idiots deciding that their life is worth giving up for the cause, I still go with Terry Pratchett on this one, two quotes of his.
'No cause is worth dying for, you can find another ten causes on the next street corner and you've only got one life.'
'When someone says 'Forward, brave comrades', you'll notice that he's hiding behind a very big rock and is wearing the only really arrow-proof helmet.'
But... one thing I suppose I have difficulty comprehending is the change to their lives that some of the Americans talk about.
kindkitwas saying about how the fact that she now lives in DC made her pause about getting on the Metro on the 9/11 anniversary. Living in the UK, I'm one of the generations that grew up used to bomb threats and scares and no bins at every station in case a bomb got put there, so every station has discreet collections of cans and coffee cups on ledges and in corners, and warnings about not touching a bag that was left in a public place, as well as almost unrivalled airport security.Because terrorism was already going on in so many other parts of the world, we thought it was someone else at first. And no, it's not nice that another country got introduced to the concept of people on their own soil being killed because some far-off (or not so far-off, see Oklahoma) nutter decided that it was a right thing that they should die as an example. I just can't see how it changes anything beyond stepped-up paranoia that does no-one any good, as all politicians use it for is to scare people for political gain and justify infringements on personal liberty.
