Irrational Terrorism Essay

In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).

Chapman and Harris then continue to argue that this irrational reaction was caused by the number of deaths that were seen. They argue that there are more deaths due to fatal car accidents and they go on to mention the 2001 earthquake that took place in Gujarat, India that killed nearly 20,000 people (Chapman & Harris, para. 2). We tend to see deaths closer to us as more tragic but forget that there are more people dying across the globe. This argument is valid, however, not to say that 9/11 was not tragic. They continue to present valid arguments and with that also accusing the practice of malice. Malice, according to Chapman and Harris, is th...

... middle of paper ...

...ay from other matters with more promise of making the country a better place” (Chapman & Harris, para. 9). Both seem to believe that we, as the American people, make ourselves look like the victims because of how the media portrays the incidents that are related to terrorism. There are many other incidents across the globe that are killing more and more people every day. There are more people who die from car crashes then there are people who have died due to some sort of terrorism related death. We, as Americans should not make this mistake of letting a tragic incident scare us and divert our attention elsewhere. As Chapman and Harris states, “we seem to have all begun to think of ourselves as terrorist targets, but, in fact, reason tells us we are in much greater danger from our friends and neighbors behind the wheels of their cars.” (Chapman & Harris, para. 9).