Going to watch the 7th game of the World Series in a sports restaurant with my friends was one of the highlights of my week. The pure joy and energy of the city all celebrating was truly invigorating and I have never experienced something like that, with the streets filled and everyone going insane for the Nationals. Getting to attend the parade was also something that showed just how unifying sports teams could be in getting everyone involved and excited.
However, like some, or maybe like none, when we were stuck in a crowd of people around the stadium, I had a fleeting thought of what I would do if someone opened fire or if there was a terrorist attack. This mindset is something that I have grown accustomed to. Whenever I go into a new room or am in a crowd, I immediately try to figure out what my escape route would be or an item I could hide behind. My high school was right next to a police station but I remained worried because the accessories to machine guns can hit many people and cause much damage in under 7 seconds.
I found it interesting to read the article using a comparison of deaths from bathtubs and terrorist attacks to show reasons why national security is focused largely on terrorism despite the low death count that comes as a result. People fear the unknown, they fear death and their future and things that are not yet determined in the present. I relate greatly to this fear of the unknown and attribute this “phobia” as one of the roots in my obsessions and constantly trying to plan things out perfectly. Terrorism is something that hits all of these unknown fears- it deeply connects to the fear of death and the uncertainty of when/how that will come. This topic of terrorism is something I look forward to discussing more in class.
On another note, I greatly enjoyed our discussion on media in class on Halloween. During the first week of our blog posts, I attempted to explain why I thought the media was the most pressing issue in the world today. I find it extremely interesting how corporations are monopolizing the media being sent to the major news outlets. Off of this, the only variation than between these news sources is their rhetoric and the ways the news is presented to get readers. I am following Brexit from one news source for another one of my classes and have been interested to see how it will swing the argument in different ways compared to other media outlets my peers are using. When we tour Foreign Policy magazine on Wednesday, I will be interested to see how they collect their global news!
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