There is something important about the accumulation of these random killing sprees \u2014 the way it affects the social psychology and the culture we all inhabit. We are living in the age of small terror. . . .<\/p>\n
These diverse acts of small terror have combined to create a general state of anxiety.<\/p>\n
Fear is an emotion directed at a specific threat, but anxiety is an unfocused corrosive uneasiness. In the age of small terror this anxiety induces a sense that the basic systems of authority are not working, that those in charge are not keeping people safe.<\/p>\n
\n
People are more likely to have a background sense that life is nastier and more precarious \u2014 red in tooth and claw. They pull in the tribal walls and distrust the outsider. This anxiety makes everybody a little less humane. . . .<\/p>\n
The anxiety caused by small terror can produce nasty mental habits. Mental resilience becomes as important as physical resilience.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the course of a larger essay on the world\u2019s political woes, David Brooks points out that all of the major acts of terrorism have had the effect of creating a cultural climate of anxiety, suspicion, and insecurity that he calls \u201csmall terror.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,37,46],"tags":[4231,4357],"class_list":["post-22970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-psychology","category-terrorism","tag-small-terror","tag-terrorism"],"yoast_head":"\n
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