A jolt to the system...

Column - Here I am

Abstract

Brooke Aksnes writes: This column was written from Belgium where I live, at the time of the Paris atrocities. Here is the main square of Brussels under maximum security alert. I have been thinking. It is right to encourage and celebrate the everyday fearless acts of citizens in Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia and many other countries, as well as those in Paris and Brussels, that are attacked by terrorists. This helps to know what being a citizen means in an unstable and insecure world. But there is an even bigger issue here: this is a good time for everybody to act as citizens in the face of all other forms of violence and atrocity, small and large, that may affect them, their communities, their countries, or the people of other countries.