Bad Guys Are Really Mean

[news]

As the United States, France, and the world try to come to some semblance of understanding in this world simple words can illustrate the purest understanding of what's going on here. As in the words a young child describing the terrorists in the attack on Paris, "Bad guys are really mean." The young child was being interviewed by Le Petit Journal outside the Bataclan. As the journalist allowed the conversation to flow between the father and son he says, "They have guns, they can shoot us because they're really really mean, daddy." His father replies, "It's okay they have guns but we have flowers."

In a world of full of awful things on the news, cynical diatribes on social media, and the auspicious whirlwind of political commentary it's a powerfully simple idea to describe terrorists as they are, "really mean." Terrorists without their banners, intimidation tactics, and death cult mentality are just that, "really mean."

His father goes on to tell him "the flowers fight against the guns." At the end the reporter asks, "Do you feel better now?" The child responds, "Yes, I feel better."

The callous nature of terrorism only ruins our optimism and hope if we do not look for the ways to respond to it in a meaningful way. Redirecting ourselves towards the inspirational, beneficial, and earnest ways of repairing the world is what one should do to counteract the implicit destruction that comes with these acts. Terrorism is a challenge for each and every one of us to counteract it with our own sense of duty to repair the world and repair humanity.

Unfortunately, terrorism will be a fact of life for many years to come but let it not distinguish how we should live. In order to save the world, we must save ourselves from committing the egregious error of being complicit in the terrorist's game of ruining our optimism. Our optimism and hope is at stake in this deadly game of distorted wretched peril. Understanding that the future is much brighter when serving others, helping your fellow man, and making an positive impact in the world. Visit family you've not seen in awhile, laugh, joke, have a few beers. These are the things we should focus on. We shouldn't let terrorism diminish our daily life, and if it does, then we have let the terrorists win. Now go out and enjoy a beer or two. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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