Virginia Tech and Security

The recent tragic event at Virginia Tech where a young student went berserk and killed 33 people, including at the end himself, underscores once again how insecure even the most seemingly safe settings can become in this uncertain world.

A college campus is supposed to be a place of learning, of enjoying the social interaction with other vibrant intelligent young people on their way to a life of being productive citizens. It is supposed to be a place of mentoring, where a learned professor can skillfully guide young proteges into careers that promise a lifetime of fulfillment, achievement, and success.

Being shot to death while attending class is the last thing on earth that a college student should have to worry about. Or a college professor. It appears that three professors were included in those killed by the young gunman.

In reading through many comments made so far on the Internet about this sad incident it seems that most of them focus on gun control. Some readers want to arm every student so that they can better defend themselves. Others feel that guns are the problem and that more of them on college campuses would only lead to more such incidents or at the least additional wanton killings.

I’m sure that this argument will continue for some time but it misses the most important fact about security in today’s world. Which unfortunately is that there is precious little if any security for any of us and absolutely no total security for anyone.

Yet the cries spill forth for the government to “do something” to make us all more secure. Since one of the primary functions of government is to provide security for it’s citizens I’m sure that governments will do their best to comply. But their efforts will fall short.

No one in this life is totally secure.

If an enraged gunman doesn’t get you a falling tree might. If a bomb dropped on your village in Afghanistan or Iraq misses you a VIP SUV traveling at a high rate of speed that suddenly veers directly into your path may well finish you off. A fun filled vacation in Rio could instantly turn into a fatal nightmare as you find yourself in the crossfire of two drug gangs shooting it out.

A lot of bad things happen to good and not so good people in this world. Life is sort of like a huge cosmos lottery game where at any moment fame and fortune may turn up or you may find yourself hastily dispatched to whatever lies in the next world.

Or to nothingness. No one knows for sure, do they?

While all of the above is true of course there are precautions that we all can take that will probably prolong our stay on earth. Staying out of war zones is one good idea. About 50,000 Iraqis a month are now following that advice in an effort to extend their lives and to find a better existence.

Not being in the military in Iraq or elsewhere is probably a very good way to extend the probability of living a long life. Those who have never served indeed do owe a debt of gratitude to those who have made sacrifices in order to provide an additional measure of security to their nation’s citizens. Being a warrior is a risky business.

Not working in a coal mine in China is another thing to be avoided if you want to make it to a ripe old age. In recent years over 6,000 workers a year have lost their lives making their more than generous contribution to the robust growth of China’s economy.

Not being a policemen or security guard is also probably a wise way to increase your chances of not taking an early out. Policemen and security guards around the world face increasingly well armed bad guys who are acting more and more like highly organized paramilitary groups rather than run of the mill criminals. The new gangsters are potent life ending forces.

We are all subject to a certain randomness, perhaps you choose to think of it as destiny, as to whether or not we are involved in unpleasant events. Some lucky people lead a life of comparative bliss. Nothing bad ever seems to happen to them. Others must endure a lifetime series of tragedies. No matter how hard they try to avoid misfortune it always catches up with them.

What is a poor world citizen to do? Living deep in the ground in a heavily fortified bunker may provide more security but at what cost to your quality of life? No, living in fortified isolation really isn’t an acceptable solution.

At least not for most folks. I suppose there are some who have already in some fashion gone underground and adapted to a more secure but limited lifestyle but for most of us that is an unpleasant option.

There is no short term answer as to how to lead a normal life and in addition gain increased security. Thinking that the government will solve the problem for you and protect you through thick and thin is foolish thinking. In fact many governments around the world are a major part of the security problem. They terrorize and abuse their own citizens.

In the long run is there a solution?

Perhaps, but it will take a transformation of the world as humans have never before experienced. We humans must learn to treat each other better. To truly act unto others as we would like them to act towards us. We must learn to love our neighbors. To help those in need. To not tolerate corruption and corrupt uncaring politicians. To insist that all men are given an equal chance. To become color blind. To be compassionate towards those who can not take care of themselves due to physical or mental handicaps.

And above all we must learn not to kill each other. Not by senseless wars or by senseless acts of aggression as we have sadly just witnessed at Virginia Tech. Eventually humans will evolve into more peaceful creatures or we will manage to kill ourselves off. A few nuclear exchanges should do that trick.

Even if we were able to somehow transform the world by modifying human behavior we still have Mother Nature and her vast bag of tricks to contend with. Whether we push her along by human activity as with our contributions to global warming or have absolutely no control over what may come next, as with an earthquake or tsunami, Mother Nature has a mind of her own.

And that mind doesn’t consider human security at all.

The bottom line is that at best security is a matter of degrees. In some situations, as being a correspondence in a war zone for example, one should be aware that you are giving up a great deal of security to follow your choose profession. In other situations, such as climate change, none of us are secure from the consequences, no matter where we live. Only by acting together worldwide, each modifying our behavior, can we hope to mitigate the far reaching consequences.

But total security? It doesn’t exist. However, we can all improve our collective security by starting as close to home as we can possibly get. We must modify our human behavior so that we become more caring, compassionate, understanding human beings.

Don’t expect the government to do that for you. That is a huge personal self improvement project that about 6.5 billion people need to take on.

I wouldn’t count on immediate results.

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