What's it good for?-- Raiffa

*I had written something remotely put together and goodish but then my computer died and its getting lateish and I haven’t worked on any hw yet so this is me trying to recreate what I said as best I can. Anyways here’s Wonderwall*

I feel like I've answered this prompt of “is war good?” already in one of my previous posts (good vs. evil? Or something?) So imma take this topic on a journey.

A journey into the deeper, long-lasting repercussions of war.

Also I apologize in advance if this starts to sound a bit biased but I have things to say and I feel like I should be allowed to say them.

We’ve been in a war with terrorism for just about as long as we can remember. We’ve grown up knowing terrorism is a terrible, evil thing (which it is, hence the word terror) and we, as Americans, need to try our hardest to eradicate all traces of it from our world. But with this we’ve been subtly programmed to associate “Muslim” and “Islam” with these evil acts which is where I see the problem lies.

After a history of civil wars and concentration camps we still revert to old ways of prejudice and stereotypes. Have we not learned yet? And I’m not saying that anyone is immune to making rash judgments but when we can casually make jokes about going to Saudi Arabia and shooting some Muslims in the head then I think we need to reevaluate something ( and no, I am not exaggerating. I’ve seriously heard someone say this as I was standing next to them).

After global and national tragedies, like the recent shooting in Canada, our thoughts and support should be with those directly affected by these events but I just don’t want to be able to turn on CNN, see a breaking news headline that says “Gunman has ties to Islam” and automatically be afraid of what others are thinking and learning about an important part of my culture. Whenever a tragic event happens you just kinda wait for them to find that tie they have to Islam. Which is half the reason I’m afraid to proudly be who I am. No one sees it as something to be proud of.

And now is getting too deep.

So y’know, just know that yes, those drones you are sending oversees are affecting lives over there and the things you think and say are affecting lives over here.

And don’t just listen to one news source when you’re trying to catch up on what’s going on. Try to find out whats really going on for yourself. Educating yourself is the first step to acceptance.