Lessons from 9/11: 5 Bullets to Kill Terror
It all starts with understanding the goal of the terrorists - to cripple us with fear. Terrorists aren't celebrating the destruction of a building or the death of a few innocent souls. What they thrive on, what drives them to spend years planning an attack, is the desire for sheer and total panic and fear that grips everyone that learns of their actions.
Terrorists today depend more on the magic of real-time 24/7 in-your-face news coverage, an unwitting accomplice, to play the most important hand in their attack. What would happen if they blew up a bridge and no one knew or cared? They need to show the world what they have done. To kill and maim innocent people. Without warning, to destroy lives through random barbaric acts. Their ultimate goal - intimidation and blackmail through fear.
So what can we as individuals do to stop this fear, to restore control and maintain internal peace? The answer is simple. All we have to do is be prepared. The real damage that comes out of any terrorist act is the deep-seated emotional loss of control. No electricity, no water, no food, no access to paramedics, fire or police. In fact, nothing but a sudden and dramatic loss of everything we take for granted.
But we can do something. Through simple planning, we can take steps to prepare and anticipate. We can build up our own personal arsenal of knowledge and preparedness, to restore, maintain and control our lives even in times of uncertainty.
Preparedness is the ultimate anti-terrorism tool. If they can only hurt us briefly, and we can continue on with our lives without fear and panic, then the impact of their attack is dramatically reduced. We can guarantee that we can provide for our own needs.
And isn't this what we teach our children? Isn't this what our country was founded on so long ago? Self-sufficiency! "Grow up and take responsibility for yourself," we tell our children. "Don't sit there and wait for someone to come along and solve your problems."
After any terrorist attack (or even natural disaster) do you really think you can just wait and Big Brother will rush in to save you? No one in police or fire or the government will tell you that they are there for you immediately after any attack. It is unrealistic to count on someone else to be there for you. They will be there to pick up the pieces days or even weeks later.
It is you and you alone that is responsible for caring for yourself in the immediate aftermath of any disaster, natural or man-made. The government has even come out and told us to have an emergency survival kit.
So use this time to act.
Related Topics: Antidote to Terrorism: Preparedness, Crisis! How Will You Respond?
Technorati Tags: 9/11, terrorism, fear, disaster preparedness
Terrorists today depend more on the magic of real-time 24/7 in-your-face news coverage, an unwitting accomplice, to play the most important hand in their attack. What would happen if they blew up a bridge and no one knew or cared? They need to show the world what they have done. To kill and maim innocent people. Without warning, to destroy lives through random barbaric acts. Their ultimate goal - intimidation and blackmail through fear.
So what can we as individuals do to stop this fear, to restore control and maintain internal peace? The answer is simple. All we have to do is be prepared. The real damage that comes out of any terrorist act is the deep-seated emotional loss of control. No electricity, no water, no food, no access to paramedics, fire or police. In fact, nothing but a sudden and dramatic loss of everything we take for granted.
But we can do something. Through simple planning, we can take steps to prepare and anticipate. We can build up our own personal arsenal of knowledge and preparedness, to restore, maintain and control our lives even in times of uncertainty.
Preparedness is the ultimate anti-terrorism tool. If they can only hurt us briefly, and we can continue on with our lives without fear and panic, then the impact of their attack is dramatically reduced. We can guarantee that we can provide for our own needs.
And isn't this what we teach our children? Isn't this what our country was founded on so long ago? Self-sufficiency! "Grow up and take responsibility for yourself," we tell our children. "Don't sit there and wait for someone to come along and solve your problems."
After any terrorist attack (or even natural disaster) do you really think you can just wait and Big Brother will rush in to save you? No one in police or fire or the government will tell you that they are there for you immediately after any attack. It is unrealistic to count on someone else to be there for you. They will be there to pick up the pieces days or even weeks later.
It is you and you alone that is responsible for caring for yourself in the immediate aftermath of any disaster, natural or man-made. The government has even come out and told us to have an emergency survival kit.
So use this time to act.
- Talk to your family, friends and neighbors.
- Discuss what you will do and where you will meet.
- Buy extra batteries and cans of food.
- Keep your gas tank at least half full.
- Read up on preparedness.
Related Topics: Antidote to Terrorism: Preparedness, Crisis! How Will You Respond?
Technorati Tags: 9/11, terrorism, fear, disaster preparedness
8 Comments:
The list of preparedness is not exhaustive because where you live will make a large difference in what you will need in order to be prepared. In remote areas of the United States, many households already have generators and extra gas in the event of powerouts. Bottles of water in the basement are rotated to keep them fresh tasting. Candles and matches are already in use because of occasional power failures. Camp stoves are ready for those occasions. A small store of extra medications is usually available and at least one phone in the house is NOT a cordless. This list too is far from exhaustive. People living in congested areas and hi-rise apartments will have different needs and other solutions. Any ideas?
You can find all kinds of things on the internet. I've found one of the best sites is www.providentliving.org. Here you can look at emergency preparation from all angles. They suggest having battery run radios, first aid kits, flashlights, etc. You can get a good idea of what to keep on hand.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Our greatest weakness in our dealings with these terrorists is our dependence upon the oil they have so much of. The failure of this country to develop alternatives and reduce consumption after the lessons of the 70's is the root cause of so many of our problems. A system of rationing is the only way to get a handle on our consumption, until alternatives such as hydrogen and the necessary infrastructure is developed. Allow each licensed driver 15 gallons per week to use as they please. Peddle what you don't use of your allotment at a premium to those who have to drive a Hummer. If the demand for oil was diminished, they can't hold us hostage for a commodity we don't need. We'd be stronger as a nation and could turn away from these barbarians, instead of lining their pockets with the cash they use to buy weaponry. In time, these tribes would wipe one another out, as they've been at it for centuries. It's a tough sell, though, when the leadership of this country is made up of oilmen.
Individual responsiblity is the only thing your or I can do anything about. It doesn't have to be all encompassing or complete at first. A few little measures like a few extra cans of food and some water will make the first 72 hours after a disaster more comfortable that being without them. Start where you are a move forward a little every month. You'll be surprised at how far you move in the course of a year.
As for Bush and Cheney being oilmen, Bush managed the Ranger Baseball team longer than he worked in the oil patch and Cheney spent more time on Wall Street than heading up Haliburton, which is an engineering company - NOT an oil company. The provide services for the oil patch, but they work in a number of other industries and places too.
Anyone remember the Murragh Building? So much for democracy as an antidote to terrorism. The fact is, individuals can be as prepared as possible, but no one can prevent every terrorist act, and we may all be affected by a terrorist act somewhere far removed from our hiding hole.
It is naive to say that terrorists want to make us afraid. They want us to do what they want us to do, sort of like President Bush and his lackeys, or puppeteers. If we don't do it, they will continue. Only by going after the individuals who sow hate and show that they cannot get away with it as individuals - preferably by making them public and holding them in contempt, not by killing them - will we make a dent in terrorism. Becoming as despotic as their religious leaders want is merely another form of victory for the terrorists.
Only one comment here makes any sense. The fact is that terroists thrive and contrive because they have the money to do so, simple. They don't have to work, they have 24 hrs a day to plan their next attack. Did you ever hear that these guys have to go work to earn a living ???? Why is that? Think about it. So that makes the solution simple, cut off their money supply and they have to support themselves by finding a job, you think? Cut off or drastically reduce their money by issuing sweeping conservation measures, initially. We must put a stop to waisting oil products like gasoline. I like the rationing idea. America has to make this priority one, like we did to land on the Moon. Unfortunately Americans demonstrate brave indifference to the fact that a percentage of money for a gallon of gasoline we buy is finding its way to terrorists. I see such waist everyday like racing to next stop sign or traffic light while driving a gas guzzling SUV. I also could go on about how I despise the car companies for gas guzzliing SUV's. Ford is losing billions for having made so many that won't sell, I don't feel bad for them... It dosen't take a marketing genius to know that someday these types of vehicles would do us in. We should look at countries like Sweden where even automatic transmission cars are banned because of their lower MPG. We Americans are an arrogant bunch, we think we can do anything we want. Wake up America, everyone has to conserve if we want to put these terrorists out of business. Think about this, for every gallon of gasoline you buy, your buying a bullet for a terrorist's gun aimed at a American soldier.
Post a Comment