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The horrific act in Nice on July 14, 2016
When things turn out to be so horrific, that words fail, something Merkel said during her Asian trip upon hearing the news as to what happened in Nice when people were watching the end of a firework display to mark celebrations linked to July 14 and a truck ploughed into them, then it is clear that finding words to express something becomes nearly impossible.
It is horrific alone when thinking about the mind set of someone deciding to plow with a truck into a crowd of people who all wish to enjoy being together.
It is horrific that this act of killing innocent by-standers, otherwise called by officials an act of terror, has not found someone speaking out on behalf of the innocent, in order to emphasize the sacredness of human life.
It is horrific that such acts even if executed by a single man can have such a huge impact that everything else is brought into disarray. Kant defined an accident as a collision between the expected and the unexpected, something the Washington Post seems to overlook when claiming an act like this should have been expected.
It is horrific that some causes in poverty, ghetto, etc. are named as reasons for a radicalization which leads to such acts of aggression, when in fact so many grew up in those ghettos and do not give up on their own lives nor on that of others.
It is horrific when the common human bond is cut and birth is given to not new, but the same old method of instilling maximum fear with the least possible resources. Of course, in this case, a truck had to be rented and guns with which he shot into the crowds while ploughing through them had to be obtained from somewhere, but the outcome is disproportionate to what took place in reality.
It is horrific that the media is caught in a dilemma to report the news while at risk to help spread the message of fear. Even though the reporting is done very often with great care and sensitivity, the sensational aspect of the story does play a dominant role. Still, the story keeps repeating itself, one needs only to remind what happened alone in France in January and then in November 2015.
But it is true, no words will do here at the moment. Silence should not be misunderstood as that of the grave, but rather human sub-consciousness must find the common human bond, in order to speak about what matters in life.
HF
Berlin 15.7.2016
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