The terrorist bombings have created fear in our hearts. But it is not fear of death at the hands of rabid thugs, but our own reaction to what is happening — our indifference, reluctance, and inability to feel compassion is what is scary.

I have to say that I am not a pessimist, and never was. All my life I, and everyone around me, thought me an optimist. Always and everywhere I used to see only the good. Even where at first glance there was nothing pleasant at all. I only watch nice, pleasant movies. A crime show, which is what it should be called, I only watch on TV. I do not view the death of parents, or severe diseases in children, as punishments, but as an alternative to something worse, something that we cannot mentally grasp at that moment. In short, I live according to two principles: ‘tomorrow will be better than yesterday’ and ‘the morning is wiser than the night before’.

But the blasts in the Moscow subway have driven me past that ‘point’. It has become scary. I am scared at my reaction to what is going on.

I watch the ‘News’. They show a subway station wall perforated by pieces of metal, nuts, and bolts. Blood and smoke. Someone is running, someone is lying on the ground. Someone is helping others to escape this Hell. Almost 40 killed and 69 others injured. They show people: bloodied, bandaged, and barely moving. Members of the law enforcement agencies comment on what is going on. The president and prime minister make statements about the incident and call on us to strengthen the fight against these renegades, to be more alert and inform, inform, inform…

It is scary, but I continue to dine: hunger is not ignored, like an aunt. A tiny thought leaks out of my brain: something small and torn up. I look at lists of survivors and victims: those who were carrying ID or were identified by others. It looks like there was no one I knew there. I can relax.

For a moment I try to imagine myself in the place of one of the mothers, daughters, or grandmothers of the maimed, or, God forbid, the dead, but it rouses an inner voice. No, no, no! I have enough of my own problems. My own, my own. But these are people just like me and I cannot ignore my conscience. They also wished to love and help their loved ones and rejoice in the successes of their children. But some will never return, and others will never return to previous lives. For them it is all gone and will never be again. There will be only fear. Fear in the heart and in the mind. It will be scary to go underground on the escalator, to enter the subway car. One has to go and look around for suspicious people who stand apart from the crowd: at their faces, clothes, and baggage. For a day or two, at least, then it will get boring. Worries and cares. How to pay for the apartment, what to feed the kids, where to get money for hospital and school?

It is scary, but the vast majority of us broke away from their constant routine only after hearing about the Moscow blasts. Reports on endless bombings in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan have long ceased to shock. We have grown accustomed. Who still remembers when the Moscow — St. Petersburg train was blown up? Other than relatives of the victims, only a handful remembers. And Dubrovka? And Beslan? They ogled for a day or two, cried, and then forgot.

We have grown accustomed to the fact that ‘money can do anything’. It can place explosives downtown, get citizenship in a day, get twenty illegals registered in the same tiny room, ‘write off’ military weapons, and ‘close the eyes’ of guardians of law and order. Really, do those who take this money, do they not realize that they are being paid for the future deaths of children, relatives, and simply good people?

It is scary that a natural expression of human emotions — helping loved ones — is perceived to be heroic. We are surprised by reports of ordinary motorists, on learning of the tragedy in the subway, offering free rides from one station to another. But this literally pales in comparison to other reactions to the tragedy. Taxi drivers, using the lack of transport as a pretext, demanded fares of four thousand rubles. Scammers pretending to be victims sent out text messages begging Muscovites to transfer 600 rubles to their accounts, saying that otherwise they could not say tell their loved ones what was happening to them.

It is scary when you see many politicians using the subway attacks to remind us of their existence and put forward ideas on reorganizing the existing system. Gentlemen, where were you before?

And what explosions they were! Here, perhaps, they will name the perpetrators. With luck they will pick up their trail, and maybe even destroy them. But will they ever find who was responsible for the deaths of retirees in Voronezh and St. Petersburg, killed by falling chunks of ice hitting them on the head? I doubt it. Or will action will be taken against the 26-year-old school principal in the Vorobiev district that smoked marijuana right in the middle of the street. He was released after signing a statement ‘his own way’. Surely no one knew previously about his ‘misbehavior’? Surely, they knew or guessed, but they preferred to remain silent. It is difficult to get men to work in schools, especially young men.

«The memorial to Lena Frolova, placed next
to the Voronezh Institute of Genetics, reminding us
that terrorists kill not only in Moscow.»

It is scary that we are accustomed to the sight of blood, death, and suffering. But we have grown unaccustomed to seeing the person, to seeing their sorrow, tears, feelings, and desperation. We watch television shows such as ‘Court Hour’, ‘Federal Judge’, ‘Criminal Russia’, they are on every channel at the most convenient times. Actors everywhere, but can we believe them? No. And so, there is nothing to worry about. We are indifferent to one, to two, to three, to everyone, except our self.

That is how to become selfish. Who now will stop and help someone cross the street, bag their groceries and carry them home? At best, one in a hundred. Who will give up their seat on the bus? Practically no one. So what if a pregnant woman has to stand, or a crippled old woman, or a mother with a baby in her arms. It is better to cover ones eyes, stare at a newspaper or talk on the cell phone. It is scary that we have all grown accustomed to it. We are, and so are the elderly. We take mutual indifference for granted.

Children care not one iota for their parents. They demand expensive ‘smart’ phones so that, while sitting in class, they can scribble text messages or ‘download’ music. And just let the teacher dare make a comment. Or, God forbid, take away their ‘toy’. Immediately come running angry parents who previously could never be summoned to the school.

We, alas, have started to perceive wild cases as merely information, not as a pretext for action. We do not live in China.

That is where there are a billion and a half people and someone saw on the Internet a video of a woman in spike heels stomping a tiny kitten to death. They became indignant and they did not just tell their friends, but conducted an investigation. Without waiting for a reward or claim to the role of national hero, they found out where the shoes were made, where they were sold, and who bought them. And found the woman. The guilty person was punished and the country was told about the crime. But from the killing of a defenseless kitten to the deprivation of human life is but a single step. Human life is priceless. There will never be another just like it. So they say in crowded and peaceful China.

But we live in Russia. And one does not wish, really does not wish, to become accustomed to death.

Comments (4)

2. Бесновалась молодежь Written by Илья Азар , on 04-04-2010 08:26 … На Триумфальной площади бесновалась прокремлевская молодежь. Придумали этот митинг они еще до теракта (чтобы занять место традиционной акции оппозиционеров в защиту свободы собраний) и отменять не стали, на скорую руку переформатировав его в антитеррористический. Свой митинг-концерт кремлевская «молодежка» (в том числе, «Молодая гвардия «Единой России») устроила на третий день после теракта, когда по православной традиции принято хоронить погибших. На митинге со своими бессмысленными оптимистичными речами (за которые их когда-то очень точно назвали «ликующей гопотой») выступали молодежные активисты. «Мое поколение – без ограничения!», «Нас не учили любить родину. Мы сами ее любим. Кстати, 5 сентября я женился, и у меня будет сын, Юрка», – кричали они со сцены. Фоном для этих бессмысленных выступлений были транслируемые на огромный экран фотографии и видеоролики с взорванными вагонами и телами погибших. Еще было много песен. На всю площадь громыхали из колонок группа «Сплин» и «Алиса». Менее известные музыканты перед размахивающими флагами активистами живьем пели что-то про «безоблачный день» и про то, что «мы никогда не умрем»… Report

Write Comment
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze — www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved