I am so sick of the ignorance of (math) academics who have no idea that the security sector includes food security, water security, assistance for refugees and IDPs, disaster relief, actually providing the on-the-ground support for the world's most vulnerable people. (1/7)

To suggest that the very people who aren't just screaming about the injustices of the world, but are actually out there engaging, listening, and designing and implementing policy in support of those suffering harm are somehow the enemy is, well, uninformed at best. (2/7)

I would love to see a larger number of compassionate mathematicians in intergovernmental and nongovernmental security spaces like UNHCR, FAO, IMO, MSF, ICRC, and within the USG (USAID, MCC) working to make the world a better place. (3/7)

[Ok, I know some of you want to BURN IT ALL DOWN, and I totally understand that feeling - so don't get hung up on these exact agencies. Whoever does the compassionate work including those on their own - they are in "security" whether you want that word to mean it or not.]

And yet, too many academics zealously speak as if the word "security" is limited to police/military/spy agencies doing bad things. Mathematicians should know better. Definitions are important in mathematics. We wouldn't say the reals are all rational because some are. (4/7)

Similarly, if we investigate the security sector, we find that there are far more people doing the irrationally difficult work of caring for people and for the planet than those spying on citizens, building bombs, etc. (5/7)

This isn't splitting hairs, this isn't me saying "not all {men, cops}", this is me saying that the word security has a meaning - and it isn't what many of us have been brainwashed to believe. I get being mad at certain orgs - I know I am! But find a better word. (6/7)

Find a word that doesn't put the very orgs that are making a real difference in the crosshairs just because you were too {angry, lazy, brainwashed} to do the homework. (Fin)