I was talking to my friend about getting caught in military checkpoints over the past couple of days, and how weird it was to have my primary concern be about how it affected me being on time for things, especially as it occurred among people holding the unstated opinion that you cant let them win by letting it affect your life. But Ive seen this in many places where terrorist violence, and state counters to it, become normalized, especially in Pakistan. It quickly gets to a point where populations only complain about flareups of violence as they affect their day-to-day schedules, partly because people feel too alienated to substantively discuss the great horror that hangs over them (and when they do, they usually add on, its so terrible, but no one cares! Because resignation requires people to qualify their own humanity as fruitless in the face of a larger tide.) My friend talked about how this affects Israelis too, with bus bombings being treated the same way as an engine blowing out-- easily fixed, and something that is only communicated as delaying your schedule for half an hour. I wonder if those thoughts are echoed by people who grew up in Americas inner-cities-- Ive begun listening to this song when I hear about suicide blasts in Pakistan.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 18:35:20 +0000