Tuesday 30 May 2017
Let's Regain the Narrative.
LET’S REGAIN THE NARRATIVE.
It’s been exactly one week since
the Manchester attack, exactly one week since my hometown felt the brunt of the
crashing wave of terror. The anxious
ocean of fear which washes over the UK continues to rise, and to be honest,
it’s completely justifiable. Everywhere
you turn, the devastating effects are being discussed. There seems to be no escape from the
broadcasts, the articles, social media and this seems to only contribute to the
fears encompassing our nation at the moment.
There is a sense of imminent danger.
We are walking on eggshells. We
are scared.
But I want to suggest that these
fears are part of the goal of terrorism.
If we look at terrorism as a big, political tactic, a psychological
weapon to achieve subordination of “the enemy”, then it is the purpose of
terrorism to make us all believe we are under constant threat. It makes everybody afraid of being a
target. And in a closely-knitted community
like planet Earth, thanks to the likes of social media, this is pretty easy to
do. News travels fast, and fear follows
right behind it.
By scaring people, getting on the
news, using social media, terrorists momentarily take the spotlight. They change the narrative. Big, powerful, in control, they seem
something we need to take seriously. And
we do, because the consequences of their actions are serious. But we cannot let ourselves fall victim to
the climate of fear created by actions.
This only serves to give power to their voice. This lets terrorism take charge of the
narrative: their voice becomes a momentary equalizer.
It’s no wonder we are scared. The fear is everywhere and it continues to
spread. But we cannot lose our own
voice. We cannot lose the narrative of
liberty, freedom and peaceful expressions of democracy in the darkness of fear
and false threat. There is a bigger
picture encompassing our situation right now and that is the battle of
ideas. We need to concentrate on standing
together, united in our beliefs. Let’s
prove that there is value in our institutions, protect the dignity of each
individual in our society no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation,
religion .e.t.c. Let us win the battle
against terrorism by reversing the politics of fear and division into unity and
love. Let us regain the strength of our
narrative.