The only sane response to terror is simply to carry on

The London bombings brought to mind an awful scene from Terry Gilliam's science fiction film Brazil. Gilliam, a former member of the Monty Python British comedy team, has a penchant for dark irony, and Brazil, released in 1985, has just enough creepy irony to be almost funny — a Pythonesque spin on George Orwell's 1984.

In the scene I remember, a terrorist bomb goes off in a crowded restaurant. The restaurant's proprietors quickly erect a folding screen around the area of destruction and, despite the lingering glimpses of gore, encourage the remaining diners to continue enjoying their meal.

Following the bombings of the London transit system, we learned that financial traders went about their business — that the markets, reflected by the Dow Jones industrial average, finished higher on the day of the attacks. We saw images of London commuters making their way home that evening, stonefaced, as if afflicted by a transit worker strike rather than a terrorist threat.

It brought to mind Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's admonition to New Yorkers following the 9/11 attacks: "Go shopping! Take in a show!" Life goes on.

Indeed, life must go on, though it risks playing like Brazil. But this isn't insensitivity to the lives lost. It's simply how we defy the terrorists and their threat.

The London attackers issued no warnings, for such a communication would have suggested: "We have something to negotiate." Neither was this a strike on military targets. The coordinated bombing of commuter trains and a bus at the height of rush hour was an act of pure terror. Its purpose was to scare the living daylights out of us. Confronted with that reality, we have two choices: to go about our business — "get on with it," as the British are saying — or to run and hide. If we let the events force us into hiding, the terrorists achieve their aim. If we go about our business, we give them the finger.

Everyone knows that every time you step off a curb, there's a possibility — ranging from slim to fair, depending on where you live — that you'll be struck by a car. It's the same every time you get behind the wheel. And on any given day you might wind up the victim of a crime — including a terrorist bombing.

Homeland security? As Sun Microsystems' Scott McNealy is purported to have said about privacy on the Internet: "We have none. Get used to it."

By Stephan Ohr (sohr@cmp.com), EE Times' online content editor