Douglas Rushkoff: Blasted Blasts
As always Rushkoff sums it up really well. My deep regards to the people and families in London who has had their life’s changed for ever.
But my reaction is disillusional.
Denmark is probably the next target as one of the few european countries very actively engaged in the war in Iraq. The governments reaction was to post 3-4 police officers at every train station in the greater copenhagen area – none of whom seemed as if they had any idea what to do there. The public explanation was that it was to assure the Danish people of their safety. So openly it’s a pschylogical play since there’s no way they can keep up that on an every day basis. “Make them feel safe for a couple of days and they’ll forget that they’re targets 365 days a year especially when Denmark is actively engaged in the Iraq war” seems to be the thinking. (one danish columnists had the great idea that the politicians themselves should get out of their limousines and into the public transportation with the rest of us).
We’re targets every day as long as we ourselves aren’t the change we want to press down on others. You gotta walk the talk.
When we lie to our people about going into wars, when we invade other countries on very little evidence, when our hyprocacy in for example the israelian/palestinian situation is hopeless, when we don’t want to open up trade with the third world to protect our agriculture sector, when wealth is getting more and more concentrated – when we every day create more enemies than connected friends.
Our current models aren’t working. We’re getting connected across the globe in profound ways every day – but every day we’re also leaving people behind with no idea of how to be a part of society, with no hope for the future – no meaning in their lives.
I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones – but don’t know how to deal with the reality that more people lost their loved one’s just in Iraq the last week because of our actions.
We’ve realized that we live in a very complex world – simple actions isn’t the solution.

PS. Jon Husband has a great post about the changes he thinks are needed to deal with terrorism in the meditum to long term.