London

I don't know anymore.

I could write something about politics, about religion or poverty. I could write something highly intellectual with fancy words and terms taken from the dictionary. I could write till I fell asleep looking at the black squiggles on the screen, these little things that mean so much.

I won't do that. When I heard the news about terrorists attacks in London I didn't spend hours in front of the tv like four years ago when it was in New York. I didn't keep thinking about it like one year ago in Madrid. I just sat down in a chair, stood back up and sat right down again. I'm sure that was some kind of reaction, although not a very intelligent reaction, some kind of reaction it was. Maybe we're getting used to it.

I'm at a loss for words. There is no longer any way to explain it or say it's just a one-time thing. Saying that the people responsible must be brought to justice no longer holds any meaning. Not for me anyway. How can these things keep happening? Is this the future? The naïve part of me is slowly withering away.

It was just a few weeks ago I heard a news report about terrorist cells in Europe and how they thrive here. How much harder it is when it's not a country going against you but citizens of your own country or countries, who may have been brought up and/or trained elsewhere. I've watched how people start hating terrorists, then Afghanistan, then Muslims and the entire Middle East. And it's so easy, it's so incredibly easy to assume somebody, anybody, 'over there' is responsible when terrorists attack again. I know it's easy because I feel it coming. It's fear. Then it's hate.

I just don't understand it. What can make someone do something like this? It's the same question as four years ago. It can be easy enough, human beings are made so that if we have to do something we disagree with, we simply change our opinions because we can't see ourselves as bad people. We, as in you and I, do bad things only when it's necessary and only when we have a reason. Others do it because they're bad people. It's so easy to create a killer.

What about war? I've thought plenty about war and the people involved. I still think it's wrong and never the right answer. Terrorist attacks like today in London can go either way when it comes to war. Either war is right because you can't let people get away with this; or war is wrong because it's not a country that attacks and you can't attack a country because some of the people involved lived there. You wouldn't attack (for example) Switzerland if you found out a couple terrorists had lived there the past ten years. Would you?

But that is not the issue right now.

Hopelessness.

I don't believe in "hopeless". But it's a word that comes to mind now. How can we keep believing people are good when these things keep happening? I try my best not to ask something unless I know the answer, and always to back up my opinions and statements. But now I have no answers and I have nothing to back up my opinions with. What if people start losing hope?

As for the people of London, all I can say is they went from this year's big high on Wednesday night, to the incredible low on Thursday morning. Their people suffer and are scared. They'll pull through like other cities have, their politicians will get more freedom to pursue the 'evil-doers' and the people will live in fear, both in London and the rest of the world, wondering which city will be next, what country is on the list.

Fear... No. No thank you, not for me.
I have hope but so far it hasn't helped much.


The pen may be mightier than the sword,
but I think we need new ink.