Several years ago I stopped watching TV news because I hate the fear. Don't go out at night or you will be raped and murdered! ISIS! Ebola!
Fear is everywhere in our culture today, which is remarkable because probably there has never been a more secure time to live. We're not really in danger of war coming upon us; we have security everywhere we live; and even all the health scares out there usually only come up because people are not as hygenic as they should be.
For all the fears that we could have, are we afraid of the wrong things? Likely. So my parents just got back from a trip back east to see my brother and on the way they stopped and saw some old friends. They woke up the next morning not feeling well, but eventually left. They arrive back home this week and find out that the people they stayed with died because of carbon monoxide poisoning this week. Actually one of them is still alive but not expected to live...but you get the point: this is something serious! Had my parents stayed with these people for a few more days, this is something that could have actually killed them, something that likely happens in many places. It's a reminder to me to a)get the furnace checked and b)make sure the carbon monoxide detector is working.
So many people today are going crazy over the fears 'out there'. Congressmen seek to gain political points by talking them up, newscasters look for ratings by scaring the crap out of people. 'We've got to stop these horrors!', but in the end they forget about the things that are really dangerous. What of Congress devoted as much as time to making sure every furnace in America was safe rather than criticizing policy about Ebola? Wouldn't that actually be a more productive use of their powers?
A friend of mine was driving to work yesterday when somebody ran a stop sign and almost killed him. It could have been much worse: only one fractured vertebrae and a lot of aches and pains. But a serious wreck nonetheless. But stuff like this happens all the time...people minding their own business driving to work, when somebody not paying attention causes a major, dangerous wreck. Where's the outrage? Why aren't our streets safer?
Carbon monoxide poisonings and car wrecks kill far more people than the Ebola virus in our country. But one we freak out about, the others we ignore. Maybe we'd just rather be scared by fake stuff (hello, haunted houses!) than things that are real. But that's just stupid.
