Ok I admit, the title is a little misleading, but I was going for shock and awe. But I recently saw Salmon Rushdie speak at Miami University, in Oxfod Ohio. The speech was well composed, full of cracks of conservative cracks and some godless comment, which definatly increased the tension in the room.
He talked about how we measure the cost of safety. Briefly put, the fear of getting hit by a truck shouldnt keep us from crossing the street. Talking about issues ranging from domestic to india, kashmir and pakistan. A few points came to light, the first, the worst of the west is at war with the worst of the east. This is key to understanding in order to moving forward with the “war” on terrorism. Rushdie pointed out that recruits for terrorism are people that feel like their life is hopeless, and they have no voice. When I feel I have no voice, which happens from time to time I look at my twitter stream and ineveibtably find something funny, exciting, engaging. If people in this situation twittered would they become terrorist recruits?
Answer: Maybe, Maybe not. When someone is able to see an influence on the world around them, or in the case of these social networks the world surrounding them, it makes them feel better (at least me). It allows people to interact in a way they would normally with people, just not with the normal people they would meet.
***Disclaimer I just thought the photo would add a little meme and levity to the post***
Christian McLean 