12. What long term impact will the terror attacks at the Boston Marathon have on western civilization?

The Boston Marathon bombings have not only devastated a world re-known event, but have also solidified the fear of terrorism in western civilization. Although this is a seemingly minor incident relative to other acts of terrorism across the globe, the media has successfully publicized this event on a large scale (in other words, the media has deemed it to be a top priority story simply because it occurred in the US). In terms of presenting possible long term impacts of this event, I believe it has successfully achieved the following; informed us of how vulnerable we are in public and that acts of terrorism are still achievable within North America. The former simply serves as a reminder, however the latter has successfully reintroduced the fear of terrorism in the United States, and reminds the public that domestic terrorism prominently exists as well. Additionally this event speaks to the power that media has over society (specifically its ability to emotionally change the state of the public).