In his novel "1984" author George Orwell introduced readers to the term "doublethink." Doublethink is the ability to simultaneously embrace two mutually exclusive beliefs.
It is common for Americans to believe that adolescents can be harrassed, beaten, threatened, spit upon, robbed, slammed into walls, kicked, and generally brutalized throughout their formative years with little or no effect upon their willingness to value things like human life. Simultaneously those same Americans feign bewilderment when a victim of such treatment becomes a serial killer or school shooter.
It is also common to hear Americans criticizing those who complain about bullying and attaching labels like "emotional marshmallow" to them. These Americans will remind plaintiffs that the real world is a jungle where you need to stand up for yourself and fight your own battles. Not surprisingly these are the same Americans who complain bitterly when those emotional marshmallows behave as if they really do live in a jungle as they were raised to believe.
A community that is civilized enough to have earned the privilege of complaining about terrorism does not behave this way. If you know of such a community feel free to enlighten me.
Hey Izzy...you out there?
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