There is a thought experiment that David Foster Wallace proposed in a November 2007 Atlantic article entitled “Just Asking” that struck me as I reflected on the horror at Sandy Hook. It goes something (exactly) like this: “What if we chose to accept the fact that every few years, despite all reasonable precautions, some hundreds or thousands of us may die in the sort of ghastly terrorist attack that a democratic republic cannot 100-percent protect itself from without subverting the very principles that make it worth protecting?”

DFW was of course writing in reference to the terror attacks of 9/11, but it seems to have some application in the aftermath of the shootings in Newtown, Conn. The weapon that was used to commit the shootings wasn’t illegally acquired nor were those used at Columbine. The terror would not have been averted by tighter gun laws. What else can be done? Invest more in mental health care? Sure, but it won’t catch everyone.

What was so shocking and continues to terrify so many in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School is that when the parent’s young child asks, “Will I be safe at school?” they can no longer assume with 100 percent certainty that they will. This is the reality of living in a democratic republic where angry, intelligent and determined people will, from time to time, inflict massive harm on our society. We should go to lengths to defend ourselves from them, but part of being an adult is realizing how childish it is to believe that we can be 100 percent safe from any harm without the sacrifice of enormous wealth or the subversion of freedoms. It is time to ask ourselves just how much this fear should be allowed to dominate public discourse.

Eric Brickman,

2010 graduate of LAS