Terrorist threat, does it bother you

ESBlonde

How many people die on the UK roads daily?

4.7767 daily average 2012-2015 inclusive according to Wikipedea
 
So statisticly between the Arena attack on the 22nd and tomorrow more people will have died on the roads than in the attack and I suspect way more injured due to improved safety of modern cars.

Have you given up going on the roads?

If you are overweight/drink alcohol/smoke/eat junk food etc. you probably put yourself at a greater risk doing those things than visiting a crowded event.

Drew_TNBD

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. You're not very likely to get your arms and legs blown off when someone jacks your wallet. Eating junk food and having a poor diet is a choice you made.

None of these things are equivalent to a bomb going off in a place unexpectedly.

ESBlonde

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. You're not very likely to get your arms and legs blown off when someone jacks your wallet. Eating junk food and having a poor diet is a choice you made.

None of these things are equivalent to a bomb going off in a place unexpectedly.

Agreed we don't voluntere to be road accident victims but drunks do drive. But the OPs question was more along the lines of would you change your behavior in light of recent events. So if you havent for those sundry random things I listed why would you for this?

digitalscream

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes.

That doesn't alter the chance of it happening on a national scale, though.

Drew_TNBD

digitalscream said:

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes.

That doesn't alter the chance of it happening on a national scale, though.

But the chance of it happening isn't relevant here. What the discussion is about is how people feel. Occurrence frequency isn't a factor in that. Severity is more important.

Terrorism bombings are a hot issue and they tug at the emotions in a way that car crashes and burger diets do not. Because there is a very explicit intention behind it where there isn't with any of the other stuff you guys have brought up.

english_bob

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. 

There aren't many people who walk in to concerts with bombs in their backpacks.

digitalscream

Drew_TNBD said:

digitalscream said:

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes.

That doesn't alter the chance of it happening on a national scale, though.

But the chance of it happening isn't relevant here. What the discussion is about is how people feel. Occurrence frequency isn't a factor in that. Severity is more important.

Terrorism bombings are a hot issue and they tug at the emotions in a way that car crashes and burger diets do not. Because there is a very explicit intention behind it where there isn't with any of the other stuff you guys have brought up.

I guess I'm looking at it in the only way I can - from the perspective of someone who doesn't really get emotional about such things (unless, weirdly, it's a dog that's injured or killed).

ICBM

digitalscream said:

I'm far more concerned about driving up and down the A1, to be honest - regular crashes near us. In fact, I drove past a nasty one yesterday - somebody trying to pull onto the A1 from a standing start (it's a very dangerous junction), misjudged it and got hit by someone at 70. The cars ended up 150 yards down the road, one in the ditch and one one its roof.

Exactly. And five people were killed and one critically injured on the M6 by an HGV driver on Wednesday.

Cirrus

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. You're not very likely to get your arms and legs blown off when someone jacks your wallet. Eating junk food and having a poor diet is a choice you made.

None of these things are equivalent to a bomb going off in a place unexpectedly.

Yet when the question is about a fear of being killed suddenly and unexpectedly by a terrorist, road safety is a fair comparison. Sure, you can make a very compelling argument that when it comes to the road network we all know the risks, the benefits of being able to drive vastly outweigh the cons, and crashes are almost always unintentional. Likewise, that terrorism is deliberate and there's no moral equivalence there.

I'd even agree with your subsequent post that this influences how people *feel* about risks. We are more likely to die falling down the stairs or having a sudden heart attack due to an undiagnosed defect, but people tend to be much more scared of terrorists than they are about the stairs in their home or the gap between heartbeats.

But this thread is about whether terrorism bothers you as an individual. And some people who have replied to that question have been able to make a rational judgement that the fear of terrorism is the fear of unexpected death through no fault of your own, and such an incident is much more likely to happen when you're out driving, or walking your dog when a drunk mounts the pavement. If you were American, I'd add being shot by a criminal or policeman to the list. So to a rational person faced with the question "should I be afraid of terrorism on a day-to-day basis", the answer is "well, you could be, but then you also need to be even more scared of driving to work".

Drew_TNBD

Cirrus said:

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. You're not very likely to get your arms and legs blown off when someone jacks your wallet. Eating junk food and having a poor diet is a choice you made.

None of these things are equivalent to a bomb going off in a place unexpectedly.

Yet when the question is about a fear of being killed suddenly and unexpectedly by a terrorist, road safety is a fair comparison. Sure, you can make a very compelling argument that when it comes to the road network we all know the risks, the benefits of being able to drive vastly outweigh the cons, and crashes are almost always unintentional. Likewise, that terrorism is deliberate and there's no moral equivalence there.

I'd even agree with your subsequent post that this influences how people *feel* about risks. We are more likely to die falling down the stairs or having a sudden heart attack due to an undiagnosed defect, but people tend to be much more scared of terrorists than they are about the stairs in their home or the gap between heartbeats.

But this thread is about whether terrorism bothers you as an individual. And some people who have replied to that question have been able to make a rational judgement that the fear of terrorism is the fear of unexpected death through no fault of your own, and such an incident is much more likely to happen when you're out driving, or walking your dog when a drunk mounts the pavement. If you were American, I'd add being shot by a criminal or policeman to the list. So to a rational person faced with the question "should I be afraid of terrorism on a day-to-day basis", the answer is "well, you could be, but then you also need to be even more scared of driving to work".

The question is 'does it bother you' not necessarily about fear.

CHRISB50

No it doesn't bother me personally.

EricTheWeary

EricTheWeary said:

They've had armed police at the hospital where MrsTheWeary works and tonight it went into lock down for an hour because of a suspicious looking person wandering around. She was an hour late coming out of work so that's been a bother.
My youngest son is off to Slam Dunk this weekend and there has been some family debate about this. He's still going and the security has been improved (why would have it been lax in the first place?). 
Places like the Birmingham Bullring bother me slightly, they can be really packed and a bit claustrophobic on a good day and I feel it wouldn't take a lot to send it into complete melt down. 

Drew_TNBD said:

Cirrus said:

Drew_TNBD said:

There aren't many people who cause crashes on purposes. You're not very likely to get your arms and legs blown off when someone jacks your wallet. Eating junk food and having a poor diet is a choice you made.

None of these things are equivalent to a bomb going off in a place unexpectedly.

Yet when the question is about a fear of being killed suddenly and unexpectedly by a terrorist, road safety is a fair comparison. Sure, you can make a very compelling argument that when it comes to the road network we all know the risks, the benefits of being able to drive vastly outweigh the cons, and crashes are almost always unintentional. Likewise, that terrorism is deliberate and there's no moral equivalence there.

I'd even agree with your subsequent post that this influences how people *feel* about risks. We are more likely to die falling down the stairs or having a sudden heart attack due to an undiagnosed defect, but people tend to be much more scared of terrorists than they are about the stairs in their home or the gap between heartbeats.

But this thread is about whether terrorism bothers you as an individual. And some people who have replied to that question have been able to make a rational judgement that the fear of terrorism is the fear of unexpected death through no fault of your own, and such an incident is much more likely to happen when you're out driving, or walking your dog when a drunk mounts the pavement. If you were American, I'd add being shot by a criminal or policeman to the list. So to a rational person faced with the question "should I be afraid of terrorism on a day-to-day basis", the answer is "well, you could be, but then you also need to be even more scared of driving to work".

The question is 'does it bother you' not necessarily about fear.

Just had a message that West Midlands police are putting on extra cover for public transport as they are expecting hate crime incidents. So, lots of bother without personal fear necessarily, although if I was a Muslim on a bus this afternoon in Birmingham then fear might be a reasonable response.

holnrew

Honestly, for me terrorism is kind of normal to me now. I haven't felt anything since Paris in 2014. I don't have a partner or kids, which might make a difference, but to be honest I feel like my reaction is exactly what terrorists don't want. So fuck em.

Drew_TNBD

holnrew said:

Honestly, for me terrorism is kind of normal to me now. I haven't felt anything since Paris in 2014. I don't have a partner or kids, which might make a difference, but to be honest I feel like my reaction is exactly what terrorists don't want. So fuck em.

Your reaction is exactly what they want. Acceptance and compliance.

bingefeller

Nope, I've live in a country with a constant threat of terrorism so it doesn't make a difference to me. 

TimmyO

underdog said:

......and if so how much?

I appreciate that we have many here who have no choice but enter a large city every day for work but would the latest threat stop you from doing things you usually wouldn't think twice about?

If you had a show/sporting event to attend next week would you still go? If you had an unusually long journey to make by train would you still go? Would you get on a plane? Would you let your loved ones do everything they would normally?

You know that 'keep calm and carry on' thing that got overdone? These situations are what that saying is for.

Fretwired

No. I live in leafy suburbia - biggest threat are OAPs on souped up mobility scooters. Bloody scary .... especially when some old biddy shouts "Oi you - f**k off out the way" in a cut glass upper crust accent. It's discombobulating ... :-)

impmann

No.

Giving the actions of these inadequates the credence of fear is exactly what they crave.
Bollocks to them.

Snap

No, in that it doesn't curtail what I do.

I was in Paris, weeks after the Bataclan, Israel during the last conflict with Palestine (2014), and Istanbul a few times this year. The locals love you being there, and I found this particualrly in Israel.

Don't let these morons stop you.

BigBearKris

Drew_TNBD said:

holnrew said:

Honestly, for me terrorism is kind of normal to me now. I haven't felt anything since Paris in 2014. I don't have a partner or kids, which might make a difference, but to be honest I feel like my reaction is exactly what terrorists don't want. So fuck em.

Your reaction is exactly what they want. Acceptance and compliance.

I cannot agree.

The reaction they want is for you to fear. To fear for your life, to feel constant threat, to make you stop visit other countries  (shootings on the beach) and to raise hate between Muslims and everyone else.

By not being afraid you show them middle finger. 
Not being afraid or bothered on day to day basis doesn't have to mean your ignorance towards the issue.