To be worried that these random terrorist attacks are our new way of life?

[Cguk81]

Having just seen the news about another horrific attack at a shopping mall in Munich I can't help but feel that this is becoming a way of life from now on. Will it ever come to an end or is it just going to get worse and worse and something we are all going to have to live with. I find it so terrifying.
And as I'm typing this I can hear Donald Trump's acceptance speech for the presidential nomination on the news which makes the future seem even more terrifying. How can I stop living in fear of the future? I feel like taking my family and heading for the hills.

"We have to accept that multiculturalism has failed and we need to have people with different beliefs living in different countries. Until Islam reforms we will never be able to integrate peacefully."

Oh fuck off. This is racist tosh. Do you have any idea how offensive this is? (Not to mention incorrect.)

Or how many bombs have been rained on the Middle East?

It's got fuck all to do with multiculturalism.

I remember worrying about the IRA (someone at school was near harrods when it was bombed) and avoiding walking past the recruiting office. that was easier to avoid as they went for bombs near army targets.. (at least you felt you could do something to reduce the odds)

also the cold war. lots of nuclear catastrophies being predicted, which seemed terrifying as a preteen/teen

this is really scary. anywhere could be hit and they move about really fast with guns/vehicles. there is nothing we can do to minimise the risk without avoiding going into cities or shops at all.

No blink I am not a military expert. However, don't assume I cannot use my brain here, I base my comments on my experience with certain muslims I knew when I was growing up. Climate change wasnt the reason why they called people kafir every day....

We've just voted to renew trident though, so we're totally safe #SmugFace

I grew up in NI we didn't fear bombs - we feared the British soldiers, who sexually harassed us while we walked to school, on an almost daily basis!

Yanbu op. This is just the start!

"We have to accept that multiculturalism has failed and we need to have people with different beliefs living in different countries."

What the fuck?
Where should all the atheists go? Or should we ship off the Christians?

afro I would say there is a general consensus among experts that climate change / oil shortages are fundamental factors contributing to the current situation.
War is nearly always, at its heart, about struggles over power and resources. (Whatever religious overtones it employs)

I do worry, I really worry. But life is always uncertain, it's just harder to avoid right now due to the randomness of these attacks.

But look back at Ira/Cold War/ww2 etc

And all around the world today people live with uncertainty, war and terror. I wish they didn't, but they do.

Not trying to belittle the fears, or the events, they are awful and horrific partly due to their randomness. But those of us astonished by them are lucky in a strange way that to us it is so unusual.

Nothing is guaranteed in life. As I sat and drank a leisurely cup of coffee earlier this week my little boy (who was elsewhere) was fighting for his life. Chilled me when I got the news. (He's all fine now ) . Treasure every day.

I have massive anxiety issues (being treated!). I live and grew up in France but also lived in Munich for a while and it all feels so close to home. This evening I have spent hours contacting friends in Munich and watching the horror.

I know that these attacks are daily occurrences in some countries (I've recently translated a film on Syria and was utterly shocked and sickened) but these feel so close to home. Just this evening as we ate our meal I realized the jug we were using came from the OEZ.

I know about risk perception and everything but yes, they have won and I am living in fear.

Yes absolutely throwing
Whether its religious fanatics or far right plonkers, there really is nothing you can do. Soft targets mean that it could literally be any place, any time. I feel very sad for our children and wish i knew what the solution was 😕but daily life must go on snd we have to make the best of it.

Good to hear about your little boy.

I was born and raised in N.I. I know all about the terror there. Yes we worried about bombs but we never worried about suicide bombers, that is another level of terror.

Its not racist to suggest that if you mix to many people together to fast who have different cultures then it will cause enormous problems and that is what we are seeing.

For those who dont what multiculturalism means: it doesn't mean different religions, it means different CULTURES.

WTF has climate change go to do with Islamist terrorists murdering germans?

The point about climate change is that it can destabilise regions and make people vulnerable to joining extremist organisations.

The Syria arguement is that there was a series of droughts pushing people from rural areas to the cities where they failed to prosper and failed to be supported by the state. This bred political dissatisfaction which was one of the triggers contributing to the protests, which the government cracked down on, triggering civil war, triggering a messy political vacuum for ISIS to exploit.

It's not a direct trigger in Europe, but the climate change evidence is that the Middle East and many parts of Africa are vulnerable. We hear less of organisations such as Boko Haram, but there are similar proxy wars throughout Africa. The influence of these organisations is then directly felt in other parts like Europe.

It is a depressing state of affairs, however I remind myself that my children are much safer than my grandmother's childhood in WWII.

I'm worried, extremely so. I have family who frequently travel to London and I'm terrified that I'm going to lose them, but life has to go on. Perhaps it's naive of me to hope that all this horror and fear in the world might bring us together to say 'we are frightened and we are disgusted, but we are still standing'. I realise that sounds like something you'd hear before going over the top of the trenches but I do honesty hope we can find some sort of comfort at times like this.

"I grew up in NI we didn't fear bombs - we feared the British soldiers, who sexually harassed us while we walked to school, on an almost daily basis!"

These are my fears. Islamic terrorism is a strawman they use to cow, dispossess and frighten us. These people have been armed and funded and let in deliberately. This has been done so many times before, to so many different types of people and actually we have sick, pedophilic weirdos in charge of us who are so pissed off noone respects them despite their ill-gotten gains that they would destroy their own society.

"If it wasn't for religion these people would find an alternative reason for being a terrorist IMO. "

Exactly.

Human beings have shown time and time in history that they are really good at finding justifications for killing one another :(

I also grew up in NI during the troubles and would like to know exactly what the fuck you mean peachpudding when you say the IRA attacks were bad but not as bad! What the actual fuck? Have you any idea how fucking offensive that is? I'd like you to say that to the face of the family of one of the over 3600 people who died! In a tiny country like NI the troubles affected everyone, how bloody dare you say it wasn't that bad!

I know the odds of heart failure/cancer etc are higher but they are also to a certain extent unavoidable. Terrorism feels like it should be avoidable as it's just so senseless but unfortunately it is not when there is so much hate in the world. It is a scary time to be bringing kids up. I was born in 76 and vaguely remember an expolsion at an RAF base near my high school but I didn't really understand what was going on and thankfully no one was hurt. Now my little children are constantly exposed to these horrible world events on the news and it is a bit depressing

my DH works in an armed police unit in London.
He travels there everyday to do his job and protect people.
I really don't worry about him going there and I would happily visit.
He says an attack is likely but they (security services) stop far more than you will ever hear about.

simmi - I don't understand this: "Now my little children are constantly exposed to these horrible world events on the news and it is a bit depressing"

My little children have no idea about any of these horrible world events. I don't expose them to this stuff on the news. I don't know why anyone would? Just watch the news when they are in bed.

I've just paid the deposit for ds school trip to Germany next summer.
Would I have still paid it today? Probably.
I refuse to live in fear of these attacks, I suffer with extreme anxiety and have had to learn to deal with things like ds going to Wembley or to watch his football team for example.
We went to Turkey in May and would return again, this could happen absolutely anywhere at all.
Nowhere is safe from these vile creatures, that's my coping strategy anyway and I appreciate it won't work for everyone.

N.I. was as bad: you must have a short memory (or not been alive) if you can't recall it.

In some senses it was worse because it occurred within such a small area, those living there weren't just scare of 'it might happen', they know it would. The it might happen occurred in English cities certainly, but no in Northern Ireland. Imagine that, day it, day out. I think I read that every (extended) family in Northen Ireland has a member killed because of 'the troubles'.

It was certainly different, today's terror attacks are about religion (religion was involved in N.I. but it wasn't the reason), they seem to occur anywhere, without warning, and involve someone who doesn't seem afraid of dying, nor killing those who are in the same religion that they think the are doing it in the name of.

You still can't let it stop you, though it'd be wise to think about where you're going on holiday it you are still inclined to want to. Yes, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow or Cardiff could be targeted as well as London, but there's high security alert in place on a lot of cities without you being aware.