Eating too much and exercising too little. How many other things do we do in our lives that are significantly more risky than the above? Things we don’t give a second thought to, yet are profoundly more risky. And finally, a long-standing pet peeve of mine, the aggressive campaign to get bicyclists to wear helmets. “Dirty” language or sexuality in our media. Our kids being kidnapped if they walk or bicycle to school. Terrorists – particularly those who might blow up a plane we are on. Cholesterol or carbohydrates in our food. Killer shark epidemics keep us from beaches. The list of irrationally frightful, deadly factors so many of us lose sleep over is seemingly endless. The media certainly has a vested interest in stoking the flames of fear, since the more terrorized we are, the more newspapers are sold and the more news programs are watched on TV. The list of things we, as a society, are scared to death of seems to grow each day. Even politicians, who have found that fear can effectively be leveraged to garner large numbers of votes. Who profits when a lot of people are worried? The media. A great many people in our society make quite a bit of money when they can induce fear, which helps explain why Americans are led to become so afraid of so many things so often. We live, therefore, in an age of hysteria.įear is very big business, indeed. We are living in a world that is safer than ever, yet we are paralyzed by fear and take extreme, counterproductive measures to be safer.
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