From THE VN/VO:
Shortly after the July 7th attacks on London, I emailed an associate who works downtown in the British city. Half of the reason behind the email was to make sure that no one was hurt. The other half came from my instincts as an American- for some reason I felt I had to share in an outpouring of emotion and healing. He emailed me back, still at work getting things done. He briefly mentioned how not unexpectedly calm everyone was and- even though four bombs had just gone off blocks from his office- his main concern- after seeing everyone was safe- was the impending traffic getting home.
While the United States is certainly doing a lot of things right in its fight against terrorism, we could learn a lot from Britain in terms of how we react to horrific- but ever more apparently inevitable- attacks. A nation's reaction is not just window dressing, but a truly important piece of what is essentially an international cultural war. In this modern battle with terrorism, cracks in the proverbial armor can show up both in military campaigns as well as cultural reaction.
Hours after the attacks, British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a speech which contained a reference to what may be the most important internal social element in the fight against terror. One would be hard pressed to find such a term in much of the reaction in the US after 9/11. Blair commended "the stoicism and resilience of the people of London." The key word here: stoicism.
Certainly Americans have done well with such concepts as strength, energy and healing- however stoicism has, for the most part, been missing. Stoicism is the indifference to pain or pleasure, and as against-the-grain as it seems to American culture, "indifference" is actually a small but critical piece to avoiding the intentions of terrorists.
In the aftermath of September 11th, Americans' first reaction is generally to gush with somewhat charlatan patriotism. Flags, candles, and memorial ribbons fly off the shelves. While I'm not about to knock anyone's personal healing process, it's tremendously interesting that our reaction always centers around that which displays.
Is such display merely a sincere love for the principles of our country finally coming out? Is it a trite begging for attention and sympathy? However you define the American cultural reaction, one thing is for certain: pretty much everyone around the globe- from our allies to those who actually attacked us- know we're deeply affected.
Article comments
1 - bhw
The British may have been stoic in reaction to the bombings, but they were a bunch of drooling, snivelling wussies when Princess Di bought the farm.
2 - Phillip Winn
The sad part is how wussy folks in the USA were about a princess we don't even recognize in any official capacity.
My wife is at least Canadian, so I cut her some slack. Had she tried to buy flowers or something though, I'd have held an intervention.
3 - SFC Ski
"gushing displays and lingering pain are the definition of terrorism's goal."
I'll grant the lingering pain part, but terrorist's primarily use terror to cow and intimidate the populace, not to strengthen the people's resolve or cause them to wave flags.
The Brits have been admirable in the aftermath of the bombings, and their characteristic stoicism is something to emulate in the face of terror.