The Quality of Interactions
"Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." - John Steinbeck
I’ve been trying to write an entirely different, somewhat fluffy, post for the past week, but I have been failing miserably on account of the horrific events in Dublin last Thursday. They poisoned my brain and none of it makes any sense to me whatsoever. The fact that something so awful could happen to small children and their carer completely defies my comprehension. I do not know why or how someone could possibly attack small children with a knife. Equally confusing to me is why people would go out and burn vehicles as a protest against same, though I do understand why they would be inclined to go out and protest. The general sense I get from people is that they are not anti-immigrant, but that they are concerned that there is insufficient vetting of people that come here to live here, and people are terrified of voicing those concerns for fear of being branded with various slurs.
The media keeps saying that the protesters were “Far Right” but breaking into shoe shops and stealing Nikes and sports clothing does not really strike me as an ideologically motivated activity. Nor does setting fire to buses and police vehicles. Such behaviour strikes me more as the actions of people who will simply use any excuse to rampage. It is not patriotic behaviour to set ablaze the capital city of a country that you claim to love.
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