Look for the Helpers

The bombings at the Boston Marathon revealed just how good most people are. Despite what we are constantly told about human nature, it's events like this that reveal our inherent goodness, our natural inclinations towards mutual aid. As the bombs went off many people ran towards the blast to help people. As Fred Rogers famously said, "Look for the helpers." And the helpers were everywhere to be found.

There was the story of the " young surgical intern who had just finished a 14-hour hospital shift pushed his way through the police lines to treat victims at the end of a marathon route." Or the story of peace activist Carlos Arredondo who kept a complete strangers arteries shut with his bare hand. And who coudl forget the amazing tales of marathon runners continuing on past the finish line another 2 plus miles to donate blood at the hospital! Story after story of everyday courage and compassion emerged through the fog of terror to reveal just how much good there is in the world. No doubt most of them will never get printed, but for anyone paying attention people doing good far outnumbered the two cowards who sought to kill and maim.

As usual, Americans had to turn to comedians like Stephen Colbert to here the real news. As Colbert put it, "These people tried to make life bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do is show just how good those people are." As my friend Nick pointed out in his wonderful Boston Recap:

This was the sort of reporting we should have seen more of on Monday and Tuesday. Reporting that honored the strength and power of the people of Boston, that made people in Boston, and around the country, feel strong and uplifted; rather than giving in to the fear and mourning that any terrorist would have wanted us to embrace. It seems trite to say it, but the point of terrorism is to inspire fear. Every moment we stand up straight and saying, "No, fuck you, we're going to keep living our lives and helping each other," is a moment where we prevail and keep our dignity against the monsters of the world that try to steal it from us.

So don't fret. Don't let the fear mongers win. We're just as likely to be killed by our own furniture as by terrorism. Remember the helpers. Share their stories. And the next time chaos descends upon us, look for the helpers; be a helper! Spread the love. Stop the hate.

 

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The Technology of Surveillance.

David Henneberry

One of the most popular memes coming out of the bombing of the Boston Marathon has been the way technology has helped. Story after story has been posted and published detailing the ways in which technology has made it easier to nab the bombers. A lot of this goes toward justifying the spiraling costs of our Big Brother government post 9/11 Security State that wants to keep tabs on us at all times--for our own good, of course. Perhaps the most ridiculous story to surface, however, has been the notion that Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) was instrumental in finding the second suspect, Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

Gizmodo's recent story is a great example of this. But perhaps the best one is their most recent story titled: The Crazy Accurate Thermal Images that Saw Dzokhar Tsarnaev Through a Boat Tarp. We're all supposed to be amazed and delighted that security forces have such amazing technology. More importantly, however, we're supposed to believe that this technology is somehow responsible for nabbing the latest incarnation of evil.

The fact of the matter is this technology had nothing to do with finding the suspect. The man who owned the boat, David Henneberry, was out having a smoke when he noticed something amiss with his tarp. When he went over to inspect it he saw the bloody body of Dzokhar Tsarnaev. You can read the full story here. But there was no major technolgy deployed or used to find this kid.

 

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Reflections on the Boston Bombing

We're not a very reflective society. Immediately after the bombings in Boston people were calling for the heads of the perpetrators. Our instinctive response to violence is always more violence. In response to the attacks on 9/11 we've launched wars across the globe killing at least a million people, creating millions of refugees, and destroying entire nations in the process. Our leaders have codified torture and systemically rolled back our civil liberties. No doubt this attack will be used to roll back even more liberties. Here in New York City we have to show ID to purchase a utility knife. I imagine we will see similar efforts when one purchases a pressure cooker.

What's happening to us a society? It's not just Muslims from far off lands intent on killing us. Our own citizens have again and again went on killing sprees, intent on killing as many of us as possible. While we wage wars in dozens of countries across the globe the number one killer of our soldiers is suicide. And suicides are up across the board. Basically when someones not trying to kill us, we're killing ourselvesat unprecedented rates. Violence begets violence; and our systemic attack on the inherent value of life seems to come home to roost. We don't value life "over there" and we don't value it over here.

Much of the current focus is on regulating gun sales. Gun advocates point to the Boston Bombing as proof that curbing gun sales won't stop the crazies. All of this misses the much larger point that our collective actions at home and abroad are driving people to want to kill as many of us as possible. Calling it terrorism doesn't change this fact.

This isn't to justify any of this violence. But in a nation that routinely uses violence to settle disputes, is it any wonder that citizens and non-citizens choose that same route? When our President doesn't like what's going on in North Korea he doesn't reach out to discuss the issue, he flies nuclear capable bombers over the peninsula.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said so eloquently in 1967, "My government is the largest purvayor of violence in the world." We were then in the process of murdering millions in Indochina. Dr. King's sentiments are still true today in a world where the US nearly outspends the rest of the world on death and destruction. Over the last 30 years our police forces have become highly militirized, routinely murdering citizens with impunity, and acting more like an occupying army than a civilized police force.

Our problem is not Islam. It's not East vs West. It's not a problem of regulating gun sales or enhancing the security state. We can't regulate this problem. We cannot legislate it away. There are no easy fixes, but as Noam Chomsky has said again and again there's an easy way to stop terrorism: stop participating in it. Stop looking for violent means to address our problems.

 

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