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It’s not enough to tweet your grief. When terror strikes, do something useful It’s not enough to tweet your grief. When terror strikes, do something useful
(5 months later)
It’s the flowers that arrive first and last the longest. Days after the crowds have thinned out and the internet traffic has slowed on the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie or Paris or, now, Bruxelles , the wilted, decomposing once-living tributes to the newly dead will still be there. They linger until they become not a symbol of death but a version of reality.It’s the flowers that arrive first and last the longest. Days after the crowds have thinned out and the internet traffic has slowed on the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie or Paris or, now, Bruxelles , the wilted, decomposing once-living tributes to the newly dead will still be there. They linger until they become not a symbol of death but a version of reality.
Last night, in the stricken aftermath of the morning’s bombs that killed 34 people, the Place de la Bourse in the heart of old Brussels became the latest assembly point for public expressions of grief and sympathy. Each of these destinations of solidarity innovates: in Brussels, people brought chalk and wrote messages about love and hope across the pavement. Seen all together, these messages unintentionally reflect the complex identity of the city itself.Last night, in the stricken aftermath of the morning’s bombs that killed 34 people, the Place de la Bourse in the heart of old Brussels became the latest assembly point for public expressions of grief and sympathy. Each of these destinations of solidarity innovates: in Brussels, people brought chalk and wrote messages about love and hope across the pavement. Seen all together, these messages unintentionally reflect the complex identity of the city itself.
Related: Europe and US tighten security in wake of Brussels attacks
Sometimes there seems an almost heroic quality to these personal expressions of solidarity. Heading for the city centre, defying the logical instinct telling you to get home and lock the door against a frightening world, making the effort, running what is still potentially a risk, in a familiar world that has become suddenly unfamiliar – this, surely, is an individual act of courage.Sometimes there seems an almost heroic quality to these personal expressions of solidarity. Heading for the city centre, defying the logical instinct telling you to get home and lock the door against a frightening world, making the effort, running what is still potentially a risk, in a familiar world that has become suddenly unfamiliar – this, surely, is an individual act of courage.
Like Parisiens sitting outside bars and brasseries in the aftermath of the shootings in November, each of these small journeys feels like a personal rejection of the message of terror, the most effective answer that anyone can give to the challenge of the jihadis.Like Parisiens sitting outside bars and brasseries in the aftermath of the shootings in November, each of these small journeys feels like a personal rejection of the message of terror, the most effective answer that anyone can give to the challenge of the jihadis.
The urge to solidarity is a very powerful one. It’s why humans are such a successful species. But at some point the genuine if emotional gesture can teeter over into something else altogether. It becomes another version of exhibitionism. It stops being motivated by an outward-looking desire to demonstrate collective resistance and slides into the self-absorbed projection of the individual into whatever event of the day is shocking or enthralling.The urge to solidarity is a very powerful one. It’s why humans are such a successful species. But at some point the genuine if emotional gesture can teeter over into something else altogether. It becomes another version of exhibitionism. It stops being motivated by an outward-looking desire to demonstrate collective resistance and slides into the self-absorbed projection of the individual into whatever event of the day is shocking or enthralling.
Since that is largely what Twitter and other social media is for, maybe it’s self-defeating to rue the rise of hashtag engagement. There is something beguiling for those of us fortunate enough to be a safe distance from tragedy or disaster in sending out virtuous signals of sympathy and right-thinkingness from the warmth and comfort of kitchen or office. It’s not so far from the emotion that causes queues to build up on the opposite carriageway to some episode of motorway carnage. It’s a kind of vicarious, cost-free involvement. But that is all it is.Since that is largely what Twitter and other social media is for, maybe it’s self-defeating to rue the rise of hashtag engagement. There is something beguiling for those of us fortunate enough to be a safe distance from tragedy or disaster in sending out virtuous signals of sympathy and right-thinkingness from the warmth and comfort of kitchen or office. It’s not so far from the emotion that causes queues to build up on the opposite carriageway to some episode of motorway carnage. It’s a kind of vicarious, cost-free involvement. But that is all it is.
Now that it is so easy to do, public sympathy is becoming a corrupted currency. Politicians, terrified of being behind the social media curve, are always at it. Memorialising individual soldiers killed in conflict as happened throughout the last decade may be justifiable (a Blair innovation in the aftermath of Iraq): they were there at the politicians’ behest. But nowadays any disaster that is reported, regardless of how lacking in any but the most personal consequences – terrible though they must be for the families concerned – is treated as a matter for public expressions of sympathy by government and opposition MPs alike.Now that it is so easy to do, public sympathy is becoming a corrupted currency. Politicians, terrified of being behind the social media curve, are always at it. Memorialising individual soldiers killed in conflict as happened throughout the last decade may be justifiable (a Blair innovation in the aftermath of Iraq): they were there at the politicians’ behest. But nowadays any disaster that is reported, regardless of how lacking in any but the most personal consequences – terrible though they must be for the families concerned – is treated as a matter for public expressions of sympathy by government and opposition MPs alike.
Now that it is so easy to do, public sympathy is becoming a corrupted currencyNow that it is so easy to do, public sympathy is becoming a corrupted currency
Not many people are prepared, in private, to be thought heartless. But at some point, perhaps around the time of the death of Princess Diana, somehow the bar for proving that one was a sentient human being, the one over which public figures are obliged to leap, got raised to include a proven capacity for grief. Even the throne itself appeared fleetingly to tremble under the mute disapproving roar of a tear-stained public, until the flag was lowered to half mast and the Queen herself was made to walk unconvincingly into the sea of cellophane-wrapped flowers to show solidarity.Not many people are prepared, in private, to be thought heartless. But at some point, perhaps around the time of the death of Princess Diana, somehow the bar for proving that one was a sentient human being, the one over which public figures are obliged to leap, got raised to include a proven capacity for grief. Even the throne itself appeared fleetingly to tremble under the mute disapproving roar of a tear-stained public, until the flag was lowered to half mast and the Queen herself was made to walk unconvincingly into the sea of cellophane-wrapped flowers to show solidarity.
Perhaps, now that it is possible for politicians and public figures to be so infinitely accessible, it has also become necessary for them to be infinitely accessible; and if it is necessary, then they have to demonstrate the characteristics that voters find desirable. That’s become just another cost of public life. As for the rest of us, maybe rather than just tweeting about it we should get out and do something useful. There’s even a hashtag to help: #ikwilhelpen. That’s if you’re in Belgium and can offer practical support – a room, a meal, or just invaluable comfort. Otherwise there’s the Belgian Red Cross, or there’s already a dedicated fundraising page for victims and their families. And if you can’t do those, you can always give blood.Perhaps, now that it is possible for politicians and public figures to be so infinitely accessible, it has also become necessary for them to be infinitely accessible; and if it is necessary, then they have to demonstrate the characteristics that voters find desirable. That’s become just another cost of public life. As for the rest of us, maybe rather than just tweeting about it we should get out and do something useful. There’s even a hashtag to help: #ikwilhelpen. That’s if you’re in Belgium and can offer practical support – a room, a meal, or just invaluable comfort. Otherwise there’s the Belgian Red Cross, or there’s already a dedicated fundraising page for victims and their families. And if you can’t do those, you can always give blood.