Peenie Wallie

Actually, the solution to terrorism is deceptively easy. (I’ll get to it by the end.)

Terrorist Fatalities

The first part of the solution is to put things in perspective. The United States has 280 million people. Less than three thousand have been killed in the United States by terrorists in the history of the country. So, although they’re a threat, the greater threat to us is not their actions, but our response to their actions. Not many people realize this.

Guess what the number one cause of death in the united states is? Heart Disease. So, collectively, as a society, I’d argue that we should take all the money we’re wasting fighting terrorism, and spend it in on R&D to cure heart disease. I think it is easily demonstrable that this would save a greater number of lives than by bombing Iraq and Afghanistan, searching people in airports, or infiltrating mosques.

Over 40,000 people die in car crashes every year in the U.S., and it doesn’t even make the news. 4,600 people die every year in collisions with 18 wheelers, and we could get these large trucks off the road tomorrow. They should ship heavy loads by rail. It would save close to 5,000 lives a year (plus they're destroying out interstates). Where’s the outrage here? Are these people's death any less tragic than people that died in a blast? Why not take the simple step of requiring heavy loads be shipped by rail, and get these monstrous trucks off the interstate? We would be guaranteed we would save 5,000 people, and it would cost us nothing. (It would actually save us billions when you factor in that they're destroying our interstates).

Money Spent on Counter Terrorism

Why are we willing to $38 billion a year on Homeland Security fighting, statistically speaking, a paper tiger? It's well documented that these heart disease and cancer account for over a million deaths a year in this country. Would it make more sense to spend the money searching for a cure to these common afflictions?

Plus, it's not like we have the money to spend. We're borrowing it from our children. We'll hand the $6 trillion debt down to them like herpes.

Are We Safer?

And it's not like the money we spend on Homeland Security will make us any safer. In Portland, the city hall decided to cover the reservoirs that feed the city's water supply because they were susceptible to terrorist attack. Ludicruous. Last time I checked, water runs downhill and putting caps on the lakes will not stop this. So, if you want to pour poison into the lake, go uphill and pour it into the creek the feeds into the lake. Tens of millions squandered and several lakes ruined.

After 9/11, some people moved out here to Colorado because they didn't feel safe in the city. Unfortunately, they were driving down the interstate and a 40 ton steel girder fell on them and killed the whole family. They weren't killed by terrorists or firearms though, so their deaths didn't play well outside the local scene. So, although the terrorists are undeniably tragic, perhaps the greater tragedy is our reaction to the attacks.

Sitting Ducks

No amount of searching of citizens and surveilling the populace will stop terrorism. I personally don’t think people should be searched or disarmed ever in the United States. The 4th amendment and the 2nd amendment guarantee it. Not only is it illegal to search and disarm the citizens, but it has exactly the opposite effect that is intended. Searching people creates nothing but a target population of disarmed sheep. Did you ever think about the concept of standing in line to be searched? You’re a sitting duck.

Any idiot knows your unarmed (You’re about to be searched, so if you have a weapon, you're a fool.) But anyone can walk up to the end of this queue of disarmed victims-in-waiting armed to the teeth.

So, at any point on earth where you set up a checkpoint, you have created an artificial critical surface...a boundary region where armed (unsearched) people can approach a group of people that can safely be assumed to be unarmed. This occurred to me as I watched the sheeple at DIA wandering through the ropes like cattle through a chute.

What’s to stop a terrorist from going to the upper level at the airport, above all of these disarmed people, and toss down an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) on top of them?

Terrorism and the Media - Are they co-dependent?

Keep in mind that terrorism would not work at all, if it weren’t for the Main Stream Media(MSM). The goal of the MSM is to scare the wits out of people. The news shows and newspapers deliberately fan the flames of terrorism. They tell us we’re all going to die, because it scares us, and drives up their ratings. "If it bleeds, it leads." Where is the responsibility in journalism?

Even though the horrific terrorist attacks in London today killed dozens of people, and injured hundreds, statistically speaking, it was a non-event. More people died today in that country of non-headline garnering events such as heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and automobile collisions, but these deaths are largely unreported.

What does this mean to the average person? It means that, statistically speaking, the terrorists are not an imminent threat. I personally wouldn’t change my daily habits one iota based on an attack that killed a couple of dozen people in a city of seven million people.

Terrorism - How you can end it today.

I saw a bumper sticker shortly after 9/11 that said "They can take out lives, but they can’t take our freedom." Well. No. Apparently, they can do both.

A bold leader would tell everyone to keep a stiff upper lip. They'd say "We are not going to start searching people getting on buses or subways. We’re going to keep on about our lives as we have been." Then, if you don’t feel safe on the subways, don't ride them. If you don’t feel safe on the buses? Don't ride them. That’s what a free society is about. Everyone gets to make their own choices about how they live their lives.

And, as it turns out, that’s the way to defeat terrorism. The only way that terrorism works, is if we are terrorized. We, as individuals, can decide how we react to any given stimulus. We are not cattle. We can choose to ignore the terrorists and the fear peddling media. And, the funny thing is, it's that simple. If we make a decision not to be afraid, then the terrorists have already lost and we’ve already won.

We’re all going to die one day. That much is certain. The question is whether we die as cowards or as brave citizens in a free world. They can take our lives, but they can't take our freedom. Any bold world leaders want to take the podium and make this speech? We could sure use it right about now.