war? terrorism? say what?

War. Probably the first thing that comes to one’s mind when the word arises is an international dispute between two or more countries. War in today’s context does not only involve guns and bombs. Neither does it entail the swords and catapults of the ancient times. It constitutes of even more devastating, yet discreet, instruments. We now see chemical and biological substances incorporated into the arsenal of parties involved in their respective wars. With all these changes and prevalence of war and acts of terrorism, one may ask, how much does it concern me?

Most of us are not involved in the war directly, nor are we around to manufacture weapons for the use of war. However, it is safe to assume that every one of us is concerned with the situation in areas where acts of terrorism and war are rampant. In any case, we in Singapore do not have direct relations with anyone involved in international disputes nor acts of terrorism. Even so, we do feel a need to keep in touch with this global dilemma.

We, oblivious as it may seem, might actually be influenced by the media as well as the social groups around us. We are forced to have an opinion about war and its consequences. In a way, the society or social group that we belong to influences our train of thought and hence, our opinions might not reflect accurately on what we are actually thinking. We are involuntarily being pulled on the social bandwagon. At the same time, we are exposed to numerous social entities. Thus our opinions vary accordingly. On the one hand, diversifying relationships and having different ideas on one matter is commendable as we are exposed to the varied opinions around us. On the other hand, in the case where there is an ever changing set of opinions, our own opinions might then be muddled up to a point where we will face difficulties to hold on to a fixed idea.

As such is the situation with the notion of war and terrorism. On top of the exposure from these entities, our views of war are also influenced by the media. Thus, with these differing ideas at bay, we have a variety of notions available for us to believe in. However, this does not necessarily translate to any one of them being the one that we strongly believe in.

Hence, concern is undoubtedly omnipresent in oneself with respect to such notions. But how much it concerns us, what we think of the differing ideas, and what we personally feel about it would be vital in determining our actions. In any case, we could be the follower to the already prevalent notions of war and terrorism. On another note, we could already be part of the group, and we are the ones to influence and inject others with our opinion on the matter.

On a final note, the gist of the matter on war and terrorism is that it is relatively a subjective matter at hand. One might feel that war is necessary, whereas another might find it to be objectionable. So too is the case in terrorism. On a personal note, I feel that the difference between war and terrorism is how the media portrays them. Guns, bombs, and conflicting ideas; all are prevalent in both war and terrorism. The difference between them is how we conceive them to be.

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