Terrorist attacks always make people think. They are solidly designed to make people tremble for their mortality and feel the weight of their government’s responsibility. Attacks will remind us that we do not merely live in our world, but that we walk in the footsteps of a history of turmoil. That we are numbers totaled to become a threat. That there is no such thing as ultimate security, and that yes, we too can be forced to stand at the forefront of a war without wearing our combat boots.

Attacks always concern me. Worry me as to how those affected will react. We have not reached our ultimate Zen to turn around and balance things correctly. 37 reported deaths in London, 22,000 civilian deaths in Iraq. We cannot weigh down the value of a life. It is impossible to just turn a blind eye and point towards our responsibilities as “civilized westerners” and have the sense to say we are under attack because we are assholes. Because we helped destroy, kill and terrify. No. Our first reaction is as always a firm fist of steel, crashing down and announcing that we “will not stand for this”. Then that same fist of steel wears a velvet glove and takes hold of man’s worse invention yet. The gun.

I spent last night watching live reports, hoping to hear some glimmer of humility in the whole ordeal. Death, however, did not become a reason to contemplate our own mortality and our own reason for being. Instead the West was bombarded by series of “shocking news reports” with a hundred different numbers being stated as far as the body count is concerned (is it so difficult to count 50 bodies throughout the course of 24 hours…) and a hundred different “sources” screaming a hundred different “eye-witnesses” describing a hundred different “feelings”.

Nothing has been reported properly. A whole day has gone by and apparently no one in London is skilled enough to come to conclusions as to what type of explosive devices were used, how they were detonated and how many were actually killed and injured. Funny… wasn’t England the country that teased Athens own Olympic scares? Twenty-four hours pass us by and the only thing definite apparently is that it’s all Al-Qaeda’s fault.

It makes me so sad to see my world, the West, civilized Europe, the cultured elite, run amok so easily. It kills me to see our educated people unable to look at things objectively, unable to see things as they are, unable to see the other side, already getting ready to “defend” themselves, and feeling overall anger because a certain 15 minutes of fame were not properly enjoyed after having won the Olympic Games residence.

There are no sides to take. Tragedy must at some point stop causing more tragedy. Or else we will be teaching mathematics to our children by using the daily body count.