Johnny E. Mahaffey The Novelist Portent
April 23, 2013

BOSTON BOMB - BROTHER IMPERTINENCE

Now first off let me clarify my choice of words -- according to my Oxford (6th ed. Vol 1. pg. 1337), the 2nd meaning to the word "impertinence" is: "The fact or character of being out of place; inappropriateness; absurdity. Also, an instance of this; an incongruity..."

And as media and authorities search through a situation infused with incoherence and anarchist behavior -- I say focus more on the irrelevance of the brothers and their very existence. Their very life was out of place. Which, I feel was the problem, just as their own uncle suggested to news reports; the brothers just couldn't hack it as Americans. They were losers that failed at reality, maladjusted posers.

From the start, I knew the whole thing reeked of high school kid-ish antics -- 1990s style Anarchist Cookbook bombs with technological twists added, and Grand Theft Auto inspired strike techniques. I mean seriously guys, no masks or anything whatsoever to conceal yourselves? That was a suicide bombing from the moment they stepped onto the street. The younger brother will join the older soon (I guess he's still alive, I haven't caught anything about him on the news lately), will join the older once the courts are done.

Do kids of the future have to read of these two blundering poser terrorists in history books to come? I mean, I realize cops and psychologists need and want to know the whys of such acts; but sometimes it's not that complicated, these two were unfit to be Americans and access to bomb making information is too readily found and untagged on our internet. And in a way, all the reporting just stirs up the pot, inspiring other wannabe-poser-terrorists to go out and... be famous, even if it's just for five minutes.

America worships violence, and if you don't think so -- turn on a TV, watch a movie, or play a video game; and then when all this pixel created bloodshed makes its way from our "entertainment" screens to our "news" screens, everyone gets all shocked. Bombings in the city? It goes on millions of times a day in bedrooms and living rooms across the U.S. and world. Even on our mobile devices, people sit enthralled by actors in Hollywood or avatars in virtual reality kill, rob, rape, and spread each other's entrails across the screen as if it's all just fine. But it's not just fine.

I don't think America can point the finger at just another country or religion for the creation of these brothers, they are products of modern society as a whole, and are reflective of its shortcomings. Unfortunately, we'll see more of these types of events, it's inevitable. It's like Tyler Durden spoke of in Fight Club, how today's kids are a generation raised to think that they're special, that they're entitled, and every single individual can and will be rich and famous -- then, when they find out that "American Dream" is in fact just a pipe dream created by WalMart-like giants that just want consumers to do what they do best, consume. They get pissed.

Nobody wants to be a nobody; that's why things like Facebook work so well as a business model. Human vanity. I mean come on, the very name "Facebook" is narcissistically suggestive.

I don't think religion is to blame for this one.

This is much deeper and more problematic. I was surprised at how quick the media was to dehumanize the brothers' connections to foreign nations and foreign beliefs -- "Oh no", they thought, "these aren't Christians, these aren't Americans." They want an easy explanation, and an explanation that doesn't hit so close to home.

No country is "special" and no life is more valuable than another. No religion is correct, they are all conjecture and rely on the same thing to exist, faith and faith alone. So that means all religions are equal. All countries and their people are equal. Some countries and some religions have horrible rulers but those are the actions of a few select people, not the group. The acts of these brothers reflects on humans as a whole, and current society.

My heart goes out to all the victims.

The families and the city itself, that will have to deal with this horrific Hollywood-Video Game-TV-like event that crossed over into the reality of their lives.

Seriously, have you seen the previews for this new movie called "The Purge" -- I mean come on, WTF. You know kids will be seeing that, and when they get all this stuff put into them on such a daily conscious and subconscious level, there has to be some negative effects in the long run. I don't think we've even yet hit the tip of the iceberg of what's to come, when we're raising a world without sensitivity to blood. Look at how violent humans are throughout history, and those people grew up without Hollywood or Grand Theft Auto!