Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to stop reading the news, and step away from your computer for awhile. Crime is lower than it has been in decades. America is finally waking up to the horrors of racism. ISIS is collecting all the crazies where they can eventually self-destruct in one place, and I think, waking up a lot of people in the Muslim world to what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism is.

I can assure you that even before ISIS,!most Muslims did not support Islamic fundamentalism

Here we go.......

Anonymous wrote:I also feel like nowhere is truly safe. But I grew up in DC when the area was much more dangerous overall, so I've felt this way for a long time. Other incidents like 9/11, etc just piled on. I've grown accustomed to the feeling, and I can't say that's really a good thing, but I don't feel intense worry anymore.

+1

MIL has lived here even longer than me, and she is an anxious mess. I believe to get rid of anxiety, you might want to consider slower paced areas with jobs (they absolutely exist). The constant traffic and headaches just "surround" you, if you let them, OP. I think the longer you are here, the longer you get sucked into the idea of "false superiority", but no place is more safe than the others. Look at the CT shootings, for instance. Crazy people are everywhere - just more pronounced in places like DC.

Turn off the TV. Stop reading the internet for news for a week. Honestly, you won't miss much.

Get out and meet some new people, especially people under 30.

If you had been borne in the Wild West people would be shooting each other in the streets on a daily basis, and with a much less dense population. It makes the ghettos of Baltimore seem comparatively safe

Actually I don't. In the past 20 years our population has increased a lot and murder rates are down by almost half. That isn't to say it's good, just a lot better. So I guess while I am more aware of situations which can escalate I feel less threatened than before.

I do however have to acknowledge that perception can feel like reality. But that perception is largely related to our media (tabloid) saturated society, I liken them to hookers on the corner, for creating said perception.

Yes. Then I take my Xanax and carry on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to stop reading the news, and step away from your computer for awhile. Crime is lower than it has been in decades. America is finally waking up to the horrors of racism. ISIS is collecting all the crazies where they can eventually self-destruct in one place, and I think, waking up a lot of people in the Muslim world to what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism is.

I can assure you that even before ISIS,!most Muslims did not support Islamic fundamentalism

Where did I say most Muslims support Islamic fundamentalism? I said it is waking people up to what Islamic fundamentalism is- my family is from a Muslim country and a lot of people may not be Islamic fundamentalists, but they tolerate fundamentalism sort of as if it is the same as being pious or just very observant. There was a culture of staying silent and refusing to challenge anyone who appeared to have a motive based on religion. Now people are fighting back against that more and thinking more critically about these issues, and I see that as a good thing.

Sorry what I meant is that they did not support it back then because even then, Muslims knew what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism was. Even so, the culture of silence and acceptance is still very strong in these countries and I don't think much has changed in that regard. Muslims here are talking about it more no doubt. What I would agree with is that it is waking up a lot of "nonmuslims" to the realities of Islamic extremism. Now that they are seeing other Muslims being slaughtered in greater numbers than nonmuslims, people are becoming less likely to associate all Muslims with terrorism, which is certainly a good thing

OP here. Thanks. PPs have cheered me up a little and given some perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to stop reading the news, and step away from your computer for awhile. Crime is lower than it has been in decades. America is finally waking up to the horrors of racism. ISIS is collecting all the crazies where they can eventually self-destruct in one place, and I think, waking up a lot of people in the Muslim world to what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism is.

I can assure you that even before ISIS,!most Muslims did not support Islamic fundamentalism

Where did I say most Muslims support Islamic fundamentalism? I said it is waking people up to what Islamic fundamentalism is- my family is from a Muslim country and a lot of people may not be Islamic fundamentalists, but they tolerate fundamentalism sort of as if it is the same as being pious or just very observant. There was a culture of staying silent and refusing to challenge anyone who appeared to have a motive based on religion. Now people are fighting back against that more and thinking more critically about these issues, and I see that as a good thing.

Anonymous wrote:You need to stop reading the news, and step away from your computer for awhile. Crime is lower than it has been in decades. America is finally waking up to the horrors of racism. ISIS is collecting all the crazies where they can eventually self-destruct in one place, and I think, waking up a lot of people in the Muslim world to what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism is.

I can assure you that even before ISIS,!most Muslims did not support Islamic fundamentalism

Just about anywhere you go is safe. The likelihood of any of those events happening to you is slim to none. People have been killing others in cold blood since basically forever. life is short , don't let something like that get you down

You need to stop reading the news, and step away from your computer for awhile. Crime is lower than it has been in decades. America is finally waking up to the horrors of racism. ISIS is collecting all the crazies where they can eventually self-destruct in one place, and I think, waking up a lot of people in the Muslim world to what the endgame of Islamic fundamentalism is.

Nope. We live in an extremely low-crime, very safe area, with very little childhood disease, and lots of safety gear. This is the easiest time and place, by far, to raise a child (well, maybe parts of Europe are better).

Hearing it on the news 24/7, however, is enough to make anyone depressed. And just because we are very safe, that doesn't mean we shouldn't work to make things even safer. But please don't let the headlines (if it bleeds, it leads) get you down. It warps reality.

I also feel like nowhere is truly safe. But I grew up in DC when the area was much more dangerous overall, so I've felt this way for a long time. Other incidents like 9/11, etc just piled on. I've grown accustomed to the feeling, and I can't say that's really a good thing, but I don't feel intense worry anymore.

Between school shootings, metro stabbings, psychos killing colleagues and posting the video online, terrorism and ISIS beheadings, and random street violence, I feel a sad sense that I have nowhere to go to protect my family. I know that the risk of each of these incidents is relatively low. But reading about them constantly (there's some new sick killing every day) has made me feel surrounded and anxious. I wish I could move back to my small hometown but I know that's not safe either. On top of all this, I'm depressed that so many people are, well, depressed enough to want to kill other people and make them suffer. I feel powerless to change any of this, with so many sick and sad people apparently wishing to hurt others. It is so foreign to me and makes me feel sad for my children to grow up in a world like this.

I know there's not much to say, but the latest articles on this shooter in VA don't seem to bode well for American society and where we're going.