On a trip to NYC this past weekend, one thing stood out to me in particular. There were pride flags outside restaurants, buildings, and street corners. The most striking, was the sign of the Google office in Chelsea, where they changed the colors of the two Os to the colors of the pride flag. These actions demonstrate an overwhelming support for the LGBT community following the mass shooting in Orlando. In the wake of this unthinkable tragedy, there is both outrage and an overall sense of support for LGBT community.

While walking the High Line in New York, I encountered a mural by Barbara Kruger that read “Blind idealism is reactionary scary deadly”, with the words “reactionary” and “scary” intentionally crossed out, showing that the nation is stronger than these idealists. The mural was created in March after the two mass shootings in Paris and Brussels and a few months before the Orlando shooting. Overall, the mural strongly voices the hatred and disaster generated by blind idealism. The artist is expressing her belief that blind idealism leads to nothing but harm and death.

Personally, each time I hear of a violation of rights like the shooting in Orlando, I find it unfathomable that a human being would take away the lives of other humans just to impose his personal idealism. The pride flag is designed in rainbow colors, meant to represent the spectrum of different identities. Blind idealism clearly contrasts the meaning behind the flag and the ideas it upholds. The colors of the flag contrast the black of blind idealism. It is a pity that blind idealists pursue their ideals without realizing that the world has changed and, as a country, we are stronger than those who attempt to threaten our basic human rights. It is clear that we, as a nation, need to take serious measures to prevent these attacks and make sure that blind idealists have no power over us and our human rights.