There are currently a lot of crazy things going on in the world, and with technology and social media being as prominent as they are, we are able to know more about these instances than ever before. This is both a blessing and a curse. By understanding tragedies, and other forms of craziness that happen on both the national and international level, we are able to learn from them and hopefully develop better strategies to decrease the chances of them happening in the future. The more people who get on board with making a change, the more likely it is that a change will occur. This is the ideology many people, including myself, have when raising awareness about these issues. Sadly, not everyone thinks this way. The "curse" aspect of this awareness is that many individuals and groups, such as people who blindly follow a political party and groups that promote the superiority of a specific set of people, use these tragedies to stir up fear, and cause division amongst the people who want to see a change, inhibiting the chance that a change will occur at all.

In the case of the terrible tragedies in London and Manchester, which were heinous acts committed by evil people resulting in the loss of innocent victims' lives, the fear mongering and division is plentiful as per usual. While there are many of us who want to help the people affected, and raise awareness about the truths and myths surrounding acts of terrorism in the world as well as here in the United States, there are several who wish to use these acts to support an agenda of fear and division. Rather than engage in mature discussion in a manner that shows respect towards the victims and sympathy for the affected communities wherever they may be, too many people choose to play the blame game, and use finger pointing tactics to support their political or social agenda. From the perspective of an American living in the United States, hearing about what is happening in the communities of our British neighbors across the Atlantic Ocean, the divide is very clear amongst many people.

Many Americans with a "Right Wing" viewpoint are using the increase in terrorism within Europe to promote toxic nationalism, intolerance against minority groups, and even more restrictions on the U.S. borders. There are also several Americans who have "Left Wing" viewpoints that act in good-intentions, but don't really do much to solve the problem, usually just blaming access to the weapons used or the conservative machine. Sometimes, they may even just say "My thoughts are with..." and end it at that. The bottom line is that NONE of these tactics are going to solve our world's problems, and they will just end up increasing the divide amongst our population. Obviously, not everyone has these mentioned viewpoints, but there still are too many people that contribute to this divide by blindly following a "Right Wing" versus "Left Wing" mentality, the idea that if someone isn't in 100% agreement with you, then they are against you. This is no way to solve a problem that concerns everyone in the entire world.

Fortunately, there are a lot of things we can do, things that certain individuals and some groups have already been doing. One easy thing to do is avoid fear. When the Manchester attack occurred at Ariana Grande's concert, the terrorists wanted to create fear and chaos in the concert-going community. Instead, a whole concert was held for Manchester to support the victims, show a unified group of individuals, and kick that fear right in the face. Another thing we can do is make sure the information we know is valid. For the many people who use the phrase "Check your privilege," I'm surprised they also haven't added the phrase "Check your sources." News that is biased, unreliable, or just plain fake is more rampant than ever, so it's important to be able to put your political and social beliefs aside in order to find the most valid and trustworthy sources available. These are just two ways that show how differences can be made.

To all my fellow Americans, as well as citizens of the world, remember to stay informed, make a difference when you can, and don't let fear divide us. As soon as we put our differences aside and start banding together for change that benefits everyone, we will be able to finally start putting the axe on horrible acts of terrorism at all levels.